The
Ultimate Fighting Championship kicked off a busy April with its
latest Fight Night event from the Meta Apex. Headlining
UFC Vegas 115 was a lightweight scrap between veteran contender
Renato
“Money” Moicano and rising prospect
Chris
Duncan. The 13-fight card also featured fights in the light
heavyweight, bantamweight and women’s strawweight divisions that
will have repercussions later in the year.
Here are the matches to make for winners of the UFC Vegas 115 main
card.
“Money Moicano” showed that he has plenty left in the tank by
submitting Duncan (15-3) in the main event with
a face crank. Carneiro (21-7-1) is now 5-2 in his last seven
fights and there’s no shame in a short notice defeat to
Islam
Makhachev. The Brazilian is 36 but is still a tough out for
anyone, so a fight against Pimblett next would make sense. Both men
are fan-favorite contenders but aren’t championship level, so it’d
be a thrilling Fight Night main event or a welcomed addition to any
pay-per-view main card. Pimblett (23-4) is coming off a defeat to
Justin
Gaethje but has surprised fans with recent wins over
Bobby Green
and
Michael
Chandler. Let's see if "The Baddy" can add another respected
veteran's name to his record or if Carneiro can pull off the
upset.
Jandiroba made it look easy against
Tabatha
Ricci, who she took a unanimous decision win over. After the
win, the former title challenger called out titleholder
Mackenzie
Dern for a rematch, but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment
or a fight many want to see a second time right away. A lot of the
top strawweight fighters are currently booked or have recently
fought Jandiroba (23-4), but Robertson would be a competitive fresh
face at 115 pounds. Robertson (17-8) has been on the best run of
her career, as she’s currently riding a five-fight win streak and
holds victories over
Amanda
Lemos,
Marina
Rodriguez and
Luana
Pinheiro. This would be a welcomed UFC Fight Night headliner
and the winner would be in a great spot moving forward.
Yakhyaev stayed undefeated with a
rear-naked choke submission win over
Brendson
Ribeiro. Yakhyaev is 9-0 as a pro and is an exciting prospect
at just 25. "The Hunter" is now 2-0 inside the promotion and I want
to see him face off against a veteran next. A fight versus Crute
would be particularly interesting as the Australian's creative
grappling would make it an interesting fight from a strategy
standpoint. Crute (14-4-2) is riding wins over
Ivan Erslan
and
Marcin
Prachnio, which broke a five-fight winless streak. It'll show
if we need to pump the brakes on Yakhyaev or if he's ready for
tougher tests going forward.
Ewing showed off his well-rounded game by punishing an overweight
Rafael
Estevam and picking up a knockout with a
well-placed punch to the liver. Now 10-2 as a pro, "The
Professor Finesser" is an interesting prospect to watch at
bantamweight. The 28-year-old has shown a lot of poise, so I want
to see him take on a high-level gatekeeper next. Former champion
Garbrandt fits the bill and has shown how hittable he is in recent
years. However, “No Love” is still dangerous with wins over
Trevin
Jones,
Brian
Kelleher and
Long Xiao.
Let’s see if Ewing can get past Garbrandt (15-7) and prove that
he’s ready to battle contenders at 135 as he’d be a welcomed fresh
face, if so.
McMillen made an impressive UFC debut as he overwhelmed
Manolo
Zecchini with
knees and punches. Now 10-0 as a pro, McMillen will look to
take on a tougher opponent in his next fight. I’d like to see the
28-year-old striker take on Riley next. The English fighter is
coming off impressive victories over
Michael
Aswell and
Bogdan Grad
and impressed in Cage Warriors for several years. With Riley
holding a13-0 record of his own, it’d have a strong storyline of
two young prospects to watch clashing with the winner deserving all
the attention that they would get.
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