4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night
UFC 300 was, arguably, the best card in the promotion's history, and Saturday's UFC on ESPN 55 bill looked puny by comparison but ultimately overdelivered in terms of action.
Headlining honours went to a flyweight fight, with No. 5 contender Matheus Nicolau taking on the No. 8-ranked Alex Perez.
Perez had been scheduled to fight Tagir Ulanbekov in June, but he stepped in against Nicolau at short notice to replace the injured Manel Kape. The gamble paid off, as he flattened his rival with a sizzling right hook in Round 2.
Things ended in similar fashion in the co-main event, a light heavyweight fight between Ryan Spann and Bogdan Guskov.
The No. 11-ranked Spann was a big step up for the unranked Guskov, but the Uzbekistan talent rose to the challenge with a second-round knockout win.
Rising flyweight contender Karine Silva also impressed on Saturday, outworking fan favorite finisher Ariane da Silva to a wide unanimous-decision win. Jhonata Diniz had a big night too, living up to the hype he created on Dana White's Contender Series in 2023 with a second-round knockout of former NFL talent Austen Lane.
People will be talking about UFC 300 in the lead-up to UFC 400 four or five years down the road. UFC on ESPN 55 will be forgotten within a few weeks, but it was still a packed card that opened the door to some great contests.
Keep scrolling for the matchups we're hoping will be made when the dust has settled.
Alex Perez vs. Manel Kape
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Alex Perez has never looked better than he did on Saturday. He demolished Matheus Nicolau with a single punch, which was all the more impressive considering we haven't seen much one-punch power from him in the past.
Still, you only get so many points for beating somebody in a short-notice fight, especially when you're riding three straight losses, as Perez was heading into the weekend.
While it's tempting to suggest Perez should fight somebody like former champ Brandon Moreno, we'd like to see him matched up with Manel Kape.
The former Rizin champion was massively hyped when he joined the UFC in 2021. Despite some key wins, he has failed to deliver on that hype, thanks to a few tough losses, and some horrible stretches of inactivity. Per Tapology, he's had nine fights cancelled since he joined the promotion in March 2020.
While his habit of pulling out of fights has been a huge detriment to his standing in the flyweight division, there's no question Kape is still a top fighter. And as the No. 6 contender in the weight class, he looks like the perfect opponent for Perez.
The pair match up nicely on paper, and even better, Perez is one of the many opponents Kape has had to bail on since joining the UFC, so there's some history between them.
Book it for an upcoming main card, whether it's a Fight Night or pay-per-view.
Bogdan Guskov vs. Menifield-Ulberg Winner
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Bogdan Guskov entered the UFC on short notice, replacing the injured Azamat Murzakanov against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir.
As expected, the Uzbekistan fighter suffered a tough submission loss, but after a quick knockout of Zac Pauga in February, he asserted himself as a legitimate title threat with a second-round knockout of No. 11 light heavyweight contender Ryan Spann on Saturday.
As a new face in the light heavyweight division, Guskov has a ton of fresh matchups to look forward to, but our pick is one with the winner of a May 11 fight between No. 12 light heavyweight contender Alonzo Menifield and streaking Israel Adesanya-stablemate Carlos Ulberg.
Like Guskov, the winner of the Menifield-Ulberg fight will be on the cusp of the light heavyweight top 10.
The real appeal of this fight, though, is that Guskov, Menifield and Ulberg all have proven, one-shot knockout power. No matter which matchup we get, the odds of a highlight-reel KO are high.
Karine Silva vs. Tracy Cortez
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After her lopsided decision win over Ariane da Silva on Saturday, Brazilian flyweight contender Karine Silva has now won nine straight fights, including four in the Octagon.
That's quite a streak in a sport as volatile as MMA, and considering she was already ranked No. 13 in the UFC flyweight division before the weekend, it's fair to say she's a serious threat to the fighters in the Top 10.
Our pick for her next fight is Tracy Cortez. Like Silva, she entered the MMA limelight on Dana White's Contender Series, and has since justified her place on the UFC roster with a string of impressive wins—five, to be exact.
Her latest, a September decision over Jasmine Jasudavicius, earned her the No. 11 spot in the flyweight rankings, which makes her the perfect next step for the rising Silva.
At this point, Cortez would probably be an underdog against the Brazilian Silva, who has finished a ridiculous 17 of her 18 pro wins, but Cortez has also proved she's the kind of fighter who shouldn't be counted out.
This one feels PPV-worthy, but if we get it for free on a Fight Night, nobody is going to complain.
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Jhonata Diniz
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The list of former Glory kickboxers to compete in the UFC grows ever longer. Following in the footsteps of legends like Gokhan Saki, Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, Jhonata Diniz is one of the latest.
Diniz earned his UFC contract with a knockout of Eduardo Neves on Dana White's Contender Series last September, and he proved Saturday he belongs on the UFC roster with a second-round knockout of Austen Lane.
The former NFL player wasn't exactly a world-beater heading into Saturday, but with a solid 12-4 record, he was a tough test for the 6-0 Diniz.
After passing that test, Diniz is poised for another big fight in the promotion's heavyweight division. Our pick for his next opponent is England's Mick Parkin.
Like Diniz, Parkin is undefeated. He's 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the UFC, but he's failed to finish any of his opponents in the Octagon, so it would be fair to match him up with a relative newcomer.
This one looks like a fun clash on paper, and it would give us a great sense of where these two rising talents really belong in the UFC's heaviest division.
It would make a great addition to any upcoming Fight Night or PPV—maybe even the UFC's July 27 return to Parkin's home nation England—but please, keep the unranked big boys off the main card.
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