5 Fights We Need to See After UFC 295
UFC 295 went down on Saturday night in New York City, and by the time it was over, two new champions had been crowned.
First up was England's Tom Aspinall, who scored a 69-second knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich in the card's co-main event, capturing the interim heavyweight title in the process. Next, in the main event, was Brazil's Alex Pereira, who scored a second-round knockout win over Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant light heavyweight title.
Pereira and Aspinall's title wins opened the door to some huge fights in both of their divisions, and earlier in the night, several other fighters made similar splashes—even without belts on the line.
Chief among those fighters were former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade, who corrected a three-fight skid with a knockout win over longtime contender Mackenzie Dern, and Benoit Saint Denis, who scored a first-round knockout win over No. 14 lightweight Matt Frevola to become a contender himself.
Keep reading for the fights we're hoping to see next for the card's big winners, and one of the losers.
Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill
1 of 5
After knocking out Jiri Prochazka to win the vacant light heavyweight belt, Alex Pereira set his sights on the chief rival of his combat sports career: Israel Adesanya.
"We have a lot of history," the new light heavyweight champ said in his post-fight interview. "I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy."
Pereira and Adesanya definitely have history. Pereira beat his rival twice under kickboxing rules, and later under MMA rules to claim the UFC middleweight belt. They then met for a fourth time earlier this year, when Adesanya finally put a point on the board with a dramatic knockout win of his own.
It would not be surprising to see Pereira and Adesanya meet again before all is said and done, but the former recently laid out plans to take a long break from competition. Breaks are good in a sport as physically taxing as MMA, and after maintaining one of the busiest schedules in the sport for years, Adesanya has definitely earned some R&R. So let's leave him to it and book Pereira against former light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill.
Hill won the title with a decision defeat of Pereira's coach Glover Teixeira earlier this year, but just like Prochazka before him, was forced to vacate the belt with a serious injury.
He's now on the mend, and presuming he's ready to fight soon, he should be next up for the new champ.
Jiri Prochazka vs. Nikita Krylov
2 of 5
Jiri Prochazka's title dreams were dashed at UFC 295, but he's unlikely to fall too far in defeat, as he performed well in his fight with Pereira and was also the victim of a somewhat dubious referee stoppage. It'll likely only take a win or two to put himself in position for another crack at the belt.
Unfortunately, he'll be looking to bounce back at a busy time for the light heavyweight division. Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, both of whom would be great opponents for him, will presumably run it back soon after fighting to a no contest at UFC 294 last month. Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic, who would also be great tests for Prochazka, were also just booked to meet again. Assuming Pereira and Hill meet next, that leaves just a few top-10 light heavyweights for Prochazka to choose from. The best option seems to be Nikita Krylov.
Krylov, ranked No. 6 at 205 pounds, is riding impressive wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir and Ryan Spann. He hasn't fought since he beat Spann in March, but assuming he's currently able to compete, he'd be a perfect test for the rebounding No. 1 contender Prochazka.
Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones
3 of 5
Tom Aspinall is now the interim UFC heavyweight champion. Ordinarily, that would guarantee him a fight with the undisputed champ at the earliest possibly juncture, in this case Jon Jones, but these are not ordinary circumstances.
Jones was originally supposed to defend his belt against former champ Stipe Miocic in the UFC 295 main event, but he was forced off the card with an injury, which is what pushed the UFC to book an interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich for the card. For increasingly unclear reasons, Dana White remains hellbent on rebooking the fight between Jones and Miocic before allowing Aspinall and Jones to unify their titles, but the UFC boss needs to give up on that dream.
For all he's accomplished, Miocic is 41 years old and hasn't won a fight since the early days of the pandemic. He was also brutally knocked out by Francis Ngannou in his last fight, and even that was way back in March of 2021. There is no reason to believe he is still a credible challenge to Jones. Aspinall, meanwhile, looks like a serious threat to Jones, and in the eyes of some fans and pundits, should actually be favored to beat the MMA legend.
If the UFC's mission is serious about its mission—to crown the Ultimate Fighting Champion in each of its weight classes—then there is no other fight at heavyweight than Aspinall vs. Jones.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas III
4 of 5
Jessica Andrade stepped into the Octagon at UFC 295 riding three straight losses. Suffice it to say that she was in desperate need of her win in her main card fight with rising strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern.
In the end, Andrade got the win she sought in emphatic fashion, scoring multiple knockdowns en route to a second-round knockout win.
With the win, the Brazilian defended her spot as the UFC's No. 5 strawweight. Unfortunately, she's in a bit of a tough position. Due in large part to her frantically busy schedule, she has already fought many of the fighters in the strawweight top 10, and many of them quite recently. As such, there are not a ton of great options out there for her as she looks to continue her march back into title contention.
Thankfully, there is one interesting possibility: a trilogy fight with a fellow former champ in Rose Namajunas.
Andrade won her first fight with Namajunas in style, claiming the strawweight title with a slam-induced knockout. Their second fight unfolded much differently, with Namajunas winning a clear decision. There have been grounds for a tie-breaker between them since their last fight ended, and in the final months of 2023, the timing seems perfect.
Andrade is back on track at strawweight, and Namajunas recently came up short in her flyweight debut, losing a decision to a bigger and stronger Manon Fiorot. Assuming Namajunas is down to return to strawweight, this is the fight to make.
Benoit Saint Denis vs. Jalin Turner
5 of 5
After an impressive knockout win over No. 14 lightweight contender Matt Frevola—which one very smug B/R writer predicted down to the round—France's Benoit Saint Denis is headed for the division's top 15. From that lofty vantage point, he's in position for scraps with some of the best fighters in the UFC.
If Saint Denis has his way, it will be a top-10 contender like Mateusz Gamrot, Dustin Poirier or Justin Gaethje next. Those were ambitious callouts to make after his win over Frevola, and we commend him for shooting his shot, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Those guys are all at the top of the mountain. The Frenchman just reached basecamp.
Instead, we'd suggest a smaller step up for a fight with No. 11-ranked lightweight contender Jalin Turner. Turner has lost back-to-back fights against Gamrot and Dan Hooker, but both losses were split decisions. He's still firmly embedded among the sport's top lightweights, and much like Saint Denis, has proven himself as a potent finisher on the feet on the mat.
It makes sense from a rankings standpoint, and it's a beautiful fight on paper. It would make an excellent addition to any card that it lands on.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
