While UFC 221 may have looked an underwhelming PPV on paper, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining card in recent times.
With Yoel Romero adding another stunning knockout to his already impressive resume in the main event – the seventh third-round stoppage in his 15 career bouts – the rest of the fight card featured exciting finishes and impressive wins.
As the likes of Jussier Formiga, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski picking up outstanding wins on the preliminary card, the PPV portion of the event saw the Australian trio of Tyson Pedro, Jake Matthews and Tai Tuivasa record big victories in their respective bouts.
Now with a whopping eight-day break between UFC events, here are five fights for the UFC matchmakers to consider with UFC 221’s big winners:
Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker II
While he may not have been awarded an interim title for his efforts, Yoel Romero is without a doubt the number one contender at 185 lbs with his third round knockout of Luke Rockhold.
Taking the UFC 221 main event on short-notice and leading to his failure to make the weight limit, Yoel Romero’s unconventional style and explosive power handed Rockhold his second KO loss in three fights and put the Cuban fighter back in the win column.
With Whittaker the only man to defeat Romero in the octagon, a rematch of their UFC 213 bout is a must for the middleweight division.
Curtis Blaydes vs Werdum/Volkov Winner
If there are two things we learnt from Curtis Blaydes win over Mark Hunt it’s that:
a) Curtis Blaydes can take a punch
and b) Curtis Blaydes has some impressive fight IQ.
After eating a huge punch from Hunt in the first round and a small flurry afterwards, Blaydes recovered well to see out the round and went on to dominate the final 10 minutes with well-timed takedowns to eliminate the Super Samoan’s power from the equation.
Blaydes’ win is a much-needed one in the grand scheme of the heavyweight division and with Miocic sidelined with a champion vs champion bout in the summer, there’s time for a number one contender to be definitively decided.
As Fabricio Werdum takes on Alexander Volkov at UFC: London in March, the winner should face Blaydes to secure a number one contender in the autumn.
Tyson Pedro vs Gian Villante
After suffering the first setback of his career against Ilir Latifi, Tyson Pedro returned to the octagon and reminded everyone why he is one of light heavyweights best prospects.
By latching onto a kimura grip up against the cage, Pedro snatched at Saparbek Safarov’s arm forcing the Russian to the mat and eventually submit to the nasty looking submission in the first round.
The UFC should be wary of jumping Pedro back up the UFC rankings to avoid a similar fate of his Latifi bout and a fight with Gian Villante would be a welcome match-up to try and build the Australian up.
Israel Adesanya vs Elias Theodorou
Israel Adesanya is everything that any fight promotion wants in a potential star. An exciting style, a ridiculous technical proficiency and the charisma to bump up those skills to the next level.
At 28-years old, a wealth of kickboxing experience and fighting in a division that is in dire need of new blood, the UFC should take care of Adesanya and adopt the McGregor approach of keeping him away from wrestling-centric fighters until it’s needed.
While it may be a bigger jump up than needed, a fight with Elias Theodorou would be a decent name and stylistic match-up for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Andre Fili
With a 17-1 record and adding another dominating win to his tally at UFC 221, Alexander Volkanovksi is deserving of a big name opponent.
By raining elbows down on Jeremy Kennedy, Volkanovski handed Kennedy his first loss and probably lies just outside of the top 15 at 145 lbs.
With the featherweight division stacked with young talent, a bout with Andre Fili would test both their mettle and see who should be looking at entering that famed top 15.