As oversaturation becomes a real, tenable problem with MMA, a string of events will hook you back in and remind you why MMA is the greatest sport on earth.
Coming hot on the heels of last weekends excellent UFC Fight Night 126, UFC on Fox 28 provided another bumper night of fights which set the pulses racing from the get-go.
With heavy hitters Jeremy Stephens and Josh Emmett juking it out in the main event, Jessica Andrade and Tecia Torres putting on one of the best fights in women’s MMA history and Ilir Latifi sledgehammering his way through Ovince Saint Preux, UFC on Fox 28 delivered some memorable action and that’s without getting into the nine other bouts which all impressed.
Unfortunately, however, there’s little time to digest the talking points of Stephens – Emmett in the fast-paced world of the UFC so here are five fights to make with Saturday nights Orlando, Florida event:
Jeremy Stephens vs Jose Aldo
While Jeremy Stephens’ win may have come with a convuluted controversy surrounding an illegal knee attempt, the ‘Lil Heathen’ was seemingly on his way to victory whether the blow landed or not.
To use Stephens’ words against him, however, there will be three fighters ahead of him when the all-important UFC’s rankings are updated.
With two of those fighters set to square off this Saturday as Frankie Edgar takes on Brian Ortega, Stephens will have to wait a while before getting a crack at the 145 lbs title.
Rather than wait it out, why not a fight with former champion Jose Aldo and see whether he can make that final step up
Jessica Andrade vs Namajunas/Jedrzejczyk II winner
With a performance reminiscent of her previous victory over Claudia Gadelha, Jessica Andrade’s physicality and bully-like style ensured that the Brazilian fighter continued her impressive bounce back from a losing title challenge in 2017.
As both of her wins have been so impressive, there’s no other choice but to give Andrade another crack at UFC gold and she should be next in line no matter who wins the upcoming Rose Namajunas – Joanna Jedrzejczyk bout at UFC 223.
Ilir Latifi vs Glover Teixeira
With two left hooks and a nasty guillotine choke to finish it off, Ilir Latifi put an end to Ovince Saint Preux’s recent ascendancy and will jump up into the top 5 in the light heavyweight division.
Latifi’s win will cause headaches for the UFC matchmakers however as Latifi, Alexander Gustafsson and Jimi Manuwa all train together and sit within that top 5 bracket.
With the remaining fighters being Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira, only one of those fighters is coming off a win so let’s match up the stocky bald dudes.
Max Griffin vs Warlley Alves
Max Griffin stepped up in the biggest fight of his career on Saturday as his speed and power gave Mike Perry trouble en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Griffin deserves another fighter of similar quality next time out so a bout with Warlley Alves would pit two top 30ish welterweights against one another.
Brian Kelleher vs Rob Font
Brian Kelleher has put in some impressive performances in his four-fight UFC career thus far but his win over former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao will be at the top of his list.
Despite coming short of a stoppage victory due to a combination of Barao’s ridiculous chin and running out of time, Kelleher should get a crack at a ranked opponent next time out and an interesting stylistic match-up with Rob Font would make for exciting viewing.