What Next For The Winners at UFC Rochester

What Next For The Winners at UFC Rochester

By Jack Maher 

UFC Rochester was an event that started off like a house on fire but seemingly fizzled out towards the very end of the card, with the top 2 bouts on the card being a little bit on the sloppy side. However as much as I’d like to talk about Michel Pereira’s epic KO win on the prelims for paragraphs on end, I’m here to talk about the main card, so without further ado let’s look at what’s next for all of UFC Rochester’s main card winners.

Davi Ramos

Davi Ramos had won his last 3 fights all by rear-naked choke and couldn’t extend his submission streak here, but still picked up a unanimous decision win over a tough Austin Hubbard. Ramos said afterwards he wished to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov but also acknowledged he had to make a few more steps up the division first, and I believe that next step should be against Gilbert Burns. Both men are BJJ specialists so a matchup between the two of them is a fun way to make use of two lightweights who are rich in talent yet somewhat lacking in exposure. This would not be the first meeting between Ramos and Burns however, as the two competed against each other in the ADCC grappling tournament back in 2015, with Ramos winning via rear-naked choke. Burns will be eager to avenge his loss over Ramos and extend his win streak to 3, and will also have the added advantage of being able to throw his deceptively powerful hands, a privilege he was not afforded in ADCC. Both men fight a similar style and will have to be at their best in all departments to win.

Charles Oliveira

‘Do Bronx’ had spoken before the event about how he is sick of facing unranked fighters, and he shown against Nik Lentz (for a third time) why he is deserving of higher level opposition. Oliveira’s last 4 wins had came by submission but it was a savage right hand that brought this contest to an end. Oliveira said in his post fight interview that he wants a top 5 opponent next, but there is a huge gap in the levels of talent between the top of 5 of the lightweight division and the unranked opposition Oliveira has been facing.

Someone else who finds themselves in this gap is fellow submission artist Gregor Gillespie. The number 11 ranked Gillespie has also breezed past unranked competition and needs a step up, so I feel like a matchup between the two gives both men the caliber of fight they want without ruining the order of the division. Both men are tied for the longest active winning streak in the UFC at five, so you can best believe a bout between the two would produce fireworks and propel the winner towards the upper echelons of the division.

Vicente Luque

After what was meant to be a high profile fight with Neil Magny fell apart due to USADA issues, Luque was given a late replacement in the form of Derrick Krantz. Krantz gave Luque some issues on the ground threatening the Brazilian with submission attempts, but once ‘The Silent Assassin’ got the fight back standing up he picked Krantz apart and added another finish to his resume. I would like to see the Magny fight rebooked but his USADA issues will likely take a while to resolve, regardless of whether he is innocent or guilty, so instead I’d like to see him fight Mike Perry. Both men are savage brawlers with a combined 26 finishes from 33 wins. Perry’s ground game is improving and he is utilising it more and more, which may cause Luque some stress, however Perry still maintains his natural love of a brawl which will may allow Luque to find a way through Perry’s less than perfect defence. Neither man will go down easily, but it’s hard to see this fight lasting the distance.

Felicia Spencer

You could make a somewhat convincing argument that a title fight should be next for Spencer given that her win over Megan Anderson makes her the only women’s featherweight not named Amanda Nunes who is coming off of a win, but instead I’d like to see her face Cris Cyborg. If Spencer goes right in to a 145lb title fight that leaves Cyborg without a fight for the foreseeable future which would be a great shame. The two could conceivably meet at UFC 240 in Spencer’s native Canada and fight for the right to face Nunes next. If Spencer beats Cyborg then there can be no doubt she is deserving of a title fight and would give her a lot more exposure, whereas if Cyborg gets back to winning ways it will likely set up the Nunes rematch we all want to see. Cyborg would likely be a heavy favourite against Spencer, but so was Anderson, and Spencer made short work of her, so I’m sure she’ll be fully confident she can hand Cyborg her second consecutive loss.

Ian Heinisch

Ian Heinisch’s win over Antonio Carlos Junior wasn’t pretty, but it served as a testament to his grit and toughness after he was on the wrong side of a pretty one sided opening round. Heinisch rallied in the second and third however and managed to overcome ‘Shoeface’. Next I would like to see Heinisch take on Derrick Brunson, which may seem a little premature given Heinisch has only had 2 UFC fights, but he has beaten Cezar Ferreira and Carlos Junior who are both quality middleweights so there is no reason why ‘The Hurricane’ should take a step backwards. Brunson is a middleweight veteran who has been in there with some top names, but he’s in need of a memorable win if he wants to get another crack at the top dogs. Heinisch would likely be a more willing dance partner than Brunson last opponent, Elias Theodorou, and the two would hopefully come together to produce a competitive and compelling clash.

Rafael Dos Anjos

After a tough 2018 that seen Dos Anjos lose 2 high profile fights against Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman, Dos Anjos is finally back on track at 170lbs. Now, the win came against Kevin Lee, who is a fellow former lightweight, so the win doesn’t do much to disprove the argument that Dos Anjos is too small to compete with the larger welterweight’s, but the win did stop the former lightweight champion from slipping in to a 3 fight losing streak and gave him his first finish since 2017.

Next I think Dos Anjos should finally fight Santiago Ponzinibbio, now I am aware that Ponzinibbio is being linked to a fight with Robbie Lawler on June 29th after Tyron Woodley pulled out of their scheduled main event, but at the time of writing no announcement on the fight has been made and there are plenty of other names in the running to face Lawler, so I’m going with Dos Anjos-Ponzinibbio.

The two where first linked to each other last year for the main event of UFC Argentina, but instead Ponzinibbio faced Neil Magny. The two where once again rumoured to meet each other, this time in Brazil, but again nothing came to fruition. The fight would serve as a good test for Ponzinibbio, as Dos Anjos’s high output would definitely make him the best striker ‘Gente Boa’ has faced in the UFC, while Ponzinibbio does not have the dominant wrestling ability that has often been Dos Anjos’s kryptonite in the past. It would force Ponzinibbio to be at his absolute best and a win over Dos Anjos would put the whole division on notice. The fight would not be out of place in a main event slot, and seems like a natural fit on the upcoming event in Montevideo, Uruguay.