UFC Vancouver was a fun card with Canadian fighters winning 5-2 that night, 6-2 if you count Brendan Allen, who walked out with the Canadian flag because his mother is from the Great White North. In the main tournament, the aforementioned Allen broke the streaking Reinier de Ridder, whose corner had to throw in the towel between the 4e and 5e rounds. A striking performance from Allen who replaced Anthony Hernandez on short notice. We also saw important division wins from Mike Malott, Aiemann Zahabi and Manon Fiorot. Before we move on to Abu Dhabi, let’s take a look at what’s next for Saturday’s winners.
Brendan Allen
Whether you like him or not, what Brendan Allen pulled off on Saturday was pretty badass. He went on a seven-fight win streak before losing two straight bouts. After that, he admittedly did some research before returning with a win over Marvin Vettori in July. He then accepted a fight against the red-hot Reinier de Ridder at short notice, where almost everyone wrote him off. He survived the first round and followed it up with three dominant rounds on top, landing ground-and-pound and making RDR throw in the towel.
It’s by far the best win of his career and it puts him in an interesting spot. I don’t think it makes him a #1 contender like RDR might have been, but it does put him one or two fights away. He called out Khamzat Chimaev, Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Of these, Strickland’s rematch appeals to me the most. A lot has changed from their first meeting and given the current circumstances, they would both come into it with something to prove.
Allen’s next fight: Sean Strickland
Mike Malott
As strange as this fight was, with the low blows and no-takes, Kevin Holland is still hands down the best scalp of Mike Malott’s career. The Ontario native is now once again on a three-fight winning streak, just like he did when he first entered the promotion. And while this win over ranked Holland could very well put him in the top 15, it’s pretty clear that Malott has lost some of the swagger he had when he first broke into the UFC. The KO over Charles Radtke was nice, but is sandwiched between two very tepid decision wins during this current winning streak. His confidence may still be a little shaken from the collapse against Neil Magny, which is why I wouldn’t push him up the welterweight ladder just yet. Someone who is also on the edge of the top 15 makes more sense, someone like the winner of the headliner Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown Apex.
Malott’s next fight: Bonfim/Brown winner
Aiemann Zahabi
Aiemann Zahabi turns 38 in a month, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the streak he’s on. When fighters reach this age, they are usually on a downward spiral, but Zahabi has continued to improve and is by far in the best part of his professional career. He was awarded a controversial decision against Jose Aldo in May, and while this one was a bit more convincing, I don’t think a split decision against Chito Vera will be enough to give him a shot at the title.
With Merab Dvalishvili clearing the division at the pace he is, someone like Zahabi could be next in line as everyone before him has already lost to the champion. Still, I think he needs a signature win to get his ticket to the dance. The perfect opponent is Deiveson Figueiredo. A well-known name, a former champion and someone who is just outside the top 5 and is looking for a win.
Zahabi’s next fight: Deiveson Figueiredo
Manon Fior
Part of the reason it took so long for Manon Fiorot to get her title shot last May was because she had five impressive, yet modest decision victories. Now that we had lost to the champions, it would probably take just as long to earn it all back. Unless she returned to her finishing style, as she did in her first two UFC fights. Well, I don’t think the Frenchwoman could have asked for anything more than a 74-second KO of Jasmine Jasudavicius, coming in on a five-fight win streak.
As good as this KO was for her stock, Fiorot needs at least one or two more before the UFC throws her back in a title shot. There will be a fight between two top 10 flyweights, Maycee Barber and Karine Silva. If Fiorot knocks out the winner of that fight like she did with Jasudavicius, she could force the UFC’s hand.
Fiorot’s next fight: winner Barber/Silva
Charles Jourdain
Charles Jourdain showed us as they called him “Air” on Saturday when he leapt into the air and landed a huge flying knee that floored Davey Grant. The ever-durable Grant was still so stunned that he had no chance of defending Jourdain’s guillotine. The fan favorite and noted action fighter is now 2-0 since dropping down to 145 lbs. The move from Victor Henry to Davey Grant was a decent jump in competition, so I think Jourdain deserves another similar raise. I think someone like Chris Gutierrez, who was once ranked number one and whose recent losses have come to the likes of Pedro Munhoz, Song Yadong and Farid Basharat, would tell us a lot about what we have with Jourdain at bantamweight.
Jourdain’s next fight: Chris Gutierrez
Kyle Nelson
While Kyle Nelson may have thought he scored a late TKO in the first round, he still ended up with a unanimous decision victory. The Canadians have had a bit of a career revival lately. It happens largely under the radar, but he is 4-1 in his last 5, with his only loss coming against rising main eventer Steve “Mean Machine” Garcia. After switching between featherweight and lightweight, if Nelson plans to stay at 155 pounds, I think the perfect opponent is the one who fought right in front of him on Saturday. Drew Dober, who knocked out Kyle Prepolec in the prelims headliner, would no doubt have a nice joke with Nelson.
Nelson’s next fight: Drew Dober
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