4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night 241
There is no question that Lerone Murphy is one of the best featherweights in the world.
On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 241, the Brit scored the biggest win of his career, dominating long-time contender Edson Barboza in a lopsided unanimous decision. The victory pushed him to 14-0-1 as a pro and will land him a spot inside the division's Top 15.
Khaos Williams also impressed on the card, once again demonstrating his immense power with a first-round knockout of Carlston Harris. Even in victory, he remains some distance from the rankings, but at 30 years old, he still has plenty of time to work his way to the top.
Other big winners of the night included bantamweight contender Adrian Yanez, who rebounded from two straight losses with a quick TKO win over Vinicius Salvador, and strawweight veteran Angela Hill, who scored the first submission win of her career with a mounted guillotine choke against Luana Pinheiro.
Keep scrolling for the fights we'd like to see next for the card's biggest winners.
Lerone Murphy vs. Calvin Kattar
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Having beaten the No. 12-ranked featherweight Edson Barboza on Saturday night, Lerone Murphy is bound to land somewhere just outside the division's Top 10 when the rankings are updated this week.
As a new arrival in the rankings, he has plenty of options for his next fight. Our pick is a bout with No. 10-ranked contender Calvin Kattar.
Kattar, a staple of the Top 10, was last in action on the undercard of UFC 300 when he welcomed former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling to the weight class. He was dominated in that fight, having been soundly out-grappled over three rounds, but didn't seem to take serious damage, and should be ready to get back in there soon.
That could make him available for UFC 304 on July 27 in Manchester, which Murphy said is his ideal setting for his next fight. Wherever a Murphy vs. Kattar fight happens, however, it's bound to entertain, and it would give us a much better sense of how far the Englishman can go at 145 pounds.
If he beats Kattar, he's definitely ready for the Top 10.
Khaos Williams vs. Vicente Luque
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After his win over Carlston Harris, Khaos Williams is on a two-fight win streak, and 6-2 in the jam-packed UFC welterweight division. All of his wins have come against solid opposition too.
This may be a controversial take, but it seems time to give him a Top 15 opponent. If the UFC matchmakers agree, the perfect opponent would be Vicente Luque.
Luque, ranked No. 14, has been a top-15 welterweight for ages, but has recently fallen on hard times, with losses in three of his last four fights. That includes a recent knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley, who was both unranked and fighting on short notice when they met in the Octagon.
Luque's recent stumbles put him in position for a step down in competition at the precise moment that Williams is ready for a big step up. It's probably not a fight either guy would turn down, and it would most likely be an incredible fight, as both guys are known for their involvement in wild brawls and their propensity for vicious finishes.
Book it for a Fight Night co-headliner or pay-per-view main card, and get the bonus checks ready ahead of time.
Adrian Yanez vs. Victor Henry
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Adrian Yanez was one of the hottest contenders at bantamweight heading into last year, but started 2024 with two tough losses to Rob Font and Jonathan Martinez behind him. At UFC Fight Night 241, he got back to winning ways in dazzling fashion, stopping Vinicius Salvador in the first round.
Yanez is never in a boring fight, so he will always have plenty of options in terms of opponents, but after his latest victory, he called for scraps with Victor Henry or Daniel Santos when the UFC debuts at the new Las Vegas Sphere with UFC 306 on September 14.
Either of those fights sounds great, but Henry is probably the better option. He's riding two straight wins, including a standing TKO of the veteran Rani Yahya late last month. That puts him on a very similar schedule to Yanez, who came out of his fight with Salvador unscathed, so he should be ready to fight at UFC 306.
Let's give Yanez what he wants, and hand the winner of his desired fight with Henry a matchup with a Top 15 opponent in the final months of the year or early 2025.
Angela Hill vs. Jessica Andrade II
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Strawweight veteran Angela Hill scored the first submission win of her career on Saturday's card, choking out Luana Pinheiro in Round 2. That put the 39-year-old veteran on a two fight streak and set her up for a nice step up in competition.
After the win, she set her sights on a rematch with former champ Jessica Andrade, who she lost a decision to in a classic slugfest back in 2024.
"I just think it's going to be a banger," Hill told the media post-fight. "The first one was. We've both gotten better since then. We've both won and lost some big fights. So I feel like this could be another one that gets me straight to that title shot if I win. A win over Andrade has gotten a lot of people a title shot, and I believe I can do it."
Andrade is currently ranked No. 4 at strawweight, eight spots ahead of the twelfth-ranked Hill. She's also riding an impressive UFC 300 win over Marina Rodriguez. Ordinarily, that might make her reluctant to accept this fight—she's simply in a much better position in the weight class—but given how entertaining her first fight with Hill was, and all they've accomplished since, she might just sign on the dotted line.
Here's hoping she does.
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