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UFC 251 is in the books and following a great show, Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan have UFC gold around their waists. The show wasn’t too high on violent finishes, but most of the fights on tap were high-level stuff. Most notably, the results should lead to some epic fights in the near future.
So what’s next for some of last night’s biggest stars?
#1 Kamaru Usman
There’s an obvious opponent out there for UFC Welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, and his name is Gilbert Burns. ‘Durinho’ was, of course, supposed to fight Usman for the title last night, but a positive test for COVID-19 forced him out of the reckoning.
With Usman’s largely comfortable win over Jorge Masvidal, there shouldn’t be any issue with Burns being handed the next shot at ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. The Brazilian will hopefully recover from COVID-19 quickly and if that’s the case, the UFC could even book this fight as early as October or November, depending on whether Usman took any damage last night.
Would Burns be able to give Usman a tougher challenge than Masvidal did? It’s hard to say. ‘Durinho’ is a genuinely brilliant submission artist and his striking has also improved dramatically to the point where he was able to break former champ Tyron Woodley down with ease.
But Usman is unbeaten in the UFC at 12-0 and nobody has been able to come close to beating him yet. His brand of power, athleticism, and cerebral nature makes him the best Welterweight we’ve seen in the UFC since the heyday of Georges St-Pierre a decade ago.
Burns has earned his shot and so the UFC should give it to him. But it’s hard to see anyone dethroning ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ any time soon.
#2 Jorge Masvidal
Considering he took the fight on short notice, Jorge Masvidal should have nothing to be ashamed of after his loss to Kamaru Usman. ‘Gamebred’ gave it his best shot, but he simply couldn’t get his striking game going and succumbed to the clinch work and takedowns of a man who might be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC right now.
Masvidal has already stated that he wants another shot at Usman, but he’ll need to win another fight before that happens. The best option for an opponent? Leon Edwards.
The native of Birmingham, England is currently ranked at #4 in the UFC’s Welterweight division, just one spot behind Masvidal. He’s also on a massive win streak – coming out on top in his last eight fights. And more fascinatingly, he’s already got major beef with ‘Gamebred’.
For those who’ve forgotten, the two men had a wild confrontation backstage at last year’s UFC Fight Night 147 in London, ending with Masvidal landing a sucker-punch to ‘Rocky’. Edwards is simply not the kind of man to let that lie. But unfortunately for him, Masvidal’s rise to stardom meant that the UFC hasn’t been able to book a grudge match between the two.
Following his failed title shot though, ‘Gamebred’ will have to go through another highly ranked fighter if he wants to get another crack at Usman. Edwards, meanwhile, is desperate for his own shot and needs one more big win to cement it.
Simply put, this fight makes too much sense for the UFC to not book next.
#3 Alexander Volkanovski
The UFC Featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway was almost too close to call. In the end, the judges went with the Australian, allowing him to retain his title. The UFC could book another rematch between the two, but should they? In all honesty, no.
There are simply too many high-level contenders at 145lbs for the UFC to cause that kind of logjam. And with that in mind, both Volkanovski and Holloway could do with fighting other opponents before facing each other again.
There are a number of possible challengers for ‘Alexander the Great’, but for me, the best one available right now would be Chan Sung Jung.
Not only is ‘The Korean Zombie’ wildly popular, but he’s also coming off two superb knockout wins over Renato Moicano and Frankie Edgar – becoming only the second fighter to stop the latter in the process.
Whether his all-action style would prove to be kryptonite for Volkanovski is another question entirely. But the truth is that the Zombie has never had a dull fight in his UFC career. There’s no reason to think that a fight with the Aussie would be the first, and you can bet that there’d be a lot of interest in it.
Jung is ranked #4 right now, but with Zabit Magomedsharipov already booked in a fight and Brian Ortega coming off a long time on the shelf, this is the fight that makes sense as the next UFC Featherweight title clash.
#4 Max Holloway
If the UFC does avoid an immediate Volkanovski/Holloway rematch then, who should be next for Hawaii’s favorite son? This one is a little tricky.
‘Blessed’ has already beaten Brian Ortega and so it’d seem pointless to book a rematch between the two before ‘T-City’ has a chance to fight anyone else first. And the likes of Josh Emmett and Calvin Kattar don’t quite feel like they’re on Holloway’s level yet.
One fight that could make sense though would be a clash between the Hawaiian and the winner of the upcoming Yair Rodriguez/Zabit Magomedsharipov clash.
The duo don’t do battle until August 29th – meaning Holloway would probably have to wait until at least November or December for the fight. But it’d definitely be his best route to another shot at the title.
More to the point, both Zabit and Rodriguez simply guarantee excitement every time they step into the Octagon. And whether it’s Rodriguez’s wild striking or Magomedsharipov’s incredible pressure and grappling, ‘Blessed’ would be in for a hell of a fight.
The UFC could easily use this fight to main-event a show later in 2020 – perhaps their first in Hawaii, COVID-19 dependent.
#5 Petr Yan
The UFC’s newly-minted Bantamweight champion, Petr Yan looked phenomenal last night. He fought through some adversity to break down the legendary former UFC Featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo en route to a fifth-round TKO to claim the title vacated by Henry Cejudo.
Yan should not rest easy, though. There’s a red-hot contender waiting in the wings for his own shot, and realistically, he has his own claim to being the best 135lber on the planet. His name? Aljamain Sterling.
‘Funk Master’ was last seen throttling the previously undefeated (in the UFC) Cory Sandhagen in just over a minute at UFC 250. The win was his fifth in a row, and prior to that, he’d defeated the likes of Pedro Munhoz, Jimmie Rivera, and Cody Stamann.
A fight with Yan would provide the Russian with a totally different test than Aldo gave him. Where that fight was almost a pure striking battle, Sterling has the kind of grappling to give any fighter serious issues.
We’ve never really seen the ground game of ‘No Mercy’ tested, but you can almost guarantee that Sterling would look to change that. Overall this would be a fantastic title fight to make. And assuming Yan didn’t take too much damage last night, the UFC should look to book it as soon as they possibly can.
