After a long night of fights, Jan Blachowicz made quick work of Corey Anderson in the headline act.
With seven decisions coming before the main event, in addition to a promotional record of two disqualifications, Blachowicz scored a first round KO of Anderson to try and help his cause of challenging for the UFC light heavyweight championship.
The Polish fighter is now on a three-fight win streak thanks to his self-annointed ‘Polish Power’ and Blachowicz is now 7-1 in his last eight outings.
Elsewhere at UFC Fight Night 167, the preliminary card saw big wins for the likes of Raulian Pauva, Merab Dvalishvili, Scott Holtzman and John Dodson while the main card saw Lando Vanatta, Montana De La Rosa and Ray Borg pick up decision victories.
With another UFC event fast approaching this weekend, here are five fights for the UFC matchmakers to consider with UFC: Rio Rancho in the books:
Jan Blachowicz vs. Thiago Santos
Were it not for the controversial nature of Jon Jones’ most recent title defence against Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz should be next in for the 205 lbs title.
However, with Reyes unfortunate to not get the nod on the judges scorecards earlier in February, a rematch between Jones and Reyes should take precedent.
With that being the case, Blachowicz will likely need one more win to cement his position as next in line.
As Thiago Santos, another unfortunate previous title challenger, set for a return from injury later in the year, a Santos vs. Blachowicz bout would decisively put one name forward as a #1 contender.
Montana De La Rosa vs. Viviane Araujo
Using her grappling to her advantage, Montana De La Rosa bounced back into the win column on Saturday night with a unanimous decision win over Mara Romero Borella.
De La Rosa is now 4-1 under the UFC banner and her win over a fellow top 15 contender will see De La Rosa look further up the food chain at flyweight.
With Viviane Araujo coming off of a loss to Jessica Eye, Araujo would offer a tough test for De La Rosa to overcome.
Ray Borg vs. Askar Askarov
Despite missing weight, Ray Borg put on a good performance against Rogerio Bontorin en route to a unanimous decision win.
Borg should now remain in the flyweight division moving forward and a match-up with fellow talented grappler Askar Askarov would be a fun and important bout.
Lando Vanatta vs. Mustafaev / Riddell Winner
Outstriking Yancy Medeiros in all three rounds, Lando Vanatta picked up a much-needed win at UFC: Rio Rancho.
Vanatta will now need to find some consistency in the lightweight division if he is to progress as a fighter and with Magomed Mustafaev and Brad Riddell set to fight this upcoming weekend, the winner of that bout would make for a great fight against Vanatta.
John Dodson vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Arguably being down 2-0 on the judges’ scorecards, John Dodson scored a big third-round TKO win over rising prospect Nathaniel Wood.
Dodson’s win saw ‘The Magician’ snap a two-fight losing streak and most likely retain his place in the UFC’s bantamweight top 15.
For Dodson to move back up the rankings however, the 35-year old will likely need to pick up another win over a fighter with rising stock at 135 lbs.
With Merab Dvalishvili scoring a dominant win over the #15 ranked Casey Kenney, a Dodson – Dvalishvili fight is the move to make.