5 Fights We Need to See After UFC on ESPN 54
Manon Fiorot is undeniable.
In the main event of Saturday's UFC on ESPN 54 card in Atlantic City, the Frenchwoman scored her 11th straight win, handing No. 1 contender Erin Blanchfield a unanimous-decision loss to steal the flyweight division's top spot herself. She arguably deserved a title shot before meeting Blanchfield in the Octagon, but after the fight, there is no question.
Fiorot wasn't the only fighter to put forth a career-changing performance in Atlantic City. In the co-main event, unranked welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley earned himself a spot in the Top 15 with an upset stoppage over the No. 11-ranked Vicente Luque. After his fight with Luque, which he took on short notice, Buckley can expect another big fight in the division's upper echelon.
Former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman also scored a sorely needed win on the card, defeating Brazil's Bruno Silva with a technical decision. The fight was originally called a TKO, but when it became clear that Weidman's stoppage had been set up by two blatant eye pokes, the verdict was changed. One way or the other, it put the former champ back in the win column after tough losses in his last two fights.
All-action featherweight Nate Landwehr also deserves some props for his handiwork in Atlantic City. "The Train" dazzled the New Jersey crowd by running over Jamall Emmers with a first-round uppercut. Like Fiorot, Buckley and Weidman, he can expect a big fight next time out.
Keep scrolling for the fights we hope will be made for the card's big winners when the dust has settled.
Manon Fiorot vs. Grasso-Shevchenko Winner
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Manon Fiorot has now won 11 straight fights, including seven in the UFC. Her latest, a unanimous-decision win over Erin Blanchfield in Atlantic City, was the biggest of the bunch, and it made her the clear-cut No. 1 contender at flyweight contender at flyweight.
However, she'll have to wait for her shot at the belt. While there is no question she deserves the opportunity, champion Alexa Grasso will first coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter against former champ Valentina Shevchenko, and when that's wrapped up, the two flyweight stars are expected to compete in a trilogy fight.
It's hard to say who will win the trilogy. Grasso won the first fight by submission in a huge upset, but the second fight was a draw that many people seemed to score in Shevchenko's favor. The third fight could end any number of ways. It's also unclear when the two flyweight greats will actually get into the Octagon with each other again, but it could be as late as this fall.
One way or the other, Fiorot should be next in line. It's too bad she has to wait, but unless she wants to risk her title shot against somebody like Maycee Barber, it seems the obvious choice.
Erin Blanchfield vs. Amanda Ribas
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Erin Blanchfield was a slight favorite heading into her fight with Manon Fiorot and was believed to possess a clear grappling advantage in the matchup. However, she couldn't get her takedowns going, which left her to get pieced up on the feet by a significantly better striker.
It was a tough loss for the American, but she is still just 24 and has plenty of time to shore up the holes in her game and get back on track. In fact, it should only take another win or two to put her right back in the title conversation.
We'd like to see her attempt to get back on track against Brazil's Amanda Ribas. The ninth-ranked Ribas was in action last weekend, when she suffered a decision loss to former flyweight champ Rose Namajunas.
The fight would admittedly be a bit of a step down for Blanchfield, but at this point in her career, that might do her some good, as she looks to tighten up her striking and regain her confidence. For Ribas, on the other hand, it would be a huge opportunity to get back on track and leapfrog a bunch of other contenders in the process.
Joaquin Buckley vs. Michael Page
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After his win over Vicente Luque in Atlantic City, Joaquin Buckley can expect to land somewhere just outside the welterweight Top 10 when the rankings are updated this week. That will set him up for a host of new matchup possibilities, and some of them are extremely exciting on paper. One of the best is a potential clash with British striker Michael "Venom" Page.
Page, a former Bellator star, made his UFC debut at UFC 299 earlier this month, defeating Kevin Holland by unanimous decision on the main card. Much like Buckley's win over Luque, the victory pushed him into the welterweight Top 15 for the first time and set him up for some huge fights.
Page is a big star and might have been hoping for someone with a little more cachet than Buckley, but he recently assured B/R he doesn't care who fights at all. Buckley will also most likely be ahead of him in the rankings later this week, which will make the matchup more alluring for the Brit.
The real appeal of this matchup, however, is the possibility of a crazy knockout. Page and Buckley are behind some of the most viral knockouts in MMA history, and both are wholly capable of shutting the other's lights off with something out of a video game.
It could be a great addition to the UFC's upcoming return to Manchester, or the matchmakers could give Buckley his wish and book it for the main event of the promotion's May 11 stop in St. Louis. Anything would be better than the Derrick Lewis vs. Rodrigo Nascimento main event we'll apparently be getting.
Chris Weidman vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
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Chris Weidman needed a win in Atlantic City. The former champ had won just twice in his eight fights since he lost the belt to Luke Rockhold in 2015, and that included a brutal loss to Uriah Hall, which left him with a broken leg.
Weidman got the win he sought on Saturday, but it was rife with controversy, as he essentially finished Bruno Silva with a pair of eye pokes. It might have been ruled a no-contest or disqualification in other jurisdictions, but in New Jersey, it was changed from a TKO to a technical decision, meaning it will remain a win on Weidman's resume, and a loss on Silva's.
In the aftermath of the fight, Silva has called for a rematch. That would definitely be justified, but given that Weidman is clearly in the last few years of his career, it seems pointless to waste his time on do-overs. His time would be much better used in fresh matchups, and there are plenty of opportunities you could give Silva that are just as valuable as a rematch with the struggling former champion.
Let's let the two men go their separate ways, and match Weidman with Edmen Shahbazyan. Shahbazyan was never a champion, but in the earlier chapters of his UFC career, he was considered a future title challenger.
After a disappointing run in his last few fights, he got back on track at the last event in the UFC Apex, surviving an early scare to knock out AJ Dobson inside the first round. The win wasn't anywhere near enough to put him back in title contention, but much like Weidman's dubious win over Silva, it kept his UFC career alive.
Match him up with the former champ for an exciting style clash that would give the winner a nice push back to where they want to be.
Nate Landwehr vs. Bryce Mitchell
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Nate Landwehr's vicious first-round knockout of Jamall Emmers on Saturday night was good for a $50,000 performance bonus. It should also set him up for a big step up in competition.
From the sound of it, he's up for fighting anybody. However, he seems particularly interested in the idea of a fight with No. 10 featherweight contender Bryce Mitchell.
"Man, [I'll fight] whoever," Landwehr told the media post-fight (via MMA Mania). "We got to figure out how long it's going to take this cut to heal and see what UFC wants me to do. I'm a fighter—fighters fight—and I'm ready to go."
"If they want that fight [with Mitchell], that's a good fight. I mean, he's got a great following. He's got his own swag, and I got mine, and I think that'd be a good one."
This would be a big step up for Landwehr, who is not ranked in the Top 15. But it looks like a sweet matchup on paper, and it's all the more alluring considering his and Mitchell's enigmatic personalities. There's just no way it wouldn't be entertaining.
Mitchell is still on the mend from a vicious knockout loss to Josh Emmett, but Landwehr admitted he won't be able to fight any time soon due to the cut he suffered in his fight with Emmers, so the timing of this one could turn out to be perfect.
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