4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night 219
UFC Fight Night 219 went down Saturday night in the promotion's Apex facility in Las Vegas. There's no need to sugarcoat this one. On paper, it was probably the weakest card of the year so far. To be totally frank, it could hold its own against the weakest in UFC history.
Thankfully, the card was saved by a great main event.
Headlining honours went to a flyweight clash between No. 10-ranked contender Erin Blanchfieldโarguably the brightest young talent in the division right nowโand the No. 3-ranked Jรฉssica Andrade, who stepped up on short notice to replace Blanchfield's original opponent, Taila Santos.
Short notice or not, it was far and away the biggest test of Blanchfield's career to date, and she passed it with flying colors, submitting Andrade in Round 2 to assert herself as a legitimate title contender in the weight class.
While the main event was the only fight on the card with any serious rankings relevance, the remainder of the bill did provide some memorable moments, including some noteworthy wins from Alexander Hernandez, Philipe Lins and Mayra Bueno Silva, who defeated Jim Miller, Ovince Saint Preux and Lina Lรคnsberg, respectively.
Here are the fights we're hoping to see for the card's biggest winners when the dust has settled.
Erin Blanchfield vs. Shevchenko-Grasso Winner
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At this point, a fight with Jรฉssica Andrade is one of the last stops a fighter makes before a title shot at both strawweight and flyweight. New York's Erin Blanchfield blew right through that station in the UFC Fight Night 219, submitting Andrade with a rear-naked choke in Round 2.
With her weekend win in Vegas, which is by far the best of her career to date, Blanchfield is now 5-0 in the UFC, with three finishesโall at just 23 years old. That is definitely the recipe for a title shot.
The flyweight division has long been ruled by Kyrgyzstan's Valentina Shevchenko, who is as close to an unbeatable champion as you'll find in the UFC right now. She is, of course, set to defend her title against Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 on March 4 and will undoubtedly be given a rematch in the unlikely event that she loses her title to the Mexican challenger.
One way or the other, Blanchfield should clearly be the next woman up for the title when Shevchenko and Grasso have handled their business.
France's Manon Fiorot is also very much in the conversationโand arguably deserving of a title shot herselfโbut she has said she'd like one more fight before she challenges the champion. It's somewhat tempting to suggest she fights Blanchfield next, but booking the pair against each other will effectively kill a contender in a division that definitely needs them.
So let's give the next shot to Blanchfieldโmaybe as soon as this summer. By the time that's done, Fiorot will have hopefully picked up one last win and be well positioned to fight whomever holds the title at the time.
The oddsmakers will tell you it'll still be Shevchenko, but Blanchfield has proved she has the chops to beat the long-reigning champion. In fact, after Fight Night 219, she seems to have a better shot than anyone in the division at pulling it off.
Alexander Hernandez vs. Michael Johnson
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Alexander Hernandez made the most of a great opportunity at UFC Fight Night 219, defeating lightweight veteran Jim Miller by unanimous decision after stepping in to replace Miller's original opponent, Gabriel Benitez, on short notice.
It wasn't a lopsided winโMiller won a round on most viewers' scorecardsโbut it was a very valuable one for Hernandez, who, after a strong start in the UFC, had lost four of his last six fights with the promotion heading into the weekend.
Hernandez deserves a nice reward for his short-notice win over Miller. Our pick is a fight with another veteran in Michael Johnson. While Johnson's days as a lightweight contender are clearly long over, he remains a well-known name in the weight class, and after a win over Marc Diakiese in his last fight, he is due for a nice fight.
A Hernandez vs. Johnson bout makes sense for both guys, and it will tell us a lot about where they belong in the lightweight pecking order in 2023.
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Miesha Tate
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Erin Blanchfield was not the only woman to pick up an impressive submission win at UFC Fight Night 219. Earlier on the card, No. 14-ranked bantamweight Mayra Bueno Silva defeated Sweden's Lina Lรคnsberg with a second-round kneebar.
It was the Brazilian's third win in a row, and it should set her up for a big fight in the bantamweight division. As a relatively new addition to the rankings, she has plenty of options. Our pick is a fight with No. 10-ranked contender Miesha Tate, a former champ up at bantamweight.
Tate is riding two decision lossesโto Ketlen Vieira and Lauren Murphy. Ordinarily, the UFC doesn't like matching fighters on winning streaks with fighters on losing streaks, but as a former champion who is still ranked in the top 10 of her division, Tate is a bit of a special case. She remains both a big name and tough test, which makes her just the kind of opponent Silva needs as she looks to take the next step in her weight class.
The cherry on top? Silva has called out Tate before, and the former champion said before Saturday's card that she was down to fight whomever came out on top in the Brazilian's clash with Lรคnsberg.
"I had called out Miesha [Tate], and she answered this week," Silva told UFC.com ahead of the card. "She said if I win my fight, she's ready to fight."
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Philipe Lins vs. Ihor Potieria
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Hardcore fight fans had high hopes for Philipe Lins when he debuted in the UFC heavyweight division in 2020. While the Brazilian had suffered a few tough losses in the Bellator cage by that point, the most recent chapter of his career occurred in the Professional Fighters League, where he became a world champion in 2018.
Lins' first two fights in the UFC didn't go as planned, as he lost back-to-back fights to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser, neither of whom was considered a top fighter at the time.
The good news is that he finally seems to have hit his stride in the promotion, and a move down to the light heavyweight division was evidently the key.
Lins scored his second straight win in the weight class at UFC Fight Night 219, knocking out former title challenger Ovince Saint Preux inside a round. That's not quite as impressive as his winning a major title in the PFL, but it is easily one of the best wins of his career to date. It should set him up for a big fight in the light heavyweight division.
Our pick is a fight with Ukraine's Ihor Potieria, who recently disappointed an entire generation of MMA fans by knocking out Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the Brazilian legend's retirement fight.
It makes sense for both guys, and given the power they have both proved they possess, it seems unlikely it goes all three rounds. Get the bonus checks ready.
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