4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Vallejos

It's safe to say Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Vallejos card greatly exceeded expectations. In fact, it might have been the best card of the year so far.

The event, which went down in the quiet of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, was headlined by a clash of ranked featherweights, with rising finisher Kevin Vallejos taking on skidding veteran Josh Emmett. Vallejos ended up winning the fight in the style fans have come to expect from him, swarming his experienced foe with strikes en route to a first-round stoppage.

The co-main event, expectedly, featured the next most important bout of the night, with surging flyweight contender Gillian Robertson taking on former title challenger Amanda Lemos. It was one of the toughest tests of Robertson's career to date, but she passed it in style, beating Lemos by unanimous decision, and asserting herself as one of her division's top contenders in the process.

Among the other big winners of the night were Myktybek Orolbai, who crept closer to the welterweight rankings with a decision win over the veteran Chris Curtis, and light heavyweight mainstay Ion Cutelaba, who picked up the fourth submission win of his career at the expense of France's Oumar Sy.

All told, it was an excellent card, and a sorely needed reprieve from a string of poorly booked and ultimately disappointing UFC events.

Hopefully we can keep the momentum going. Let's start by booking these four matchups for some of Saturday's biggest winners.

Kevin Vallejos vs. Allen-Costa winner

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Kevin Vallejos didn't get the "bloody war" he wanted with Josh Emmett, but that's because he took care of the former interim title challenger in a matter of minutes. He's pretty happy with that outcome, even if it's not the one he envisioned.

In victory, Vallejos is now riding seven-straight wins, having not lost since he was defeated by Jean Silva on Contender Series in 2023. With so much success behind him, he's ready for another step up. Unfortunately, just about everyone ranked above him is either already booked for a fight or unavailable for other reasons.

What that unfortunately means is that Vallejos will probably have to wait around for a few months while a couple of other key matchups unfold. That is, of course, unless the UFC decides to book him for a rematch with Silva, who is not currently matched up with anyone, but that seems unlikely, as the Brazilian is one of the top contenders in the division, and seemingly has something in the works.

Given the current featherweight landscape, the best course of action is probably to match Vallejos up with the winner of Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa. Allen, like Emmett, is part of the old guard at featherweight, while Costa just recently cracked the rankings. Either man would make a great test for Vallejos, and whoever comes out on top would be one of the division's top contenders.

Gillian Robertson vs. Yan Xiaonan

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After beating Amanda Lemos on Saturday, Canadian strawweight Gillian Robertson is riding five straight wins. That is definitely the recipe for a title shot — there are just a few problems.

The biggest problem for Robertson is Zhang Weili. Zhang vacated the division's title last year to move up to flyweight and challenge Valentina Shevchenko. After losing that fight by decision, all signs point to her returning to strawweight, and if she does, she is all but guaranteed the first crack at the division's new champ, Mackenzie Dern.

The other problem for Robertson is that there are a couple of other contenders in the running for a crack at Dern, even if Zhang doesn't rush back to the strawweight division. That includes Tabatha Ricci and Loopy Godinez, who will look to strengthen their cases against Virna Jandiroba and Tatiana Suarez in the coming weeks.

All that to say, while Robertson has definitely earned a title shot, circumstances will likely force her to take at least one more non-title fight in the meantime. If that's the case, the best choice is probably China's Yan Xiaonan.

Yan is riding a decision loss to Jandiroba. However, she is a former title challenger and still holds the division's No. 2 ranking. If Robertson can beat her convincingly, she could easily slip ahead of other contenders like Ricci and Godinez.

Ion Cutelaba vs. Dustin Jacoby II

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Ion Cutelaba will likely never become a serious contender at light heavyweight, but his Saturday submission of Oumar Sy proved that he's still dangerous, even if he's inconsistent.

After the win, which represented a bit of a break from his habit of trying to punch people's heads into orbit, the Moldovan should be matched up with Dustin Jacoby.

Jacoby, like Cutelaba, has been on the UFC roster for years, but has never been consistent enough to put himself in light heavyweight title contention. At the moment, he is riding three straight wins, which together earned him the No. 14 spot in the division's rankings.

That puts the former kickboxer a bit ahead of Cutelaba in the light heavyweight pecking order, but after his planned fight with Jimmy Crute fell through, he's in need of an opponent. Cutelaba, who took very little damage against Sy and has never been choosy with the matchups he accepts, would surely jump at the challenge. On top of that, the pair have some history to settle, having fought to a draw back in 2021. It makes a ton of sense. Run it.

Myktybek Orolbai vs. Nicolas Dalby

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Kyrgyzstani welterweight Myktybek Orolbai failed to get a finish on Saturday, but his decision victory over experienced veteran Chris Curtis was still very impressive.

The win pushed Orolbai onto a three-fight win streak and improved his UFC record to 5-1. That record includes a blistering knockout of former middleweight contender Jack Hermansson and a submission win over surging welterweight contender Uros Medic, in addition to his big win over Curtis. In other words, he has proven himself as a serious talent and is clearly ready for another tough test.

From here, it's tempting to match Orolbai up with a ranked opponent. However, there are a number of rising welterweights angling for that opportunity right now, including former Bellator champ Yaroslav Amosov, and Russia's Rinat Fakhretdinov, who is unbeaten in 20 fights. Unfortunately, not all of them will have ranked opponents next. Some of them are going to have to take the scenic route to the top 15, and given that Orolbai is still just 28, it makes sense to bring him along a little slower than some of his rivals.

If that's the path the UFC chooses for him, he should be matched up with Denmark's Nicolas Dalby.

Dalby is in his second UFC run, and at 41, might strike some fans as a cakewalk for a young prospect like Orolbai. However, his recent win over highly regarded ONE Championship transplant Saygid Izagakhmaev proved he's still very capable of outfighting younger opposition. He also recently battled the aforementioned Fakhretdinov to a split-decision loss, which further proves his continued relevance.

Let's see if Orolbai has what it takes to get by him. If he does, a ranked opponent will effectively be a necessity.