UFC Qatar had one of the most exciting six-fight main cards in recent memory. Five of the six fights ended with a finish that had fans on the edge of their seats. In the main event, No. 1 in the lightweight rankings, Arman Tsarukyan defended his top spot against the likes of No. 6 Dan Hooker. In the co-main event, former UFC welterweight champion, No. 2 Belal Muhammad, was defeated by No. 6 seed Ian Garry. This was the only fight to go the distance on the main card. Many ranked fighters and previously ranked fighters have left to pick up the pieces in this edition of Losers.
Then Hooker
Arman Tsarukyan defeated Dan Hooker in the second round of their main event bout on Saturday. With the loss, Dan now drops to 14-9 under the UFC banner. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Hooker, including a body kick finish to Claudio Puelles and a pair of split decisions versus Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot.
A good next fight for Hooker would give him the man he wanted: Renato Moicano. The Brazilian is currently ranked number 10 in the division. Renato is 12-7 in the UFC and is currently on a two-fight losing streak. Moicano stepped in at short notice and was quickly submitted by champion Islam Makhachev in January. In June, Renato took on Beneil Dariush and lost a unanimous decision. These two slender strikers have not fought each other yet and with their vocal and brash personalities, this matchup would certainly provide a fun fight week and bout for fans. Both were recently thwarted in top fights. I could easily see these two fan favorites fighting on a pay-per-view card, a main event for an APEX card, or a feature prelim on a PPV card.
Hooker’s next fight: Renato Moicano
Belal Mohammed
Ian Garry defeated Belal Muhammad en route to a clean unanimous decision victory in the co-main event of UFC Qatar on Saturday. Belal has now lost two in a row after defeating Leon Edwards and capturing the welterweight title last July. The 37-year-old Belal is now 15-5, 1 NC under the UFC promotional banner. I could really see Belal getting a young, fresh face to face in his next fight.
This is one that could go either way. Belal could attract a lot of different fighters in his next fight. Two of the most likely would be #11 Gabriel Bonfim or #13 Colby Covington. It’s doubtful Belal will draw a name like #8 Kamaru Usman or #4 Shavkat Rakhmonov.
There aren’t many fighters that Covington doesn’t have bad blood with and Belal is no exception. With their similar fighting styles and the right build/hype, this fight could be huge for the division, even if, at least on paper, it is a bit irrelevant. Chaos turns 38 early next year and has lost three of his last four, most recently to a doctor stoppage by Joaquin Buckley last December.
Bonfim offers a good backup option as he is 6-1 in the UFC and is coming off a nasty KO against Randy Brown earlier this month in his first UFC main event. Bonfim is coming off a win over Stephen Thompson and has been steadily climbing the rankings.
The prediction here is that Belal will have a new face and a fight against Colby could actually happen.
Muhammad’s next fight: Colby Covington or Vicente Luque
Alonzo Menifield
Volkan Oezdemir showed fans why they call him ‘No Time’ as he KO’d Alonzo Menifield in less than 90 seconds. Meniefield is now 10-6-1 with the UFC. The 38-year-old is 2-3 in his last five fights, as the Contender Series alum has seen a notable step forward in the competition of late. Volkan entered the fight ranked No. 9 in the light heavyweight division, while Alonzo was ranked No. 14.
Menifield should face Mingyang Zhang in his next fight. Zhang is 3-1 in the UFC since being signed in 2024. Mingyang scored three first-round finishes and picked up three bonuses in his first three UFC fights against Brendson Ribeiro, Ozzy Diaz and Anthony Smith. However, in his most recent fight against Johnny Walker, Zhang was stopped in the second round of his first UFC main event. That fight took place in August, so the timing wouldn’t match exactly, but this is the fight we have to fight now. Both guys are almost done and Zhang is currently ranked #15 within the division. This is guaranteed to be an exciting fight with a KO finish extremely likely. The winner could potentially make it into the top 10, while the loser would disappear from the rankings.
Menifield’s next fight: Mingyang Zhang
Jack Hermansson
Myktybek Orolbai needed less than a round to sideline Jack Hermansson on the main card of UFC Qatar on Saturday. Hermansson, once one of the top-ranked middleweights, was competing in his first welterweight fight – what an unpleasant welcome. The Joker has now lost three of his last four fights and has retired in all three losses. The Joker’s only win in about 3.5 years came against Joe Pyfer via unanimous decision in February 2024. Jack is now 11-8 in the UFC.
A good match for Jack would be against Vicente Luque or Li Jingliang. Both fighters are available and both have solid name values and provide good litmus tests for the Swedish fighter.
Vicente last saw action in October when he welcomed Joel Alvarez from the lightweight division. Luque lost a unanimous decision and has now lost three of his last four. Vicente finished twice in that four-fight span and is 16-8 in the UFC.
Li Jingliang last fought in August last year, when he was knocked out against Carlos Prates. Jingliang has also lost three of his last four, finishing twice in that span. Leaning towards Jingliang as he has been out of action for a while and is likely looking to bounce back as well. It would also be an easy fight for fans to get behind and could fit on many fight cards.
Hermansson’s next fight: Li Jingliang or Vicente Luque
Shamil Gaziev
Waldo Cortes-Acosta took advantage of a short-notice opportunity and defeated Shamil Gaziev in a round on Saturday. Cortes-Acosta had just competed on November 1, so this was a quick and fruitful turnaround for him. The loss snapped a two-fight win streak for Gaziev. Shamil, a 2023 Contender Series alum, is now 3-2 under the UFC banner. Shamil entered the battle at number 11, while Waldo Cortes Acosta was ranked at number 6.
Easy to book here. This fight, which was originally booked as Gaziev vs Serghei Spivac, was referenced in a previous losers article. Even though the original matchup fell apart after Spivac fell ill, the result and the matchup it created are perfect. Spivac was ranked #7, while Ante Delija is currently ranked #10. This fight makes too much sense for the division right now and both fighters would have similar recovery times and be close to each other in the rankings.
Gaziev’s next fight: Ante Delija
Tagir Ulanbekov
Kyoji Horiguchi choked out Tagir Ulanbekov early in the final round of their fight on Saturday. Tagir entered the fight ranked No. 11 within the flyweight division, while Horiguchi was unranked within the UFC (but a former UFC flyweight title challenger, Bellator and RIZIN champion). Ulanbekov is now 6-2 in the UFC.
A good next fight for Tagir would be against Alex Perez. Perez is currently ranked seventh in the division, having just lost to #9 ranked Asu Almabayev on Saturday. That fight was on the undercard of UFC Qatar when Asu submitted Alex via guillotine choke early in the third round. Perez, himself a former challenger to the UFC flyweight title, has lost three of his last four fights. Alex was also scheduled to face Tagir in June last year. The fight fell through when both fighters rebooked, with Perez drawing Tatsuro Taira and Ulanbekov ultimately facing Clayton Carpenter (it was supposed to be Joshua Van, but Ulanbekov missed weight). Perez is 0-2 since that booking, while Tagir is 2-1. Rebooking this fight makes sense because Perez faced ranked guys while Ulanbekov did not during this period.
The fight would be very important for the 125 lbs. division.
Ulanbekov’s next fight: Alex Perez
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