Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
All the best, coolest, and most interesting fights the UFC needs to book following their latest event at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV.
It may not be the product the UFC wants to push, but man is there some value in these short fight night cards. Five out of seven bouts ended inside the distance and, even on a card ravaged by illness and injury, the UFC walked away with an entertaining event. Alistair Overeem proved there’s still life in his self-described last run for UFC gold. OSP showed he’s still one of the big fish in the light heavyweight pond. And Viviane Araujo restated her claim as one of women flyweight’s best rising talents.
So, what’s next for the ‘Demoliton Man’ in a division where he’s already fought almost everyone? How fast will the ink be dry on Michel Pereira’s new UFC contract? And who can provide the next stiff test for Vivi Araujo’s flyweight career?
To answer those questions – and absolutely nothing else – I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights.
ALISTAIR OVEREEM
It feels almost impossibly hard to book Overeem right now, just because he’s been around so long and fought so many people. Among the top 5 he’s already lost to Curtis Blaydes, Francis Ngannou, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Stipe Miocic. But among the rest of the ranked fighters he’s got wins over JDS, Walt Harris, Augusto Sakai, Aleksey Oleinyk, and Sergei Pavlovich. A lot of what comes next for him is just going to come down to timing and who can win upcoming bouts. If Alexander Volkov beats Walt Harris, he’d be a great next fight for the ‘Reem.’ Or there’s always the winner of Gane vs. Abdurakhimov, if the 40-year-old Dutchman is willing to take on a less notable foe just to stay active. However, and especially with Jon Jones’ increasingly likely heavyweight title fight in the near future, there’s one bout that I still think desperately needs to be made. Alistair Overeem vs. Derrick Lewis.
Lewis is already booked to fight Curtis Blaydes later this year, but I don’t think it terribly matters whether he wins or loses that fight in order to still have a bout with the ‘Demolition Man’ waiting on the table. Even Lewis off a loss is the most notable top ranked opponent that Overeem has yet to face in the heavyweight division. And off a win, while Lewis may feel he’s primed for a title shot, the backlog of Jones and Ngannou very likely means that Lewis wouldn’t be up for consideration on that front until the middle of next year. As long as top flight heavyweights are stuck treading water, waiting for Miocic to fight contenders, then Lewis vs. Overeem is a heavyweight fight that just has to happen—no matter what happens to Lewis against Curtis Blaydes.
AUGUSTO SAKAI
Sakai got his first taste of top competition in the UFC’s heavyweight division and just couldn’t pull out the victory. He wasted energy battering Overeem’s high guard. And then was totally unprepared when the now-Team-Elevation-trained talent started changing things up in the later rounds. Even though he clearly showed the necessary durability for a long career in the division he desperately needs to find ways to up his power—or find more tools in his arsenal than just a boxing game.
Bounce back fights against Aleksey Oleinyk or Alexander Gustafsson are both reasonable options. And while I really wouldn’t mind seeing Sakai against the ‘Boa Constrictor,’ I’ll admit I’d rather Sakai wait to fight someone coming out of an upcoming fight. Alexander Volkov and Walt Harris are squaring off soon. The loser of that bout is gonna need an opponent. Sakai vs. the Volkov/Harris loser sounds like the perfect point to try and mount a comeback from the Brazilian’s first Octagon loss.
OVINCE ST. PREUX
At this point OSP feels like the eternal light heavyweight. He’s been a consistent top 10 threat for the last seven years, and before that he was doing the job over in Strikeforce. He’s not the division’s most consistent performer fight to fight, but it was a hell of a tough ask for Menifield to take him on coming off a loss to Devin Clark. Now with this win under his belt, this could be time for OSP’s own fight against the ‘Brown Bear.’
Honestly, the fight I’d really like to see is a bout against Magomed Ankalaev, but that assumes that the UFC isn’t going to re-book Ankalaev vs. Cutelaba again… again. If Ankalaev really is free, then book OSP vs. the Dagestani. But if he’s not, then Devin Clark vs. Ovince St. Preux seems like a great chance for Clark to prove he’s a top 15 caliber fighter. Or for OSP to shut the door on yet another rising light heavyweight.
MICHEL PEREIRA
Pereira called out Jorge Masvidal after this dominating win, but there’s pretty much no way that bout’s gonna happen. Even if Masvial wasn’t already booked, he’s got nothing to gain by fighting a dude like Pereira. Instead, Pereira is a tantalizing match-up for just about any action fighter up and down the welterweight division; Mounir Lazzez, Daniel Rodriguez, Lyman Good or Abdul Razak Alhassan would all make for thrillers. Who wouldn’t want to see Pereira against Tim Means or Li Jing Liang? Match him up with Alex Oliveira or Elizeu Zaleski and I am right there for it. But then again, there’s always Mike Perry. Two of welterweights most unconventionally trained fighters battling it out with two of the division’s most powerful arsenals? All the weirdness, all the power. Michel Pereira vs. Mike Perry is must see TV.
ANDRE MUNIZ
A great submission win for Andre Muniz. And despite a guard grappling-heavy style he’s jumped out to a solid 2-0 in his young UFC career. At 30-years-old and with 11 years of MMA experience, there’s no real reason to treat him like a young kid who needs to learn the ropes. The UFC might as well just throw him into the toughest fights at each rung up the ladder. Andrew Sanchez or Eryk Anders would both be decent options on that front. But, I especially like the idea of a bout against Kevin Holland. Holland is a take-all-comers kind of fighter, so I doubt he’d turn his nose up at fighting Muniz. And Holland’s willingness to let his fights go anywhere, and to let his opponents dictate pace, make it very possible he ends up grappling with the Brazilian. If he doesn’t, then it’s a big chance for Muniz to prove his kickboxing has turned a corner—or suffer his first Octagon loss. Andre Muniz vs. Kevin Holland should be a fun test for the grappler.
BRIAN KELLEHER
A great chance for Kelleher to showcase his quality over a last minute replacement. And a good reminder that against a certain level of fighter he’s still a finishing machine. Hopefully after all the mess he went through this week, Kelleher can get re-booked against Ricky Simon. That’s a fight that absolutely still needs to happen, and Simon should be ready to go fairly quickly—considering it was a corner of his that tested positive for COVID, and not him. If not that, bouts against Kyung Ho Kang, Enrique Barzola, or Brett Johns would all be top quality. Still, the idea of a scramble filled, wrestling, grappling, and wild punching scrap against Simon just sounds like a ton of fun. Rebook Kelleher vs. Simon, or go Kelleher vs. Barzola if that can’t happen.
VIVANE ARAUJO
With so much of women’s flyweight booked right now there are really just two clear options for Araujo’s next fight: Joanne Calderwood and Alexa Grasso. If she wants to wait for an upcoming winner, then whoever comes out of Andrea Lee vs. Roxanne Modafferi with their hand raised would also be a good option. But, honestly, both the Grasso and Calderwood fights seem like they’d be pretty great. I like the idea of fast-tracking Grasso especially, given all the experience she’s had at 115. It feels a lot more like whoever came out of that fight with a win would have some real momentum. Alexa Grasso vs. Viviane Araujo would give both women a chance to really break into the top 5 at 125 lbs.
OTHER BOUTS: Alonzo Menifield vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk, Zelim Imadaev vs. Emil Meek, Bartosz Fabinski vs. Alessio Di Chirico, Ray Rodriguez vs. John Castaneda, Montana De La Rosa vs. JJ Aldrich, Hunter Azure vs. Mario Bautista, Cole Smith vs. Geraldo de Freitas