While UFC 224 didn’t have the same buzz that upcoming UFC PPV’s have, Saturday night’s Rio de Janeiro card delivered in a big way as 11 of 13 fights ended via stoppage.
Falling short of UFC 2’s record 15 finishes out of 15 fights, UFC 224 did, however, see a specialist Brazilian card set up future title fights, legacies continue to be built and the retirement of an MMA legend.
In the main event, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes’ volume proved too much for a game Raquel Pennington as a fifth-round flurry secured her third successful title defence while the co-main event saw Kelvin Gastelum eek by ‘Jacare’ Souza in a closely fought contest.
Other big results at UFC 224 saw the likes of John Lineker continue to entertain in every bout he is involved in, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos land a spinning wheel kick en route to a TKO victory and Oleksiy Oliynyk score another amazing Ezekiel choke.
With UFC 224 now in the books, here are five fights that the UFC should make with the winners from Saturday night:
Amanda Nunes vs Cris Cyborg
With women’s bantamweight struggling for any real breakout contenders, Amanda Nunes is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Despite two huge victories in Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey on her record, the UFC has failed to capitalise upon Nunes’ accomplishments and turn the Brazilian into a star.
While a fight with someone like Ketlen Vieira would make sense based on merit, that fight would struggle to draw numbers or any real interest.
Instead, a fight with featherweight champion Cris Cyborg would be a test for both women to overcome and use the UFC’s latest favourite marketing tool, the champion vs champion fight, in the process.
Kelvin Gastelum vs Whittaker/Romero winner
Despite openly disliking the UFC’s decision to keep him away from the welterweight division, Kelvin Gastelum just keeps on winning at 185 lbs.
By defeating the #2 ranked ‘Jacare’ Souza, Gastelum deserves to fight for the middleweight title next and a fight with either current champion Robert Whittaker or Yoel Romero would be a brilliant bout.
Mackenzie Dern vs Gillian Robertson
After missing weight by a staggering eight pounds, Mackenzie Dern continued the theme of overweight fighters picking up the win in the UFC.
Admittedly, the UFC keeping Dern at strawweight seems to be the decision they will make but with such an unprofessional approach to her weight cut, I’d like to see how Dern fairs at flyweight.
A fight with ‘Ultimate Fighter’ alum Gillian Robertson would be a good starting point in a new division.
John Lineker vs Aljamain Sterling
After such a convincing loss to current champion TJ Dillashaw two fights ago, I’d lean on the side of caution about pitting John Lineker against a true top contender in the bantamweight division.
While a fight with Dominick Cruz could be an option, a match-up with Aljamain Sterling would act as a good litmus test for both men as to whether they can make that jump into the elite bracket at 135 lbs.
Oleksiy Oliynyk vs Fabricio Werdum
Oleksiy Oliynyk is simply amazing.
To pull off such a rare submission as an Ezekiel choke once in MMA is an outstanding feat but at UFC 224, Oliynyk got the 11th in his career and second under the UFC banner.
With Fabricio Werdum falling short against Alexander Volkov in his last outing, let’s see Werdum and Oliynyk battle in a grappling-heavy bout.