Tag: Preview/Prediction

UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2 Odds, Tickets, Predictions, Pre-Weigh-in Hype

Summer blockbuster season kicks off early for MMA fans, with UFC 211 on Saturday, May 13. 
Two belts will be on the line in the main and co-main events. A heavyweight rematch between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos headlines the event, coming a…

Summer blockbuster season kicks off early for MMA fans, with UFC 211 on Saturday, May 13. 

Two belts will be on the line in the main and co-main events. A heavyweight rematch between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos headlines the event, coming after the women’s strawweight championship fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade. 

Both champions have looked excellent in defending their titles the last time out, but both are presented with dangerous challenges to cap off a night full of intriguing fights. 

Here’s a look at the card for the evening, ticket information, the latest odds from OddsShark and predictions for the biggest fights.

Tickets: Score Big

     

Stipe Miocic vs. Junior dos Santos

The heavyweight championship bout is a sequel to one of the better heavyweight fights in recent memory. The last time these two met, they landed 212 combined significant strikes in an all-out war. 

Back then, Miocic was considered a long shot against Cigano. According to OddsShark, the current champion was a 13-4 underdog against the former champion. 

Ultimately, Miocic lost a unanimous decision, but he held his own, even taking at least one round on each of the judge’s scorecards. Despite the loss, it was Miocic‘s launching pad as a serious contender in the heavyweight division. 

“The lesson I learned, not even really a lesson as much as, just knowing that I belong,” Miocic said, per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. “I belong, that I can hang anyone. I went five rounds with a former champ, a guy who has been a knockout artist, and I went five rounds with him, I know I belong. I know that I’m not going anywhere, and look at where I’m at now.”

Fast-forward three years and this matchup is a little more high profile. What was once a rebound fight for Cigano is now one he’s the slight underdog in, but he believes that he’ll actually fare even better against Miocic this time around. 

“It’s going to be done early,” Dos Santos predicted, per Fernanda Prates and John Morgan of MMAjunkie. “It’s not going to take five rounds for sure. We know a little bit more of each other, so we’r going to be able to do a better strategy for this fight. I’m very confident. I’m saying I’m going to beat him before the end of the second round.”

Both fighters have come a long way since their first encounter. Since that loss, Miocic is fighting with a whole new level of confidence and has knocked out his last four opponents, including Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem in championship fights. 

Meanwhile, Dos Santos put in one of the most complete performances of his career against Ben Rothwell and is looking to get his spot back as the king of the division. 

However, the area that Miocic has improved the most—his counterpunching—could be the difference here. Look for him to catch JDS coming in after a few rounds to secure a fifth straight knockout win. 

Prediction: Miocic via third-round TKO

      

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Andrade

Thus far, the toughest challenge to Jedrzejczyk‘s championship reign in the women’s strawweight division came in the form of a big, strong grappler in Claudia Gadelha. That’s going to change at UFC 211. 

The undefeated Joanna Champion will take on an even bigger (both literally and figuratively) challenge in Andrade. The Brazilian is a former women’s bantamweight contender with a 3-0 record since dropping down to strawweight. 

Not only does Andrade‘s power pose a threat to the champion, but the way she deliver’s that power makes this fight interesting as well. Jedrzejczyk is a measured fighter, calculating in doling out her devastation through a wide variety of strikes. 

Andrade is just the opposite. A throwback brawler who is looking to exchange whenever possible, she’s going to return fire when strikes come her way.

It’s the unpredictability that she believes will be one of her greatest assets in taking the belt from the champ, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports: 

“The way that I put pressure on in fights is something Joanna has never had to deal with. She’s not used to someone just bullying her or just grabbing her and with pressure all the time. This is something we’re expecting her to have problems with because she is so technical, she is someone who comes from a really strong technical background. We know this from history that people who are too technical, they sometimes lose themselves with an opponent who are not as technical or not as predictable as them. This is something we are really hoping will make a difference. We know that it’s going to make a difference cause I’ll be honest, it’s really difficult to prepare against someone like me.”

Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk isn’t necessarily sold on Andrade being her toughest opponent, per UFC Tonight:

Although Andrade has the experience of fighting at 135 pounds, the champion will still be the taller, longer fighter on Saturday night. That could be the difference, as she will definitely look to put the challenger on the end of her jab and send kicks to the body and legs. 

Andrade will have her moments—and could conceivably pull off the upset in those moments—but the champion’s ability to thrive from range should keep her relatively safe. Jedrzejczyk sweeps the later rounds to earn the decision despite early trouble. 

Prediction: Jedrzejczyk by decision

     

Jorge Masvidal vs. Demian Maia

There are many good non-championship fights on this card, but the best and most important one might be the high-profile welterweight bout between Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia. 

Much like the women’s strawweight title fight, it’s a delightful contrast in styles. In one corner you have the free-swinging brawler in Masvidal and in the other the brilliant ground technician in Maia. The winner will have a lot of momentum in the division, and the odds indicate a tough fight to prognosticate. 

Masvidal doesn’t lack confidence. While his vitriol on Twitter is mostly aimed at Michael Bisping at the moment, he has adopted the slogan “easy money” for this fight. 

Maia is obviously known for his world-class grappling chops, but Masvidal wants to put those to the test. 

“When I beat that guy by outpositioning him, outwrestling him, people are going to know how good my grappling is,” Masvidal said, per Fox Sports’ Martin. “They’re going to see the best of ‘Gamebred.’ This ain’t just talking. I’ve been here for a long time—people just haven’t been paying attention.”

Confidence is good, but hubris oftentimes leads to the fall. 

If Masvidal‘s game plan is truly to grapple with Maia, he’s going to have a bad time. Masvidal‘s takedown defense has never been elite, and Maia’s submission game is good enough to tap anyone in the division if they are willing to roll with him. 

Masvidal has all the tools on the feet to deliver a devastating knockout, but it’s going to take a careful avoidance of the ground game to win. It doesn’t sound like he’s too concerned about taking those risks on the mat, though, and that could be his undoing. 

Prediction: Maia via second-round submission

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That Time Drax the Destroyer of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Fought in an MMA Fight

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the hottest movie of the spring and, once again, Dave Bautista stole the show in the role of knife-slinging alien Drax the Destroyer.
Of course, many still remember Bautista as “The Animal” Batista, the six-time WWE wo…

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the hottest movie of the spring and, once again, Dave Bautista stole the show in the role of knife-slinging alien Drax the Destroyer.

Of course, many still remember Bautista as “The Animal” Batista, the six-time WWE world champion who had major feuds with the likes of Triple H, the Undertaker and John Cena. What few remember, however, is that the action star’s combat sports career wasn’t just limited to the ring. Back in 2012, he actually stepped into the cage for an MMA fight.

Check out the video here:

After seemingly walking away from a full-time wrestling career in 2010 in order move to Hollywood, Bautista surprised many by first reemerging at an MMA event, Strikeforce: Los Angeles. That appearance teased a move to mixed martial arts, which saw Bautista eventually step into the cage for CES MMA opposite Vince Lucero.

The sloppy fight was widely panned by fans and pundits at the time and Bautista’s performance inspired little confidence regarding his fighting future. No sophomore effort would ever come to be, however, as Bautista hung up his gloves and filmed the first Guardians of the Galaxy film the next year.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

TUF 26: What You Need to Know About the Division, Fighters, and the Ideal Roster

On May 4, the UFC sent out a press release informing the world that a new season of The Ultimate Fighter would crown the inaugural women’s flyweight champion. Hours later, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole that it was sent in error…

On May 4, the UFC sent out a press release informing the world that a new season of The Ultimate Fighter would crown the inaugural women’s flyweight champion. Hours later, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole that it was sent in error.

Less than a week later, it has been officially confirmed. White confirmed the news to espnW’s Katie Barnes.

The division has existed outside of the UFC’s zeitgeist. As such, fans may not know much about the current landscape or what to expect now that the flyweights are coming to the biggest promotion in the sport.

Thus, Bleacher Report’s Nathan McCarter and Steven Rondina will take you through the news, the division’s top talent and what TUF will bring to you in the upcoming season.

      

Overview

Nathan: The flyweight division has been a glaring omission by the UFC for some time, and the announcement of the upcoming season to introduce the division is long overdue. Steven, what were your initial thoughts of the announcement?

Steven: My initial reaction was basically a “why?”

Not because it’s a bad idea, there is most certainly enough talent out there to support a 125-pound division…but why 125 pounds instead of 105? Why now, when the new 145-pound division is in complete disarray? Why was White, as recently as two weeks ago, saying that this absolutely wasn’t happening?

The whole situation just strikes me as odd, and I mean…they couldn’t be this shaken by Bellator’s recent women’s MMA, right? Right!?

Nathan: I’ve always felt as if they have had this plan but didn’t feel pressured to execute it while forcing ex-flyweights up to bantamweight to make that division appear deeper than it actually was. I don’t think they were shaken by Bellator’s new division, but I do think it forced their hand to expedite it to ensure landing top talent.

I do agree with you that atomweight would have been the more appropriate call, but it would be dependent on getting Michelle Waterson and Jessica Penne to commit to dropping back down to the weight where they were world champions. A division marked with Waterson and Penne, along with Ayaka Hamasaki, Seo Hee Ham, Herica Tiburcio and beyond, would have been extremely exciting.

Overall, unlike featherweight, this is a good move for the UFC. It’s not built for one. Flyweight is a division with legitimate talent, and the UFC giving them a platform will only help deepen the talent pool in the long run.

      

Current Top and Favorite Fighters, Prospects

Nathan: If anyone is going to talk about flyweights in 2017, then they have to reference Invicta FC. It’s the premier women’s organization and has the most active flyweight division. Jennifer Maia is the current champion with Vanessa Porto and Roxanne Modafferi not too far behind.

Former Invicta FC champion Barb Honchak will get name dropped a bit as she never lost her belt, but she hasn’t fought since 2014. She shouldn’t be glossed over, but it’s difficult to ascertain when, or if, she’ll return to action.

Other key names would be Andrea Lee and Mackenzie Dern. Lee has won the Legacy FC and Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight belts while remaining a fan favorite. Dern, on the other hand, is one of the most promising prospects in all of women’s MMA. Both would be big gets for the UFC as they launch this new division.

Earlier this year, I chronicled the best fighters who are 25-and-under. At 125, two names stood out: Ariane Lipski and Agnieszka Niedzwiedz. Niedzwiedz is already a top contender in Invicta, and Lipski is coming off a win over former top-five flyweight Sheila Gaff by first-round TKO at KSW 36. They are ideal signings to a new flyweight division.

Who else do you see at the top of the division?

Steven: Well, when it comes to the actual season, we’re not sure the entire cast will be new additions, correct? You certainly hit all the biggest names over in Invicta FC, but the UFC already has plenty of 125-pound female talent on the roster that happens to be fighting at 135 pounds.

Most of those fighters are, at best, fringe top-10 names, but most have been hindered by their size. Leslie Smith immediately comes to mind as somebody that could make waves in a 125-pound return, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s coming off a big win over Irene Aldana.

Jessica Eye was a flyweight before joining the UFC and could certainly use a hard reboot of her career coming off four straight losses. Oh, and Valentina Shevchenko? If she can still make it down to 125 pounds, she is pretty handily the best female flyweight in the world.

And naturally, if there is a women’s flyweight division, we’ll see some 115-pounders move up, seeking fresh matchups and better opportunities. Claudia Gadelha would greatly benefit from a move up (and a move away from Joanna Jedrzejczyk). And depending on how the next few months shake out, it wouldn’t be too shocking if fighters like Karolina Kowalkiewicz or Jessica Andrade followed suit.

That isn’t to say that all, or any, of them would end up on the show. There are plenty of hurdles there in terms of pay, management and weight cutting that could keep them off.

All this is to say, don’t be surprised if there are some familiar faces on the show, and beyond.

      

Ideal TUF 26 Roster

Using precedent of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned, each woman will enter with a ranking. We have selected a range of fighters from the best in the division to veterans of the weight class.

 

     

Way Too Early Predictions

Steven: When it comes to this season of TUF, should it come to pass, I’m largely looking at it the same way I did TUF 20. That is, I think the reigning Invicta champion, in this case Maia, should be looked at as the clear favorite to win the whole thing.

With the exception of her split-decision win over Modafferi (which probably shouldn’t have been that close on the cards), Maia has had little trouble filling Invicta‘s post-Honchak void.

While she isn’t a slam dunk in the way Carla Esparza was with TUF 20, I don’t think there is anyone else to look at as the early pick to become the first women’s flyweight champ.

That said, from a long-term perspective, I could also see her just keeping the belt warm for somebody else that is already signed to the UFC.

Nathan: Making predictions without a cast is indeed difficult, but that’s why we’re here. Right? To make bold predictions.

It’s always important to remember that TUF is two five-minute rounds. This favors strong grapplers. If Honchak returns to action and is signed, then I would make her the clear front-runner to make it to the finals. Her grappling-heavy offense is what made her the champion and kept her champion. It’s a great style for TUF, but not great for fans looking for excitement.

Beyond TUF, I’m with you Steven. Whoever wins is likely keeping the belt warm for someone else. While Eye has been lackluster at bantamweight, no one should forget she is the former No. 1-ranked fighter at 125 pounds. And all of the aforementioned veterans you mentioned that may drop or move up in weight to compete in this division.

Long-term, it’s difficult not to see Jedrzejczyk running this division and leaving strawweight behind. She didn’t make her strawweight debut until the UFC came calling. Her final pre-UFC fight was against a top flyweight in Rosi Sexton. She knocked her out. Jedrzejczyk is perhaps even stronger at 125 than at 115. But she likely won’t abandon 115 until at least 2018.

TUF: Flyweights will be a great way to establish the division with a decent champion, but much like strawweight, the talent who does not compete on the program will control the division’s future.

Steven: I’m not so sure Jedrzejczyk will leave 115 unless she’s forced out. The contracts champions have are so much more lucrative than those of the rank-and-file, and we saw back in the day with Jose Aldo that the UFC will take those perks away the first chance they get and won’t offer any kind of protection for anybody looking to take that kind of gamble.

But indeed, I expect the aftermath to be similar to TUF 20. The early stars of the division will come up through the show, but the best of the best? They don’t fight for free.

Nathan: I would be more inclined to agree with you, but Jedrzejczyk has been a flyweight first and foremost. She simply hasn’t had that opportunity in the UFC. Now she does, and if she continues to win, she’ll get an automatic title shot.

She has been vocal about moving up almost since she came into the UFC. At the TUF 23 Finale post-fight press conference she said, “We’ll go up when this flyweight division will show up” (h/t MMAFighting’s Chuck Mindenhall). And, per Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com, she reiterated the sentiment at the UFC 211 conference call last week.

Even if by chance she comes to terms with the UFC to continue defending the strawweight strap, there will be plenty of upper-echelon talent to tackle this new division in her absence. This isn’t featherweight. And every fan can be thankful for that.

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Can Stipe Miocic Avoid ‘UFC Heavyweight Curse’ While Exacting Revenge on JDS?

On the surface, Stipe Miocic has been his normal, happy-go-lucky self headed into UFC 211.
Behind the closed doors of his fight camp, however, you couldn’t blame Miocic for feeling added urgency. The affable Cleveland native will be up against a c…

On the surface, Stipe Miocic has been his normal, happy-go-lucky self headed into UFC 211.

Behind the closed doors of his fight camp, however, you couldn’t blame Miocic for feeling added urgency. The affable Cleveland native will be up against a couple of formidable opponents Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

For one thing, he has a rematch with former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, who in December 2014 became just the second (and most recent) man to saddle Miocic with a loss during his 18-fight MMA career .

For another, there’s that pesky UFC heavyweight title curse to contend with.

This will be Miocic’s second defense of the 265-pound championship, and this is historically right about when things start to fall apart for the UFC’s premier big men.

The life story of the heavyweight title is littered with short reigns and cruel twists of fate, including Bas Rutten’s sudden retirement, Randy Couture’s contract woes, Frank Mir’s career-threatening motorcycle accident and Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis, to name a few. 

“No one’s ever defended the belt more than twice,” Miocic said Sunday in a short Twitter video for UNINTERRUPTED, “but that’s how we roll. That’s how Clevelanders do it.”

This sense of underdog civic pride has informed much of Miocic’s title journey thus far.

He captured the belt with a surprise first-round KO of Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198, just a month before his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers battled back from a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals to win the first championship in franchise history. Four months after that, the Cleveland Indians made their first run to the World Series since 1997, ultimately losing to the Chicago Cubs in a seven-game classic.

Miocic—who still works as a firefighter in the Cleveland area—has been swept along with his hometown’s suddenly ascendant mainstream sports franchises. It remains to be seen, however, whether The Land has enough Cinderella magic left to undo the UFC heavyweight title’s long and troubled history.

Of the 17 men who’ve held the 265-pound championship, just four of them have ever managed to defend it twice. Not coincidentally, the members of that group—Couture, Tim Sylvia, Lesnar and Cain Velasquez—are also considered the division’s all-time greats. 

None of them ever successfully defended the title a third time.

If Miocic wins Saturday, he’ll somewhat improbably add his name to the above list. A victory would put him at the precipice of that mythical third heavyweight title defense, a feat no one has yet accomplished in UFC history.

Standing between Miocic and history is dos Santos, who knows from personal experience that the UFC heavyweight title can be a fickle mistress.

There was a time when JDS, not Miocic, appeared poised to finally bring stability to the perennially volatile heavyweight strap. Back in 2011, he defeated Velasquez to win the championship during the organization’s first broadcast on the Fox Network.

That promise was fleeting, however, as dos Santos lost the title back to Velasquez in December 2012 in—guess what—his second championship defense. When the American Kickboxing Academy product defeated him once more in their third fight in October 2013, it seemed to render an unhappy verdict on his future as an elite 265-pounder.

Despite his relatively young age, the 33-year-old Brazilian has endured plenty of punishment in his 15 UFC fights. Counting the two losses to Velasquez, he’s just 3-3 dating back to the end of 2012.

On the bright side, one of those wins was over Miocic, when the pair tangled in the main event of UFC on FOX 13. 

It was the first time Miocic went a full five rounds, and dos Santos turned the tables on the usually pressure-minded American by crafting a 123-89 advantage in significant strikes. Perhaps most eye-popping of all, dos Santos stuffed all but one of the Miocic’s 18 takedown attempts, according to the official Fightmetric statistics.

In the end, the hard-fought scrap was ruled a unanimous decision win for JDS, though a bit shy of 30 percent of unofficial media scorecards had it for Miocic, according to MMADecisions.com.

Since then, they’ve walked somewhat divergent paths.

Miocic has been on a tear, winning four straight fights, all of them by stoppage, each over a well-known UFC regular. His most recent bout, against Alistair Overeem at UFC 203, was a back-and-forth crowd-pleaser that headlined the organization’s first-ever event in Cleveland and won both guys a Fight of the Night bonus. That marked Miocic’s seventh performance-based bonus in 12 UFC appearances.

Meanwhile, dos Santos took nearly a year off after defeating Miocic and then could muster just one Octagon appearance each year in 2015 and 2016 due to shoulder surgery, among other factors. 

JDS was booked to take on Stefan Struve on February 19, but when Struve pulled out with an injury, the UFC offered him the opportunity to fight for the title instead. In essence, that gave him an extra long training camp for this second fight against Miocic. 

Despite his recent inactivity, dos Santos doesn’t think ring rust will be a problem.

“I’m feeling good, I’m training very well here at ATT, and I don’t think it’s gonna be a problem for me,” he told Ariel Helwani recently on The MMA Hour, via MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. “I’m getting more mature right now. I’m understanding myself a little bit better, so I can concentrate all my energy on my preparation. I’m coming to take that belt from Miocic.”

It would be a remarkable turnaround for dos Santos to defeat Miocic and win the title a second time after losing it to Velasquez back at UFC 155 more than four years ago.

This time, the odds are not in his favor. Miocic is going off as the slight favorite, according to OddsShark, though dos Santos has picked up some considerable ground since the betting lines opened back in February.

If things play out according to chalk and Miocic pulls out a win, it will account for the rare double-dip.

It will get the monkey off his back from his earlier loss to dos Santos, and it would also keep his heavyweight title run on track.

Can Miocic reverse the heavyweight curse? That still remains to be seen, though it might be smart for him to start looking over his shoulder.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Super Prospect Aaron Pico on Bellator Debut and Working with Freddie Roach

0-0.
In certain contexts, it’s a pretty auspicious pro MMA record. One of those contexts occurs when you see the 0-0 on a pay-per-view card. There aren’t many modern fighters this side of CM Punk who make their professional debuts on a stage people she…

0-0.

In certain contexts, it’s a pretty auspicious pro MMA record. One of those contexts occurs when you see the 0-0 on a pay-per-view card. There aren’t many modern fighters this side of CM Punk who make their professional debuts on a stage people shelled out $60 to see.

To get away with that, you’ll need someone who stands out from the crowd based on non-MMA activities.

How does the greatest MMA prospect of all time fit the bill?

Fight fans will vote with their wallets June 24, when 20-year-old Aaron Pico enters the pro MMA cage for the first time—and in no less a venue than New York City’s venerable Madison Square Garden. He’ll do so against a relatively unheralded lightweight in Zach Freeman (8-2).

“It feels good,” Pico told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “This is where I’ve always envisioned myself. It’s not the last time I’ll fight in front of the fans at MSG.”

He’s not lacking for confidence. And that’s good, because plenty of other, more established Bellator stars didn’t make it onto this card, only the second pay-per-view event in Bellator history and its first in New York. Bellator: NYC will follow the cable-televised Bellator 180.

Does Pico feel strange about receiving this opportunity? No. And with his long history on the international wrestling circuit—he chose to forgo college for global competition, then last year fell just short of making the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team as a teenager—he’s received a taste of pressure before.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “This is what I wanted to do. I’ve always done it at the highest levels. We’re going to be champions of the world. I’ve proven myself time and time again. In wrestling, I was young and taking on men. I know what I’m capable of doing.”

Although his training home base remains American Kickboxing Academy in Fresno, California, alongside stars like Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold, he’s branching out to other high-profile camps. He is now training with Eddie Bravo at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Boxing work takes place under the gifted eye of Freddie Roach and the staff at Wild Card Boxing, famous home to Manny Pacquiao and a slew of others.

“He’s always helping me,” Pico said of Roach. “We’ve really been welcomed there. When you step into Wild Card, it’s just a feeling you get that everyone’s there to just work and push each other to do good. I see my hand speed coming. … It’s upped my level, for sure.”

On paper, Freeman would appear to be a weak opponent for Pico’s debut. That may be by design, as Bellator officials probably aren’t very interested in watching one of the sport’s top prospects drop his first contest.

But Pico, perhaps not surprisingly, doesn’t see it that way. Yes, he has called out bigger names before, but he’s been waiting a long time to make his MMA debut, having trained in combat sports for years and recently moving past a serious knee injury. Speaking with a measured voice, Pico genuinely doesn’t seem to be thinking about much of anything else beyond Freeman in Madison Square Garden.

“Freeman is a tough opponent,” Pico said. “But I want to take on the challenge. I’m not training to fight lower-level fighters.”

 

Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter.

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UFC Fight Night 108 Results: Matches to Make for the Winners and Losers

UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville provided quite a bit of action and quite a few interesting results.
Artem Lobov proved many doubters wrong by hanging with one of the featherweight elite for 25 minutes. It was a losing effort, but Lobov’s stock undoubt…

UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville provided quite a bit of action and quite a few interesting results.

Artem Lobov proved many doubters wrong by hanging with one of the featherweight elite for 25 minutes. It was a losing effort, but Lobov’s stock undoubtedly rose after the performance.

What’s next for Conor McGregor’s training partner? What about Cub Swanson, who failed to put away an unranked fighter in a main event spot?

Al Iaquinta knocked Diego Sanchez out in the first round of their co-main event contest. Iaquinta’s return from a two-year absence thrust him right back into the hunt at 155 pounds. Sanchez now has to come to grips with his inability to compete with the top lightweights in the world.

Twenty-six fighters in total hit the cage Saturday, but what’s next?

Here’s your look at the matches the UFC should book for the winners and losers after UFC Fight Night 108.

Begin Slideshow