Photo by Alexandre Schneider /Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the hurt business last night (Sat., Aug. 10, 2019) to stage UFC Fight Night 156 from inside Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. In the headlining act, Valentina Shevchenko defeated Liz Carmouche rather handily to hold on to her women’s Flyweight strap (highlights). In the co-main event, Mike Perry and Vicente Luque went to war for 15 minutes (recap), which ultimately resulted in a bloody war the left Perry battered and bruised and with a very broken nose.
Winner: Valentina Shevchenko
Who Should She Fight Next: Katlyn Chookagian
The women’s Flyweight division is still fairly new, so don’t expect a lot of top contenders to start jumping out. That said, we’re going strictly off the rankings for this title fight. Chookagian is 5-2 so far in her Octagon career, 3-1 as a 125-pounder and 4-1 in her last five fights. That’s good enough to earn her the No. 2 ranked position, right behind Jessica Eye and in front of Liz Carmouche, two people Shevchenko has taken out in back-to-back outings. This one is a no-brainer. While it may not be the “sexy” fight as far as name appeal goes, this is what is bound to happen until the division starts building itself up.
Winner: Vicente Luque
Who He Should Face Next: Neil Magny
Luque’s stock will rise following his back-and-forth brawl against Mike Perry, which saw him escape with a split decision win. The win was Vicente’s sixth in a row and 10 of 11 overall, which should be good enough to finally earn him a spot in the top 15. Magny (No. 14) was set to face Vicente a few months ago, but the fight was scratched after Neil failed a pre-fight drug test.
According to Neil — to no one’s surprise — he didn’t take anything intentionally, and is convinced USADA will see it that way, as well. If they do, Magny should be in line for a return fairly soon. If so, he’s the only man in the lower half of the top 15 that makes sense for Luque.
Winner: Volkan Oezdemir
Who He Should Fight Next: Jan Blachowicz
This fight makes all the sense in the world at the moment, as both recently got back in the win column. Jan (No. 5) is fresh off a knockout win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 239, while Volkan (No. 7) broke his three fight skid by knocking Ilir Latifi in Uruguay (highlights). Everyone is trying to get at Jon Jones, and the list of contenders is growing shorter by the minute, as “Bones” is fighting every three months now, picking apart the Light Heavyweight division at a rapid pace which could expedite his move up to Heavyweight. Before then, I’d like to see Jones face either of these two men, so a win here gets Jan or Volkan closer to that title fight.
Winner: Luiz Eduardo Garagorri
Who He Should Fight Next: Enrique Barzola
Both featherweights proved victories last night, as Luiz made his successful Octagon debut by outworking Humberto Bandenay for a unanimous decision win. In doing so, the former lawyer-turned fighter improved to 13-0. As for Barzola, he got back in the win column by narrowly edging out Bobby Moffet, bringing him top 5-1 in his last six UFC fights. Both men are just trying to climb the tall ladder to contender status, so it behooves them to simply eliminate everyone standing in front of them without being too picky.
Winner: Rodolfo Vieira
Who He Should Fight Next: Karl Roberson
Rodolfo moved to 6-0 after making good on his UFC debut, defeating Oskar Piechota via second round submission (arm triangle). Up next for Rodolfo, I’m digging a fight against Karl Roberson, who is 2-2 in his last four UFC fights. He most recently defeated Wellington Turman this past July.
Karl has bounced up-and-down from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight, but I think 185 pound suits him much better. While Rodolfo isn’t a big name just yet, it would be a good notch on Kr;s belt to hand him his first loss. On the flip side, if Vieira can stop Roberson in just his second UFC fight, it will get more people looking at him.
For complete UFC Uruguay results and coverage click here.