Noche UFC went down last night (Sat., Sept. 16, 2023) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, which saw Alexa Grasso retain her women’s Flyweight title after her fight with former champion, Valentina Shevchenko, ended in a highly-debated split draw (highlights). In further action, Jack Della Maddalena continued his roll by defeating Kevin Holland via split decision (recap).
Since Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko ended in a controversial split-draw, were going to focus solely on the winners from last night and discuss what could be next for both ladies in another article.
Winner: Jack Della Maddalena
Who He Should Face Next: Vicente Luque
Maddalena picked up his 16th straight win after narrowly escaping “Sin City” with a split-decision, which didn’t sit too well with fans in attendance. Nevertheless, “JDM” continues to chug along and is looking for a bump up the Welterweight rankings come next week. I think a fight against Luque next. “The Silent Assassin” is currently ranked No. 10 and is coming off a big win over Rafael dos Anjos. He has the experience edge to truly test Maddalena and if he can stop his momentum, Luque can up his stock toward a Top 5 spot.
Winner: Raul Rosas Jr.
Who He Should Face Next: Garret Armfield
Rosas Jr. returned with a vengeance by absolutely obliterating Terrance Michell in the very first round (see it). The 18-year old rising contender’s confidence went through the roof following his win, saying that he can be one of UFC’s biggest stars because he’s built “different.” While that could very well be true, it will take some time before he gets there, and he won’t be getting the big fights too soon to expedite his journey. A fight against Armfield is a nice matchup and challenge for Rosas Jr. Armfield picked up his first win inside the Octagon last month, defeating Toshiomi Kazama via first-round technical knockout (TKO) just last month. He is 1-1 so far inside the Octagon, so the experience matches up with Rosas Jr.
Winner: Daniel Zellhuber
Who He Should Face Next: Evan Elder
After stumbling out of the gates in his UFC debut, Zellhuber has now won two straight, including his second-round submission win over Cristian Giagos, moving him to 2-1 so far in his young UFC career. I’d like to see him next face off against Elder, who is coming off a win over Genaro Valdez this past summer. “The Phenom” is 1-2 under the UFC banner and has five stoppage wins in eight victories.
Winner: Kyle Nelson
Who He Should Face Next: Herbert Burns
After a horrendous 1-4-1 record to start his UFC career, Nelson has now won two straight, including his unanimous decision win over Fernando Padilla. As for Burns, he is currently on a two-fight losing streak, dropping back-to-back bouts to Daniel Pineda and Bill Algeo. Burns, He started off his UFC career with two straight wins, but now finds himself in desperate need of a win if he wants to avoid the axe. Nelson looked good last night, so it will be interesting to see if this is a sing of things to come to prevent falling into his old losing ways.