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Another UFC pay-per-view card has passed us by and with it comes a host of possibilities moving forward for both the victors and the unfortunate fighters who were defeated.
After a couple of weeks back at the Apex facility, the UFC returned to a full crowd for the second time at UFC 262. Despite having to follow a memorable UFC 261 PPV and some strong Fight Nights, UFC 262 carried forward the promotion's momentum and provided a largely entertaining card.
During the early prelims, Christos Giagos secured himself a $75,000 bonus with a submission victory over the returning Sean Soriano in the opening bout of the night. Despite a late rally from Kevin Aguilar, the youngest fighter on the card, Tucker Lutz, recorded a debut win in the featherweight division.
The next set of prelims brought some memorable moments. Andrea Lee defeated Antonina Shevchenko after converting a three-minute triangle into an armbar with less than 10 seconds of the second round remaining. Jordan Wright brought us some violence with his TKO win over Jamie Pickett. In the featured prelim we saw yet another broken bone at a PPV, as Andre Muniz defeated Jacare Souza after breaking the legend's arm.
On the main card, Edson Barboza's fight against Shane Burgos was as advertised and ended with a remarkable KO. Beneil Dariush dominated Tony Ferguson and established himself as a contender at 155-pounds. In the main event, a new chapter began at lightweight and Charles Oliveira ensured he'd start it on top.
So, what are the next steps we should see after some of those results? Here are three fights that should be booked following the events at UFC 262.
#3 Andre Muniz vs. Brendan Allen - UFC middleweight
This would be a mouth-watering clash towards the bottom of the UFC's middleweight rankings. With both looking to ascend further up the division after convincing wins, this matchup would give us a tasty meeting of 185-pound prospects.
At UFC 262, Andre Muniz silenced those doubting his grappling credentials. Against one of the greatest on the ground the sport has seen, Muniz did damage. Having proved he could take the great Jacare Souza down, 'Sergipano' ended the fight with a brutal armbar that led to Souza's arm snapping.
Chris Weidman's broken leg was shocking, but the sound of this break put it some place close...
Brendan Allen had similar success at UFC 261. 'All In' rebounded from a loss to Sean Strickland with an impressive first-round submission victory against Karl Roberson. Late in the round, Allen reversed Roberson's submission attempt and left 'Baby K' in agony with a tight heel hook.
A battle between Muniz and Allen is an intriguing prospect both on the feet and on the ground, and will determine which of the two pushes further up the middleweight division first.
#2 Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze - UFC featherweight
Imagine the battle of kicks this fight would bring us. For that reason alone, this fight is one we have to see sooner or later in the featherweight division.
With Giga Chikadze coming off a win over Cub Swanson a few weeks ago and Edson Barboza knocking out Shane Burgos at UFC 262 last weekend, there is no better time for these two to clash.
Since moving down to featherweight, Barboza has looked close to his best. In his own words, he's '3-0' in the division. Dan Ige will have something to say about that after defeating the Brazilian by way of a razor thin split decision on Barboza's 145-pound debut. Nevertheless, the 35-year-old showed his potential in the new weight-class with a rebound win against Makwan Amirkhani on Fight Island last October that opened his winning account at featherweight.
Barboza secured back-to-back wins at UFC 262 against Shane Burgos, and in doing so, provided us with one of the most bizarre knockouts in UFC history.
At UFC Vegas 25, Giga Chikadze secured a similarly brutal finish with his feet. With the return of the famed 'Giga Kick', the Georgian finished Cub Swanson inside the opening round with a hard body-shot and made his case for a big-name opponent next time out.
Having beaten ninth-ranked Burgos, Barboza should find himself inside the featherweight top-10 when the rankings are updated this week. Chikadze's recent win elevated him to 10th, and a fight between the pair would determine which man jumps into the group of 145-pound contenders.
#1 Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje - UFC lightweight
In the opening round of the UFC 262 main event, Michael Chandler looked seconds away from becoming UFC lightweight champion.
His power looked to be too much for Charles Oliveira and the pair went back to their corners after five minutes with 'Iron' well and truly on top. Very few would have predicted what happened next. 'Do Bronx' knocked Chandler out.
Nevertheless, it was Chandler's second fight since signing for the UFC and his pedigree remains clear. He showed he belongs at the top of the division when he finished Dan Hooker just seconds into his UFC debut.
But who should Chandler face as he looks to earn another shot at UFC gold? None other than Justin Gaethje. 'The Highlight' hasn't fought since his own defeat in a lightweight title fight.
Having collected wins over James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone, Gaethje dominated Tony Ferguson last May to win the interim 155-pound title and put himself in position to be Khabib Nurmagomedov's final challenger. As with everyone before him, he was mauled by 'The Eagle'.
With Beneil Dariush set to take some time off and Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor set to complete their trilogy in July, a fight between Chandler and Gaethje is the logical next step in the division.
