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The UFC’s latest Fight Night event is in the books, as the fighters on offer treated the fans to a strong show in Kansas City.
Following UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Arnold Allen, which fights should be next for the event’s bigger stars? Naturally, there are plenty of possible options for the promotion’s matchmakers to choose from, with some fighters even moving into title contention.
Here are five fights to make following UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Arnold Allen.
#5. UFC featherweight bout: Edson Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Many fans were counting Edson Barboza out prior to his fight with Billy Quarantillo last night. After all, ‘Junior’ had lost his last two bouts against Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell.
However, the Brazilian veteran proved that against anyone but an elite-level opponent, he’s still highly dangerous. He needed less than a round to take out Quarantillo, shutting his lights off with a violent knee and leaving him unconscious.
Barboza remains ranked at No.14 in the UFC’s featherweight division and isn’t likely to climb after this win, but he deserves a shot to try to move back up the ladder next.
With that in mind, why not match him with Sodiq Yusuff? ‘Super Sodiq’ is ranked two spots above Barboza and is 6-1 in the octagon, with his only loss coming to Arnold Allen in 2021.
More importantly, the Nigerian is a hugely explosive striker, meaning fans would be able to expect a brutal knockout if he were to fight Barboza.
This fight would almost certainly be fun to watch, and it could act as a co-headliner for a Fight Night show later this year.
#4. UFC bantamweight bout: Pedro Munhoz vs. Jonathan Martinez
One of last night’s big winners was definitely Pedro Munhoz. ‘The Young Punisher’ turned back the challenge of hot prospect Chris Gutierrez, picking up his first win since February 2021 in the process.
While he’s ranked at No.9 in the UFC’s bantamweight division, it’s probably fair to suggest that Munhoz won’t move back into title contention any time soon. Judging by last night, though, he’s arguably the division’s best gatekeeper.
Therefore, he should probably face off with another hot prospect in his next fight, and a good opponent for him would be Jonathan Martinez.
‘The Dragon’ is currently ranked at No.14 in the division, and he’s riding a strong five-fight win streak dating back to October 2021. Sure, he hasn’t always been that impressive – many fans felt he didn’t deserve the nod in his last fight with Said Nurmagomedov – but after five years in the promotion, he warrants a crack at an elite-level opponent.
If the matchmakers did make this one, either Martinez would collect the biggest win of his career, or ‘The Young Punisher’ would turn back the challenge of another strong prospect. It’s definitely a fight worth making.
#3. UFC featherweight bout: Arnold Allen vs. Brian Ortega
Arnold Allen suffered the first defeat of his UFC career last night when he fell to Max Holloway in the headline bout. However, he has nothing to be ashamed of.
If anything, ‘Almighty’ pushed Holloway harder than any of his other recent foes, excluding featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. He caught ‘Blessed’ with some hard shots and arguably took two rounds from him.
Essentially, the win should almost enhance his reputation, meaning he’s still a viable title contender.
What's next for him, then? One idea could be to match him against former title challenger Brian Ortega, who hasn’t fought since suffering an arm injury in 2022.
‘T-City’ has arguably the most dangerous ground game at 145 pounds, and he can hit hard, too. Whether he could cope with the pressure that Allen brings, though, would be a fair question.
Overall, this one would be a fantastic fight to watch, and could throw up a genuine title contender afterwards, regardless of who might hold featherweight gold at that point.
#2. UFC flyweight title: Brandon Moreno or Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
Brandon Royval picked up one of the biggest wins of his career in Kansas City last night. He turned out the lights on tough Brazilian Matheus Nicolau with a perfectly-placed knee in the first round, taking his current winning run to three.
Essentially, the next step for ‘Raw Dawg’ should be simple. The Denver native should be handed a crack at the winner of the upcoming UFC flyweight title bout between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja.
Everything is in his favor, basically, from the fact that he’s already beaten Kai Kara-France – one of the few men to be ranked above him – while there are some question marks over the future of former champ Deiveson Figueiredo at 125 pounds.
Sure, ‘Raw Dawg’ has lost to both Moreno and Pantoja before, but he pushed both men hard, and his all-action style would make for a fun title bout.
Whether he could actually win the gold would be questionable, but after last night’s big win, he’s definitely earned a shot.
#1. UFC lightweight bout: Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje
While he was probably last night’s biggest winner thanks to his entertaining victory over Arnold Allen, Max Holloway remains a bit of a tricky fighter to book going forward.
The issue with ‘Blessed’ is the fact that while he’s clearly the second-best 145lber on the planet, he’s also lost to current featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski on three occasions.
Assuming Volkanovski gets past Yair Rodriguez in his next fight, then, the path to a title fight for Holloway is somewhat blocked, despite his wishes for a fourth fight with ‘Alexander the Great’.
Therefore, there are two options for the Hawaiian. The first would be to match him with another ranked featherweight, either a rising star or a veteran like Chan Sung Jung.
The second – and more intriguing – would see Holloway move to 155 pounds, as he’s spoken about doing in recent interviews.
If ‘Blessed’ were to move, then the UFC could do worse than to match him with Justin Gaethje. The self-proclaimed most exciting fighter of all time is coming off a big win over Rafael Fiziev, but is somewhat out of title contention in his own right at the minute.
A win over Holloway, though, would put him right back in, while if ‘Blessed’ could overcome ‘The Highlight’, he could knock on the door of a shot at lightweight gold in his own right.
Add in the fact that this fight could be incredibly exciting to watch, pitting the brutal one-shot kill power of Gaethje against the insane volume and toughness of Holloway, and it almost makes too much sense not to book it.
