UFC Vegas 28 went down last night (Sat., June 5, 2021) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada which saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik knockout Augusto Sakai with one second remaining in the opening round (replay here). In further action, Marcin Tybura handed Walt Harris his third straight defeat in the Heavyweight division (recap here).
Winner: Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Who He Should Fight Next: Curtis Blaydes
With Rozenstruik back in the mix following a big knockout victory over Sakai, getting top ranked foes in his future. And a showdown against Blaydes makes all the sense in the world. Ranked No. 4 in the world, “Razor” is coming off a devastating knockout loss to Derrick Lewis, which snapped his four fight win streak. Meanwhile, “Bigi Boy,” who is ranked No. 6, has always shown the potential to sleep his opponents, but against Blaydes he’ll have to show off his grappling.
Winner: Marcin Tybura
Who He Should Face Next: Abdurakhimov vs Daukaus winner
Tybura proved that he is a legit contender in the 265-pound division by earning his fifth straight win following a knockout victory over Walt Harris. Hopefully he will be able to crack the Top 10 once the rankings are released this coming week because he deserves to be there. If not, then perhaps if he takes on and defeats the winner of the upcoming bout between Shamil Abdurakhimov and Chris Daukaus — who are set to collide on July 24 — that would be enough to do the trick.
Winner: Roman Dolidze
Who He Should Face Next: Anthony Hernandez
Dolidze bounced back nicely after suffering the first loss of his career in his last outing with an impressive win over Laureano Starapoli. Up next for him, I’d like to see a fight against Anthony Hernandez, who is coming off a win over Rodolfo Vieira. They have similar experience inside the Octagon with both having competed four times under the UFC banner. Both men are still early on in their careers so cracking the Top 15 is still out of reach.
Winner: Santiago Ponzinibbio
Who He Should Face Next: Geoff Neal
Ponzinibbio got back in the win column after scoring a huge victory over Miguel Baeza in a thrilling back and forth fight. I’d like to think the win will be good enough to put him back into the Top 15. If not, perhaps if he can get a win over Neal — who is ranked No. 10 at the moment — will be enough to get him back in. Neal has dropped two straight and was last seen coming up short against Neal Magny. Both Neal and Ponzinibbio love to bang it out on the feet, so it would be a sure-fire entertaining scrap and a win either way helps the victor tremendously.
Winner: Gregory Rodrigues
Who He Should Face Next: Jordan Wright
Rodriguez made good on his UFC debut by defeating Dusko Todovoric via unanimous decision. A fight against Wright sounds good for his next challenge inside the Octagon. Wright is coming off first round knockout win over Jamie Pickett at UFC 262. He is 2-1 so far under the UFC banner, so it’s not like he has a ton of experience over Rodrigues. It’s an even a matchup against two up-and-coming Middleweights.
Winner: Montana De La Rosa
Who She Should Fight Next: Antonina Shevchenko
De La Rosa picked up a huge win over Ariane Lipski, giving her the first win on her record in over a year and a half. I would like matchmakers to think about putting her up against Shevchenko next. They were the last two ladies to take out Lipski, and while Shevchenko is coming off a loss to Andre Lee, it’s still a fight I’d like to see go down. With Shevchenko being ranked No. 15, taking her out would be a good path for De La Rose to sneak into the rankings for the first time. Their respective success inside the Octagon has been mixed, so why not let them mix it up to see who can take a step forward?
For complete UFC Vegas 28 results and coverage click here.