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

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

By Ben Jessop

Myles Jury defeated by Andre Fili via unanimous decision

Jury struggled in this bout, he faced an Andre Fili that was on top form and despite a three round battle there was no real doubt that Fili was going to take the decision. It’s going to be a hard climb to the top ranks with the top ten of the division all being on great runs, it’s hard for an underdog to break through. Myles Jury could be looking to go up against Doo Ho “The Korean Superboy” Choi who is coming off of two straight losses, one against Cub Swanson back in December 2016 and then against Jeremy Stephens in January of 2018 so with almost a year out of the octagon this could be a great match up to get at least one of these fighters back on track.

Bryan Barberena defeated by Vicente Luque via R3 TKO/KO

Bryan Barberena took quite a hard pill to swallow in this fight. Both fighters went to war and it was awarded Fight of the Night and a fan favourite to be a contender for Fight of the Year. Barberena was KO’d with six seconds left of the final round. It’s hard to see a potential way up for any loser in the welterweight division, even looking from #15 upwards, they all have their own routes to the top ten. Perhaps a rematch against Warlley Alvez is on the cards? Barberena lost against Warlley back in May of 2016 via unanimous decision and it doesn’t look there has been much movement for either fighter within the division, so perhaps it’s time to settle that score?

Alex Caceres defeated by Kron Gracie via R1 Submission

Alex Caceres perhaps faced the most one-sided defeat of the evening after he was submitted by Kron Gracie in the first round. Whilst Kron always suggested he wanted a more challenging opponent than Caceres, that’s what the UFC wanted for his debut. Whilst Kron takes his UFC backed rise to the top, unfortunately this defeat sort of leaves Caceres in the dust with not many places to go to. Even in the limited options, there is still a chance Caceres could face Kyle Bochniak, a man who had that famous fight with Zabit Magomedsharipov back in 2018. Bochniak finds himself on a two loss slip currently after being defeated by Zabit and Hakeem Dawodu in December. With Caceres’ littered record (14-12) this fight could be a pivotal point as to where his career goes moving forwards.

Cortney Casey defeated by Cynthia Calvillo via unanimous decision

The only female event on the main card for the evening was a strawweight bout between two eager fighters both attempting to break into the title race group. Calvillo won this fight with relative ease but not to that much of a surprise to many fans. Calvillo was in with a title shot before she suffered a big loss to Esparza back in December 2017, she lost two spots in the ranking. Realistically, her options throughout the division are slim to say the least. You could argue that Mackenzie Dern could be a good matchup but Dern is on a five fight win streak and seems destined for the top so it doesn’t make much sense for her. Casey faced Randa Markos back in August of 2016 on the McGregor vs Diaz 2 card and won via a round one arm-bar. Both fighters have mediocre records; Casey is 8-7 and Markos is 8-6. A win if these two were pitted against each other might help filter out who deserves to keep pushing for the top ten.

James Vick defeated by Paul Felder via unanimous decision

James Vick came into this bout the slight favourite but Felder’s reckless viciousness came into play and threw Vick off of his game plan. This is Vick’s second loss in the row after suffering that severe first round KO against lightweight contender Justin Gaethje. Vick lost his #10 ranking after this loss, and Felder filled the gap. The matchup that makes sense to me, is Alexander Hernandez who is coming off of that famous loss to UFC veteran Donald Cerrone. Vick now sites at #14 with Hernandez at #12 it’ll be a fight to get back into that illustrious top ten.

Cain Velasquez defeated by Francis Ngannou via R1 KO/TKO

In the biggest upset of the night, a heavyweight fight for the ages, was over in just twenty-six seconds. Ngannou KO’d UFC legend Velasquez after a severe uppercut left Velasquez weak under the knees. Velasquez, prior to this fight had spoken briefly about retirement but has recently signed a four-fight deal with the UFC. With the top four of the heavyweight division more than entertained with themselves, it leaves Velasquez looking for another contender. I would like to see Cain Velasquez face off against another UFC veteran in Alistair Overeem. He has recently won after a powerful performance over Sergei Palvovich in Beijing but before that had lost via two TKO/KO’s against Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes. This match up, dependant on how the top four fights fall out, could leave someone else looking for a title shot. It’s all to play for in the heavy weight division.