Although some were certainly overlooking the card, UFC 224, which took place last night (Sat., May 12, 2018) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, turned out to be an incredible event from top to bottom.
The card featured not only a plethora of exciting fights but a high number of electrifying finishes as well, so many that it tied 2014’s UFC Fight Night 55 for the most finishes on a UFC card with 11.
In the main event, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes dominated Raquel Pennington en route to a fifth-round stoppage victory, successfully defending her 135-pound title for the third consecutive time.
In the co-main event, former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner Kelvin Gastelum scored a narrow, hard-fought split decision victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Touted women’s strawweight Mackenzie Dern also continued her rise despite a big weight miss, dropping and submitting Amanda Cooper with ease.
With the event now in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look at the five best fights to make moving forward:
Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes
Prior to booking Nunes vs. Pennington, UFC president Dana White had expressed interest in scheduling a super fight between Nunes and women’s 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg.
Both fighters had appeared to show some level of interest in the potential bout as well, although it never came to fruition.
Now is the time to make it happen, however.
Following her victory over Pennington, Nunes has no clear challenger awaiting her at 135 pounds. Cyborg, on the other hand, is coming off of a vicious stoppage victory over Yana Kunitskaya, and she too doesn’t have a definite challenger awaiting her. She hardly has a division around her if we’re honest.
Cyborg could conceivably defend her title against the winner of UFC 225’s Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson bout next month. Furthermore, Cyborg has already beaten Holm and Anderson will only be making her UFC debut in the upcoming bout, although it is indeed true that she was momentarily scheduled to fight Cyborg last summer.
Regardless, a bout between Cyborg and Nunes makes sense. Both are dominant Brazilian champions and Nunes could very well have the skills required to challenge Cyborg.
It’s simply the biggest women’s bout the UFC can book right now and has to happen.
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