4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Hooker

The UFC's Saturday stopover in Doha, Qatar, was full of exciting finishes we'll be talking about for weeks. More importantly, it set up some huge fights in several of the promotion's most popular divisions.

The most crucial fights of the night, unsurprisingly, occurred in the main and co-main events.

In the headlining spot, Arman Tsarukyan cemented himself as one of the top contenders in the lightweight division with a lopsided submission win over an outmatched Dan Hooker.

In the co-main event, Ian Machado Garry had a similar breakthrough, outmaneuvering former welterweight champ Belal Muhammad over three rounds to move closer to the title in his weight class.

Outside the top two contests, the most meaningful matchups of the night occurred at heavyweight and light heavyweight.

In the heavyweight division, surging contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta picked up his fourth win of the year with a quick knockout of Shamil Gaziev. At light heavyweight, former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir scored his latest highlight-reel KO at the expense of Alonzo Menifield.

Neither man will be fighting for a title next, but both took big steps in that direction in victory.

Here are the fights we'd like to see next for Tsarukyan, Garry, Cortes-Acosta and Oezdemir after Saturday's card in Doha.

Ilia Topuria vs. Arman Tsarukyan

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Ahead of Saturday's card, there was significant debate as to who should get the first shot at new lightweight champ Ilia Topuria out of Arman Tsarukyan, Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje.

After Tsarukyan dominated Dan Hooker in the main event, bringing his win-streak to five in the process, there is no longer any room for debate. He's the guy.

His wins over Hooker and Charles Oliveira are more meaningful than anything Pimblett has accomplished in the UFC thus far, and his win streak dwarfs that of Gaethje, who is just one win removed from a brutal knockout loss to Max Holloway, and has already come up short in multiple title bids.

Tsarukyan deserves the chance far more than either man on merit, and he is a far more credible matchup for Topuria than either Pimblett or Gaethje.

The path forward is clear. Book Topuria vs. Tsarukyan for the lightweight title as soon as possible, and have Pimblett and Gaethje fight for the No. 1 contender spot around the same time—assuming Gaethje can put aside his entitlement and accept a matchup with somebody other than the champ.

Ian Machado Garry vs. Jack Della Maddalena

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The UFC welterweight division has arguably never been better than it is right now, with no less than five credible contenders vying for the first crack at newly-minted champion Islam Makhachev.

Unfortunately, that also makes things messy atop the division, as any choice the UFC matchmakers make is going to leave multiple contenders disappointed.

One of those contenders is Ian Machado Garry, who improved to 17-1 with a decision win over former champ Belal Muhammad in Saturday's co-headliner.

Since the moment his fight with Muhammad ended, Garry has been demanding a shot against Makhachev, and if he gets the opportunity—which is entirely possible—it would by no means be a travesty.

However, it's more than likely he will get passed up for somebody else and have to fight once more in the meantime. There are a few reasons for that.

First and foremost, he's still behind Shavkat Rakhmonov in the race to the title, having lost a close decision to the undefeated Kazakh late last year. Secondly, he loses some points for his repeated failure to finish fights—a problem other contenders like Rakhmonov, Michael Morales, and Carlos Prates simply do not have. Lastly, it's possible all of the aforementioned men will be leapfrogged by former champ Kamaru Usman.

Usman is just 1-3 in his last four fights, having rebounded from a trio of losses with a win over Joaquin Buckley over this year. However, he's easily the second-best fighter in the division's history behind Georges St-Pierre, which gives him extra credibility.

More importantly, he and Makhachev seem to want to fight each other, and also share the same manager, which is kind of shady, but makes their potential pairing a front-runner.

All that to say, Garry is likely to end up in another fight before he gets his title shot. In that event, the best options are seemingly Morales or former champ Jack Della Maddalena, who just lost the belt to Makhachev.

Assuming Usman jumps the line for the title shot—which is going to bug a lot of people—my choice would be to match Rakhmonov up with Morales, since they're both undefeated at 19-0. Garry can then face a rebounding Della Maddalena.

A Garry vs. Della Maddalena matchup makes sense for both men right now, and it's a fascinating fight, as they're two of the best strikers in the division, albeit with completely different styles.

It's perhaps not the perfect fight, but given the chaotic state of the division, it's a solid option.

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jamahal Hill

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

At this point, Switzerland's Volkan Oezdemir is well established as a dangerous but middle-of-the-pack light heavyweight contender.

He's capable of scoring violent knockout victories against lower-ranked opposition, but typically stumbles when matched up with top talents such as Carlos Ulberg and Jiri Prochazka.

Still, his devastating KO win over Alonzo Menifield in Qatar, which separated him from a decision loss to Ulberg, should earn him a decent step up.

The best choice right now is probably a matchup with former champ Jamahal Hill.

Hill is riding a trio of tough losses to Alex Pereira, Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree, and will hopefully take some more time off before he returns, but he seems like the perfect opponent for Oezdemir right now.

Both are hovering right in the middle of the top 15, and both have a propensity for highlight-reel KOs at their best.

Former title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. is also a good option for Oezdemir, but I've already suggested a fight between Rountree and surging contender Azamat Murzakanov, which is even better. So let's go with Oezdemir vs. Hill next.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Alexander Volkov

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The UFC heavyweight title was last up for grabs at UFC 321, when champion Tom Aspinall attempted to defend his belt against Ciryl Gane.

Unfortunately, as most people would prefer to forget, the contest was derailed by an inadvertent Gane eye-poke in a matter of minutes. It was an extremely disappointing outcome for both fighters and the fans. However, it was also a major blow for Alexander Volkov.

Volkov is on one of the best runs in the division of late, and after beating Jailton Almeida on the UFC 321 main card, might have been next up for the Aspinall vs. Gane winner had their bout ended more decisively.

However, all signs now point to an Aspinall vs. Gane rematch, which means Volkov will either need to fight somebody else in the meantime, or wait around twiddling his thumbs.

The Russian, who has already struck gold in Bellator, doesn't seem like the thumb-twiddling type, so we can expect him to accept another matchup soon. That's surely not how he wanted things to go, but the good news is there is now a solid opponent waiting for him: Waldo Cortes-Acosta of the Dominican Republic.

Cortes-Acosta was back in action on Saturday, knocking out Shamil Gaziev inside a round in a fight he accepted on mere days' notice. That win brought him to a staggering 4-1 this year, and ensures he will enter 2026 with more momentum than any serious contender in the division outside of Volkov.

Assuming the Aspinall vs. Gane rematch goes ahead, it makes sense to match Cortes-Acosta and Volkov up around the same time—maybe even on the same card. That way, we'll have a solid No. 1 contender in waiting for whoever leaves the Octagon with the heavyweight belt.