What Next For The Losers at UFC Rochester

What Next For The Losers at UFC Rochester

By Jordan Victor

UFC Rochester is in the books and what a night it was. From the main event to the prelims the Blue Cross Arena was rocking all-night long. But for some fighters on the night it was not as enjoyable as they succumbed to defeat.

In the main event, Kevin Lee suffered his second successive defeat after being submitted by Rafael Dos Anjos in the 4th round. The fight went eerily similar to the last time Lee was finished, that time via third-round submission courtesy of Tony Ferguson at UFC 216. With, Lee asserting his dominance against RDA in the first round by setting an unsustainable pace. But as the rounds went on you could see Lee begin to clearly fade.

With Lee’s cardio deserting him it gave Dos Anjos the window he needed to get back in the fight. And this led to RDA taking control throughout the mid-rounds, before making Lee tap in the 4th. Lee’s future is still bright, and I still believe he can go on to do great things in the welterweight division. His next fight for me should be against Neil Magny. Magny is still a top 15 welterweight and it would give Lee the chance to slowly build-up the welterweight rankings. Both men also have both lost to RDA via submission, and will one day want a rematch so what better way to earn a fight with RDA then having two of his former foes face off.

In the co-main event, Antonio Carlos Jr faced Ian Heinisch in a tale of two halves. For the first round Carlos Jr dominated the bout with his superior grappling skills controlling Heinisch on the ground. But in rounds 2 and 3 the tide changed as Heinisch use his more well-rounded skillset to nullify the game plan of Carlos Jr. and prevented the fight from going to the ground, using fluid combinations and wrestling to outpoint the crafty Brazilian via unanimous decision.

All in all, it was a decent performance from Carlos Jr seeming as it was his first bout in nearly a year. In his next outing I would like to see Carlos Jr reschedule his fight with Elias Theodorou. The bout which was supposed to happen on multiple occasions last year makes for extremely exciting viewing, as it puts one of the best grapplers in the division against one of the best strikers in the division, whilst also allowing the middleweight division to produce a new contender.

The bout to proceed Carlos Jr vs Heinisch pitted top women’s featherweight Megan Anderson against UFC newcomer Felicia Spencer. In somewhat shocking fashion, Anderson fell victim to a quick 1st round submission with Spencer steamrolling her way through the Australian. With this loss, it puts Anderson in an extremely compromising position as there are not many fighters she can face. The only fight I can see making sense for Anderson next would be a rematch with Cat Zingano. Due to the controversial finish of that bout I believe it would only make sense for those two to run it back again, as they are not many other options out there.

In perhaps the most exciting on the main card we saw Vicente Luque faced off against massive underdog and UFC newcomer Derrick Krantz. For the first few minutes of the 1st round it seemed like Krantz was going to pull off the impossible. Getting the better of Luque in a series of back and forth exchanges, but ultimately it was too much too soon for Krantz as UFC veteran began to tee-off on the game Krantz. Ending the bout with a vicious knockout of Krantz late in the opening round. With a performance like that Krantz is likely to be in the UFC for a long-time, and if so I would like to see him face Bryan Barberena, two men who both gave Luque hell (despite defeat) and would be sure to put on an exciting war for the fans. Although, first we would have to see how Barberena fares against Randy Brown on June 22nd at UFC Greenville.

In the penultimate fight on the main card. Nik Lentz was knocked out by Charles Oliveira in their trilogy fight. Lentz never really got going in the contest, with Olivieira dominating on both the ground and feet before getting the finish in the second round.

For a UFC veteran like Lentz it is likely that his career is coming to a close, hence I only see meaningful fights in his future. And one of those big fights that I would like to see would be with fellow UFC veteran Jim Miller. Two of the most experienced lightweights in the division putting on the line, you couldn’t really go wrong there.

The opening fight on the main card saw UFC newcomer Austin Hubbard face Davi Ramos. Unfortunately, the UFC debut of Hubbard did not go to plan. As he was brutalised for much of the fight by Ramos but in many parts of the contest he gave as good as he got, dropping Ramos once. But ultimately, it was not enough as Hubbard dropped a unanimous decision to the Brazilian. In his next fight, I would like to see Hubbard face Charles Jourdain. Both fighters lost their UFC debuts on the card, and it would be a great chance for both to prove they belong in the UFC.