What’s Next For The Winners at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs Velasquez?

What’s Next For The Winners at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs Velasquez?

By Ben Jessop 

The most recent evening of fights from the UFC offered us some great bouts and some unexpected drama and results. From decisions to KO’s to controversial stoppages, the night gave us every result you could think of.

Andre Fili defeats Myles Jury via R3 Decision

Fili vs Jury spent the majority of the fifteen minute contest on the feet with Fili taking control throughout, it was a strong victory but Fili wasn’t entirely satisfied with his latest win and claim he is his own harshest critic. Fili confirmed all he really wants is the belt, which means he has his eyes set of Max Holloway at the moment. Despite how out of reach that goal currently is, Fili does believe he has the capacity for four wins in 2019 and believes he can cement himself as a genuine contender rather than a prospect.

It could be up for debate as to whether or not Fili should be offered a top fifteen guy, perhaps he could be in with a shout with a second time bout against Calvin Kattar who defeated him via unanimous decision back in July of 2017. Kattar comes off a round one KO over Chris Fishgold but lost prior to that against #5 ranked Renato Moicano. Calvin Kattar vs Andre Fili could be the race to contender status within the division and I don’t see any genuine possibilities for either fighter higher up the rankings.

Vincente Luque defeats Bryan Barberena via R3 KO/TKO

The fight that easily deserved “Fight of the Night” and perhaps will be a contender for “Fight of the Year”. For almost the whole fifteen minutes, both fighters engaged in an all-out war trading 332 significant strikes which makes this fight the third highest strike count in UFC history.

It was a thrilling contest and with only six seconds left of the third round, Luque managed to find a TKO over Barberena, making him the only man to KO him within his ten-year professional career.

The question now is, what’s next for Luque? First of all, he’s now ranked #14 in the official UFC rankings which opens up his possibilities for top-tier fighters. Realistically, Luque is only going to be looking up but with Gunnar Nelson and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos both matched up in March it could be interesting to see Luque vs Magny. With Magny coming off his loss via R3 KO to Ponzinibbio back in November of 2018, it could be a way for Magny to secure his place, but also offers a huge leap for Luque.

Kron Gracie defeats Alex Caceres via R1 submission

The legendary Gracie family made another UFC debut this past weekend with the highly anticipated Kron Gracie taking on Alex Caceres in Phoenix. Gracie obviously holds a huge advantage being from one of the most influential Jiu Jitsu in MMA history. He’s competed five times in various promotions and has won all five via submission.

Unfortunately for Caceres, it was no different this time around. It took all of two minutes for Gracie to lock into a rear naked choke, force the tap as well as win “Performance of the Night”. Gracie must feel an enormous amount of pressure being the son of Rickson and the grandson of Helio, it’s down to him to keep up the reputation.

He’ll be looking to move up and continue to maintain an undefeated record, hopefully creating the same legacy as his father. The featherweight division is one he could disturb heavily, but he must get more wins on the record before he breaks in to the top fifteen to really disturb the top of the division. The dream matchup for me (not yet, but in the future) wold be Brian Ortega, renowned as one of the best jiu-jitsu artists in the entire UFC.

But looking more realistically for now, perhaps Kron Gracie should face Sodiq Yusuff, admittedly Sodiq isn’t going to offer much in the way of grappling competition but you’d be hard pushed to find someone in the division who could. Sodiq is on a three fight win streak, two via TKO and one via decision, he could offer Gracie some problems on the feet but would need to keep him at distance to stand a chance.

Cynthia Calvillo defeats Cortney Casey via unanimous decision

This women’s strawweight bout went the distance with the underdog coming out on top, Casey, who was ranked #10 prior to the fight went into this bout the favourite. The fight became a slug fest with both fighters landing heavy shots, as well as taking heavy shots. Casey looked to have in the tank throughout the third round but Calvillo kept going to secure a close decision at the end of the fight.

Calvillo now takes the #10 ranking according to the UFC which means she has to opportunity to face off against Carla Esparza again after she was defeated via decision back in December 2017. Esparza is on a two fight loss slip against Claudia Gadelha in June 2018 and then again against Tatiana Suarez in September of 2018. This fight could offer both fighters the opportunity to break the top ten fighters’ on the way to the top.

Paul Felder defeats James Vick via unanimous decision

The Irish Dragon won the stand-up contest against the UFC’s #10 ranked lightweight James Vick this past weekend. Felder came into this fight the underdog but his ferocity and tendency to become erratic seemed to play into his hands this time around. In arguably the most stacked division in the entire UFC, newly ranked Felder has his work cut out either way he goes.

Newly ranked as the #10 everyone above him offers him problems that I don’t see he can compete with at the moment. Before he gets a shot at the likes of Justin Gaethje or Anthony Pettis, Felder will need to defend against another top-tier fighter before being allowed to enter this realm of fighting. Perhaps his next bout could be against Gregor Gillespie, who is currently 13-0 but perhaps is held back by the talent in the top ten of the lightweight division.

Gillespie comes off a strong win over Yancy Mederios and is currently ranked #11. Whoever was to win out of Gillespie and Felder, would then have open access to take a shot at one of the best in the game.

Francis Ngannou defeats Cain Velasquez via R1 KO

UFC heavyweight legend Cain Velasquez, who is widely renowned as being one of the greatest of all time returned to the octagon this past weekend to face off against controversial contender Francis Ngannou.

The fight was short-lived, in fact, it was twenty-six seconds in its entirety. Many, including myself, believed Cain offer Francis too many problems with his superior wrestling and perhaps a similar outcome would come of this fight as it did when Francis faced off against another heavyweight great in Stipe Miocic.

Francis has had a rocky UFC career, as he really shot into prominence in late 2017 with a ridiculous uppercut KO over Alistair Overeem. He was fired into stardom by the UFC and was heralded as the next UFC champ, unfortunately all the hype and media backing fell short against the titan in Stipe as he was out-wrestled and manhandled for five rounds until Stipe was awarded the decision.

He then fought again, this time against Derrick Lewis, and again he lost via decision in what some describe as one of the worst heavyweight fights of all time. The hype train behind Ngannou seemed to of all but come to a close when the UFC gave him a lifeline with a rematch against Curtis Blaydes in November 2018 that fight ended via a R1 KO for Ngannou. This means that in his last two fights, Ngannou has dismantled two great heavyweight fighters within a minute and a half. The hype train seems to be in full motion yet again with some calling for Ngannou to be given a title shot next.

The future for all of these heavyweight contenders, whether that’s Ngannou, Miocic of Jones lays in the hand of current champ Daniel Cormier who is now looking to see who to fight next but is ultimately looking to leave his legacy intact for when he retires. Personally, I find it hard to believe that the UFC is going to do anything other than the DC vs Jones trilogy.

Realistically, the only fight I see for Ngannou is the Miocic rematch. I know that people want to see Miocic given his chance for redemption against DC but that’s all but been ruled out by Cormier. I think it will and should be, DC vs Jones and Ngannou vs Miocic with the winner of both fighting for the title. Either way, it’s great for the heavyweight division that the top five are all fighting for that top spot.