UFC Vegas 33 went down last night (Sat., July 31, 2021) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Middleweight bout that saw Sean Strickland defeat Uriah Hall via unanimous decision after 25 minutes of action (see it again here). In other action, Cheyanne Buys absolutely demolished Gloria de Paula on her way to a lightning-quick first round knockout win (see it).
Winner: Sean Strickland
Who He Should Fight Next: Jack Hermansson
Strickland picked up his fifth straight win after dominating Uriah Hall for 25 minutes. Up next for him should be a fight against Hermansson, “Joker” is coming off a big win over Edmen Shahbazyan, giving him his second win in last three fights. Ranked at No. 6, Hermansson is ranked five spots ahead of Strickland at the moment, though they will be a bit closer in the rankings later this week. This would be a big test for the rising contender, which could get him closer to the Top 5 if he can pull it off.
Winner: Cheyanne Buys
Who She Should Face Next: Jinh Yu Frey
Overshadowing Buys’ big win over Gloria de Paula is all of the talk of how broke she was coming into the fight. A nice $50,000 post-fight bonus will help alleviate those issues. But Buys looked great, dominating Paula for a lightning quick finish (see it). Since she escaped unscathed and barely broke a sweat, she could be in for a quick turnaround to score another payday. A fight against Frey seems appropriate since she was also victorious last night in “Sin City,” defeating Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision. Frey also has a win over Paul, as well.
Winner: Jared Gooden
Who He Should Face Next: Daniel Rodriguez
Gooden snapped his two fight skid with an impressive first round knockout win over Niklas Stolze, his first win inside the Octagon after three attempts. He has a way to go before he starts getting the bigger fights everyone desires. But for now I would like to see him matched up against Rodriguez next. Rodriguez is fresh off a first round knockout win himself, taking out Preston Parson at UFC Vegas 31 last month. Prior to that, he dominated Mike Perry for 15 minutes. Both of these men can crack, so a “Fight of the Night” performance could in their future if they get paired up.
Winner: Melsik Baghdasaryan
Who He Should Face Next: Charles Rosa
Melsik had an explosive debut, knocking out fellow UFC newcomer Collin Anglin via knockout, giving him his sixth straight victory. A fight against Rosa — who is coming off a split decision win over Justin Jaynes — sounds appealing. Rosa has been fighting for UFC for seven years now, but has only competed 10 times during that span. He has alternated wins and losses to rack up an even 5-5 mark, so he hasn’t exactly made the moves to get into the Top 15. A win over Melsik won’t get him there, but it’s a start.
Winner: Jason Witt
Who He Should Face Next: Nicolas Dalby
Witt scored a majority decision win over Bryan Barberana, putting him back in the win column after suffering a 16-second knockout loss at the hands of Matthew Semelsberger in his previous bout. I’d like to see him face off against Dalby next. Dalby is coming off a tough loss to Tim Means a month ago, his first loss in three years. They have similar fighting experience and both are trying to claw their way up a very crowded Welterweight division.
For complete UFC Vegas 33 results and coverage click here.