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UFC’s 2024 schedule kicked off the way you would want it to: A UFC Fight Night card inside the APEX, with a storyline from the previous year carrying over. Hmm, that doesn’t sound right.
Maybe UFC decided not to put too much muscle into this card because they knew viewers would miss MMA after a few weeks without it? “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” If you were watching Saturday’s UFC card because it was their first in weeks, you weren’t alone.
Okay, maybe I’m being too negative. This weekend’s card saw a solid contender step back into the light heavyweight title picture. We also had appearances from the veteran of all veterans, Jim Miller, and had a really impressive bantamweight bout between Mario Bautista and Ricky Simon. No matter how many or how few headlines a card produces, there are always UFC fights to make™. That’s my job here, as your unofficial maker of fights! Let’s go over the top names from Saturday’s card and discuss who they should face next.
UFC Fights to Make after Ankalev vs. Walker 2
Magomed Ankalaev
Similar to his two UFC fights against Ion Cutelaba, Magomed Ankalaev made the rematch on Saturday look like a mismatch. After a quiet opening round, Ankalaev dropped Johnny Walker hard with a punch for the stoppage win in the second round.
After an off-beat 12 months that saw him fight to a draw in a title fight against Jan Blachowicz and settle with a no-contest against Walker in their first meeting, Ankalaev is back on a quest towards the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
With 10 wins since 2018, Ankalaev is undoubtedly fit for a title shot. It’s why he received one in 2022. But things are a little more complicated than that. Former champion Jamahal Hill is expected to get a title shot right after he returns from his torn achilles tendon injury. That’s fair. Lost his belt due to a non-MMA injury, so he has a fair argument to get an immediate shot.
But, when will that happen? I’m not entirely sure the answer there. If Hill is going to be out until the third quarter of the year, I suggest Ankalaev gets the title shot. He can likely take a quick turnaround after this fight and meet Alex Pereira sometime in the coming months. Then after that, Hill could get his new title shot.
If Ankalaev can’t get a title shot next, I suggest he simply waits. He has a better case for a title opportunity than most names near the top of light heavyweight. The UFC fight to make for Ankalaev is a title shot. Either now against Pereira, or after Hill gets his shot.
Johnny Walker
Johnny Walker seems to lose in his biggest moments. He has lost in all three of his UFC main event opportunities. He has put runs together in the light heavyweight division, but always lost UFC fights against more challenging names. Now that we have seen him in more than a dozen UFC fights, you could argue that his ceiling in the light heavyweight division is somewhat visible now.
I am, at least for now, downgrading Walker and considering that he fights down in the division instead of up or at his level. He can prove his current skill level by stopping the momentum of rising names lower in the weight class. Why doesn’t he face Azamat Murzakanov, who is on a three-fight winning streak in the UFC? He is coming off a win over Dustin Jacoby from last year and finished his two previous opponents.
Murzakanov is currently on a run, but he’s also facing much lower-ranked fighters in the division. It would be a nice step-up for him, and an interesting way to see how Walker would do against someone who isn’t in the top 10 at 205 pounds.
Jim Miller
Fight #42, win #26. Those are two figures in UFC history that nobody has ever touched, except for Jim Miller. He achieved these new highs on Saturday, submitting Gabriel Benitez in the third round to cap off a strong performance.
Miller is eyeing UFC 300 in April, since he previously fought on both UFC 100 and 200 as well. He threw out the idea of three names after his fight on Saturday, and we’ll go in order of least likely to most likely: Paul Felder, Matt Brown, and Brock Lesnar.
Okay, maybe he was joking when he mentioned Lesnar and I’m not actually entertaining that fight’s possibility. However, the idea of him facing either Felder or Brown is neat. There are obvious hurdles to either fight. For Felder, well, he’s retired. And for Brown, he’s up a division (although Miller said he is fine with making that move for this fight).
When considering who Miller will get on UFC 300, I’m not really making any considerations regarding his spot in the lightweight division, and other usual methodologies in this column. Like his own matchup ideas, I’m thinking about what UFC fight best serves his legacy.
While it might sound wild for Miller to move up a weight class to face a veteran, it kind of makes sense. A lot of the experienced names in his home division he would either be heavily favored against or have already faced, or have other complications. Clay Guida, 29 fights: Fought in 2019. Michael Johnson, 24 fights: Fight booked. Rafael dos Anjos, 23 fights: Fight booked. There are many other cases like this when you get further down the list.
I really like the idea of him against Brown. At welterweight, Brown has the second-most UFC fights, with 30 in total. There’s cool history there. But since he already called out Brown and we already used a fighter’s call out farther down the article, I’ll offer another suggestion as well. I can’t let these UFC fighters do my job for me!
What if Miller faced Bobby Green? Green has 23 fights in UFC history, making him tied for sixth-most appearances at lightweight. While he’s coming off a loss against Jalin Turner, he had a two-fight winning streak going before then, including an upset win over Grant Dawson.
And if you want some history, here’s this: The Green fight has eluded Miller for years. At UFC 172 in 2014, a booking between the two was cancelled after Green suffered an injury. Fast-forward to 2021, Green suffers a collapse at the weigh-ins that forces their fight off a card. And in 2022, their UFC fight fell through once again. I promise you it’s bad luck, the Miller fights are the only Green has withdrawn from since 2018. It would be cool to see that matchup finally happen at UFC 300.
Mario Bautista
Saturday was a great showing from Mario Bautista. His three-round outing over Ricky Simon was easily his best win on paper, and a really impressive performance as well. Simon entered this weekend ranked and Bautista didn’t — that will likely change in just a few days.
After his UFC fight, Simon was looking for his next opponent. He wanted a name in the top 10 of the division, and called out ninth-ranked Rob Font. Now, Font is a challenge and a name that would move him up the rankings, but he has also lost four of his past five fights. I want Bautista facing someone who has shown a little more success as of late.
I considered Jonathan Martinez potentially a better name for him to face. Martinez has put together an impressive six wins since 2021. He’s a strong striker who could get into competitive duels with Bautista on the feet. He’s ranked 12th which — I know — is not what Bautista wants. But like Simon, Martinez would be a win that looks really impressive on his record and would certainly push him higher in the division.
Brunno Ferreira
Don’t you love when someone does your job for you? That’s exactly what happened after finishing machine Brunno Ferreira won on Saturday night. The Brazilian middleweight with 11 pro wins — all via finish in the first or second round — called out undefeated Shara Magomedov.
Magomedov gained a lot of attention last year by winning his debut UFC fight against Bruno Silva. He has a flawless pro record of 12 wins, with more recent appearances coming from the Russian regional scene.
Ferreira and Magomedov are at similar spots in their careers: Both early in their UFC runs and have similar amounts of experience as a pro. So, thanks for the suggestion Ferreira, we’re going to use it!
Waldo Cortes-Acosta
It wasn’t a great night at the office for Andrei Arlovski. He was beaten on scorecards by Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who out-boxed him to win two-out-of-three rounds on scorecards. This wasn’t particularly an intriguing UFC fight, as Cortes-Acosta seemingly cruised against a heavyweight who has basically been cruising for years (Reminder: Arlovski’s last finish win was in 2015).
Cortes-Acosta now has a strong UFC record of four wins and one loss. So, who should he face next? I think it would be nice to see him in a UFC fight against a fellow rising heavyweight before we discuss what performance could get him into the heavyweight rankings.
A fight against Philipe Lins would be interesting. While Lins had a rocky rookie year in the UFC, losing two fights (including a bout to Arlovski!), he has gone on a three-fight streak of wins since returning in 2022. This would be an interesting step-up for Cortes-Acosta that could show if he’s ready for a UFC fight against the top 15. It would offer a chance for Cortes-Acosta to beat a UFC fighter coming off one-or-more wins for the second time in his career.
Farid Basharat
The Basharat brothers are no joke! Farid Basharat followed the lead of his brother Javid this Saturday by winning his third consecutive UFC fight and remaining undefeated. This weekend saw Farid dominate Taylor Lapilus for a decision victory.
Listen, bantamweight is a crammed division. There’s a lot of really talented folks. It takes a lot to become ranked. While both of the Basharat brothers are folks that I have a lot of faith in to go far, I’m not going to discuss a UFC fight to get into the ranked standings just yet.
However, I do have a tough step-up challenge for Basharat in mind. I believe that a fight against Said Nurmagomedov would be an interesting one to see.
Nurmagomedov is coming off a first-round submission win over Muin Gafurov. He has won seven of his nine UFC fights. He is more experienced and successful than Basharat, but I believe this is a fight that Basharat would be ready for, especially considering how well his performance this Saturday went.
Joshua Van
Former Fury FC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van kicked off UFC’s first fight card of 2024 with a finish win over Felipe Bunes. Van showed his slow-starting fighting style, dropping the first frame to a solid counter-striker before taking over and earning a stoppage in the second.
Van says he wants to fight four-to-six times this year. Well, that sounds optimistic, especially considering he has such a damage-friendly give-one-to-take-one style. But nonetheless, let’s see who we could match him up against next.
Van won his third consecutive UFC fight this weekend. Since he fights at flyweight, a division with one of the more thin rosters in the UFC, it’s not too early to talk about him breaking into the rankings.
Van could make a good opponent for undefeated, 15-ranked talent Tatsuro Taira. With his aggressive striking abilities and his solid ground game, Van would be a tough challenge for Taira. While Taira has five UFC wins and a flawless record of 15 victories, he hasn’t received many big, meaningful wins yet. This is not really his fault, as fights against Kleydson Rodrigues and David Dvorak — which both fell through this year — would have helped his resume. But I believe Van would be a strong and tough test for Taira. Some might oppose this because Taira would be “fighting down” in the rankings. However, I think Van is quite underrated and will show that if these two collide.