What’s Next For The Winners at UFC 238

What’s Next For The Winners at UFC 238

By Jordan Victor

UFC 238 has concluded and the card did not disappoint.The United Centre was rocking all night long as belts were won, belts were defended and new contenders were crowned. With the event now in the books, we will look at what should be next for the winners (of the main card).

Henry Cejudo: Cejudo was perhaps the biggest winner of the night as he won the vacant UFC bantamweight title.It was definitely a champions worthy performance as Cejudo overcame a punishing first round, dominating the 2nd and 3rd with his use of violent knees in the thai clinch.

Eventually, the pressure became too much for Marlon Moraes and Cejudo finished the fight via TKO late in the third round.With the victory over Moraes, Cejudo became one of the only simultaneous champions in UFC history.

For his next challenge I would like to see Cejudo take on Aljamain Sterling who was also victorious on the night, as it would give Cejudo the chance to show he is the true king of the bantamweights by taking one of the top contenders in the division, whilst also seeing the deserving contender Sterling get his chance at the title.

Valentina Shevchenko: Shevchenko was a huge favourite on the night and it certainly showed. As she dominated her challenger Jessica Eye en-route to a violent head kick finish in the 2nd round. The flyweight champion cemented her legacy as the queen of the division, and it is quite hard to see who could represent a strong challenge to her throne.

One person who I believe deserves to challenge Shevchenko is Katlyn Chookagian.

Chookagian became the new number 1 contender with her victory over Joanne Calderwood at UFC 238, and for me is the only one in the division who currently warrants the opportunity.

Tony Ferguson: Ferguson vs Cerrone was certainly the violent affair that we all expected. After a back and forth first round, Ferguson used his unorthodox striking to pick apart Cerrone on the feet, and after the close of the second round due to the damage caused to Cerrone’s eye the doctors stopped the fight.

As a result, the bout was ruled in Ferguson’s favour as he was announced the winner via TKO. With the controversial finish UFC president Dana White has stated his desire to rematch the pair. However, I would personally like to see Ferguson get his long awaited shot for the UFC lightweight title and wait for the winner of the UFC 242 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.

Petr Yan: “No Mercy” once again showed that he is a force to be reckoned with in the UFC’s bantamweight division, as he scored multiple knockdowns in a brutal decision victory over Jimmie Rivera.

Yan looks destined to sit among the elite of the division and I feel I know the match-up to get him there, and that match-up would be with Pedro Munhoz.

Munhoz is ranked at the top of the divisional rankings and is generally regarded as a stand-up fighter, which is something I feel would favour the Russian and be a very exciting fight.

Also with a win over veteran like Munhoz it would be near impossible to deny Yan a shot at the title.

Blagoy Ivanov: In a back and forth affair with Tai Tuivasa, Ivanov took the victory by unanimous decision. With two successive victories it is now likely that Ivanov will shoot up the heavyweight rankings, and to continue his surge up the division I would like to see him face fellow top contender Alexander Volkov.

Volkov himself is coming off a bad knockout loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC 229. Having been absent from the octagon for so long I feel that this would be a good fight for Volokov to return too. For Ivanov it would represent the chance to avenge his previous loss to Volkov, as the pair met previously in Bellator back in 2014 when Volkov submitted the previously undefeated Ivanov.