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The UFC visited Raleigh, North Carolina last night for Fight Night 166, and in a largely entertaining show, we saw plenty of finishes, including one in the main event as Curtis Blaydes stated his claim as the top contender at Heavyweight by stopping former champion Junior Dos Santos in the second round.
Elsewhere on the card, Michael Chiesa picked up his biggest win to date by outworking Rafael Dos Anjos for a unanimous decision, while in the most relevant fight on the preliminary portion, hot prospect Arnold Allen defeated hardened veteran Nik Lentz.
So where should last night’s big stars go from here? Here are a few suggestions.
#1 Curtis Blaydes
Last night’s biggest winner was Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes, who overcame former UFC champion Junior Dos Santos in the main event. The hulking wrestler continued to show new wrinkles in his overall game, as when he found that he couldn’t take JDS down as he’d done to practically all of his previous opponents, he simply used the threat of the takedown to set up a huge right hand that led to his TKO win.
So who should Blaydes face next? The problem the UFC has is that with a third fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier for the Heavyweight title booked, and Francis Ngannou – who has already beaten Blaydes twice – booked against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, not only is there a logjam at the top of the division, but ‘Razor’ has already fought many of the other fighters available.
A lot then depends on whether Blaydes wants to stay active, or wait and hope for the title shot that might come if Rozenstruik upsets Ngannou. The former would probably be more advisable given that he isn’t a mainstream star yet and the UFC could easily give ‘Bigi Boy’ a shot with a win over ‘The Predator’, so with that in mind, a showdown with Derrick Lewis – if ‘The Black Beast’ overcomes Ilir Latifi at UFC 247 – could work, as it would offer Blaydes a chance to beat a former title challenger and would be a winnable fight due to Lewis’s negligent takedown defense.
#2 Junior Dos Santos
It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly a decade since Junior Dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight title by defeating Cain Velasquez, but a lot has happened since then and most notably, ‘Cigano’ has suffered a handful of bad losses that have left him far less able to weather punishment than he once was. Would the Dos Santos of 2011 have gone down against Blaydes in the way he did last night? Most likely not.
With that said, JDS clearly has something to offer to the division; it’s less than a year since he defeated Derrick Lewis by TKO, for instance, and while he might not be able to compete with the elite any more, he’s still more than a handful for any prospects coming up the ladder looking to make a name for themselves.
That’s why I’d look to match him with Sergey Pavlovich next. The Russian debuted in the UFC back in 2018 and lost to Alistair Overeem via TKO, but since then he’s looked excellent, winning his last two fights in violent fashion with a boxing-heavy game. So could he use those heavy hands to take out Dos Santos? Or could JDS turn back his challenge as he did to Tai Tuivasa in 2018? It sounds like an excellent fight to me.
#3 Michael Chiesa
Michael Chiesa moved to 170lbs in 2018 following a pair of losses at 155lbs and some issues making the weight limit, and while his wins over Carlos Condit and Diego Sanchez suggested that he had some strong potential in his new division, his win last night over Rafael Dos Anjos proved that he’ll be a handful for anyone at Welterweight.
‘Maverick’ called out Colby Covington for his next fight, but would that be something the UFC would consider? It’s hard to say. On one hand, it’d be tempting for the promotion to look to match ‘Chaos’ against a bigger star given his notoriety, but on the other hand, Chiesa will likely end up ranked in the top 5 of the division after his win over Dos Anjos and so it’d be a valid fight to make.
Despite that, I just can’t see it happening. Covington was notoriously tricky for the UFC to deal with prior to his recent loss to Kamaru Usman, and although Chiesa sounds like a good match for him on paper – it’s hard to see Chiesa comfortably out-grappling a wrestler as good as Colby – ‘Chaos’ will probably see himself as being above such a fight.
I’d therefore like to see the UFC match Chiesa with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson next. Thompson last defeated Vicente Luque in a fantastic fight at UFC 244, and he’d make for an interesting fight for ‘Maverick’; could Chiesa get through his pinpoint striking to impose his grappling game? It’d be a classic style clash and could easily main event a UFC Fight Night card later in 2020.
#4 Rafael Dos Anjos
Rafael Dos Anjos was one of last night’s biggest losers; the Brazilian went into his fight with Michael Chiesa as the betting favorite, and despite losing his last fight to Leon Edwards, was ranked at #5 in the Welterweight division, meaning he was still a viable title contender. After Chiesa defeated him in the same fashion that Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington and Edwards did though, it’s hard to see him in the same light.
The loss essentially exposed a major flaw in RDA’s skillset; he’s a fantastic offensive fighter in all areas, but simply can’t handle much larger fighters who can stifle him on the ground. The issue for Dos Anjos is that while he wouldn’t suffer from the same issues at 155lbs, he can’t make that weight safely. So essentially, he’s now in a role as a very high-level gatekeeper at Welterweight.
With that in mind then, there are a couple of potential fights for him to take next, but the one I’d like to see would pit him against hot prospect Geoff Neal. ‘Handz of Steel’ moved into the top 10 with his win over Mike Perry at UFC 245, has incredibly heavy strikes, and is unbeaten in the UFC at 5-0 – but he’s still unproven against elite-level opponents.
RDA would not only provide him with an elite-level test, but it’d also make for a fun fight for the Brazilian, as Neal wouldn’t look to simply stifle him on the ground. In every possible way, this sounds like a hell of a fight.
#5 Arnold Allen
British Featherweight Arnold Allen defeated the tough veteran Nik Lentz last night via a clear unanimous decision, largely using his striking skill – in particular, a ramrod jab – to outpoint ‘The Carny’ across 3 rounds. The win moved ‘Almighty’ to 7-0 in the UFC, but despite this he remains outside the top 15 at 145lbs.
Allen was initially pegged to face Josh Emmett at last night’s show, but with Emmett sidelined with an undisclosed injury, the fight fell apart. Could the UFC simply look to re-book the two men together? Emmett is currently ranked at #9 and so it’d make sense for the Brit, but what if ‘The Grim Reaper’ is out for an extended period?
If that’s the case, then the best bet for Allen’s next opponent could be Frankie Edgar. Sure, ‘The Answer’ is coming off a bad loss at the hands of Chan Sung Jung, but he would still represent the highest profile opponent of Allen’s career, and almost certainly has the skills to potentially outwork ‘Almighty’ should he prove to not quite be ready for the next level of competition.
