4 Fights We Need to See After UFC on ESPN 51
UFC on ESPN 51 went down inside the promotion's Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday, and the fans that tuned in were rewarded with nine impressive finishes in 13 fights.
The main event, which pitted Vicente Luque against Rafael dos Anjos, wasn't one of the fights to end with a finish, but was still fairly entertaining, as Luque landed a career-high eight takedowns to capture a competitive unanimous-decision win.
The co-main event also went the distance, with featherweight veteran Cub Swanson picking up a much more dubious unanimous-decision victory over Hakeem Dawodu after three rounds.
Before that the finishes were frequent and, for the most part, fast.
One of the best finishes of the night came from knockout artist Khalil Rountree, who needed only 2:40 to spoil the light heavyweight debut of former heavyweight contender Chris Daukus with a big punch.
There were also a bunch of slick submissions on the card. One of the most impactful was Slovakian heavyweight Martin Buday's first-round kimura against Josh Parisian, which registered as his fourth victory in the UFC and twelfth overall.
As always, it'll be interesting to see which way the UFC matchmakers go for the card's big winners, but here are the fights we hope will be made going forward.
Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland
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Welterweight striker Vicente Luque showed a new side of his game on Saturday, leaning on his takedowns to defeat former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
Ahead of the fight, Luque was ranked No. 10 at welterweight. It remains to be seen what the win over dos Anjos, who is unranked in the division, will do for his standing in the rankings, but it's safe to say there's another big name waiting in his future. Given that he's already fought the likes of Geoff Neal and Stephen Thompson, and is a close friend of Gilbert Burns, our pick for his next opponent is No. 12 contender Kevin Holland.
Holland, one of just a few welterweights without a fight booked, has been hot and cold in the UFC, but when he wins, he wins extremely impressively. His latest triumph was a great example of that, as he submitted a submission specialist in Michael Chiesa.
He and Luque are right in each other's orbits, on similar schedules, and they match up beautifully on paper. Book it for the opening bout of an upcoming pay-per-view to ensure things get off to an entertaining start.
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Li Jingliang
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It's a shame Rafael dos Anjos is so against returning to the lightweight division.
It's not that he looked particularly bad in his latest welterweight fight, it just seems like there are a lot more interesting options for him at 155 pounds.
Imagine, for example, fights between dos Anjos and other experienced lightweights like Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Dan Hooker, all of whom remain relevant in the weight class but are not currently in the title picture. Those are great matchups, and while dos Anjos would be the underdog in a few of them, they would probably be pretty competitive.
The options aren't quite as appetizing at welterweight, in large part because dos Anjos has won just one fight in the weight class since 2019—a submission win over the entertaining but unranked Bryan Barberena.
Long story short, if dos Anjos is really intent on staying at welterweight, his next fight will probably be against somebody who is neither ranked nor a huge name.
The best choice of the options available would seem to be China's Li Jingliang who, like dos Anjos, is hovering just outside the rankings after a competitive decision loss against Daniel Rodriguez in an extremely short-notice catchweight fight.
Li is currently on the mend from an April spine injury but, presuming it's not going to keep him out of action for too much longer, he seems like just the right kind of opponent for dos Anjos.
Khalil Rountree vs. Volkan Oezdemir
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Khalil Rountree has got to be one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC right now. He has wild and creative striking, and throws every punch, kick and knee with the nastiest of intentions. Not even Chris Daukaus, who was once considered a serious contender up at heavyweight, could withstand Rountree's furious aggression.
Rountree's first-round stop of the former heavyweight brought his current streak to four, and three of those have come by way of violent finish. The American knockout artist was already sitting at No. 13 at light heavyweight ahead of Saturday and could well be looking at a top-10 foe in his next appearance. Our first choice for him would be Switzerland's Volkan Oezdemir, who has shown a similar propensity for vicious KOs, if a little less frequently.
Oezdemir, ranked No. 9, is currently booked for a fight with Uzbekistan's Bogdan Guskov on September 2 in Paris. Guskov looks like a good fighter, but is making his UFC debut in the matchup, having replaced Oezdemir's original opponent for the card, Azamat Murzakanov.
If Oezdemir wins that fight, he should be Rountree's next opponent. If Guskov plays the spoiler, then pit Rountree against Murzakanov when he's healed up from the injury that ruled him out of the Oezdemir fight.
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Martin Buday vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
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A bunch of fighters made big statements on Saturday, but it's hard not fixate on Slovakian heavyweight Martin Buday, who has now won 12 straight fights, including four in the Octagon, and looks like he is ready for a ranked opponent.
Commentator Daniel Cormier gave Buday the chance to call somebody out in their post-fight interview, but the Slovakian wasted the opportunity to set himself up for a big test, instead only making a vague and unenthusiastic request for a fight with somebody in the rankings.
We're going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's just not a big talker. From here, we'd like to see him matched up with No. 15 heavyweight contender Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
De Lima was on a pretty impressive hot streak himself until he rank into knockout specialist Derrick Lewis late last month, suffering a brutal stoppage loss inside a minute.
However, he's now had 17 fights between the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and has proven he's a tough out for most fighters in either weight class.
If Buday can get by him, it'll be time to start talking about matching him up with fighters of Lewis' caliber.
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