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UFC returned with a Fight Night card on Saturday and gave us some things to talk about: Nassourdine Imavov has his first main event win, although it didn’t come without a point deduction and a little bit of drama. Renato Moicano is back, winning, and playing Mad Libs on the mic. Natalia Silva is on the rise and is looking towards the top of the flyweight division.
Quite honestly, Saturday’s card was not must-see TV. It was pretty low on star power and had a lot of matchups that didn’t feel like they set up anything big in any divisions. If you missed this weekend’s show, I don’t think you’re going to fall out of the MMA news cycle too hard. Despite this, it was actually one of the more interesting lineups recently to write a Fights To Make piece on. There are lots of questions to ask about many fighters following their performances this weekend. We only have so much time here, so I’ll run down seven different fighters who I thought were interesting to discuss. Let’s make some fights!
Nassourdine Imavov
After a year of things not going his way — from a no-contest result when facing Chris Curtis to a unanimous decision loss against Sean Strickland — Nassourdine Imavov can finally say he’s on the rise once again. Imavov’s striking allowed him to absolutely dominate in Saturday’s main event against Roman Dolidze, earning him a scorecard nod despite taking a point deduction.
It was a great night at the office for Imavov. Now, let’s talk about what he should do next. On Saturday, he called for a rematch against Strickland after his win. Maybe riding a bit of a high from his victory? That fight seems a little too ambitious for now. A lot has changed with Strickland since they last met, notably him becoming a world champion and beating Israel Adesanya.
As I wrote in a recent Fights To Make column, I want Strickland’s next fight to be against one of the top names so we can figure out where he realistically sits in the division currently. By beating seventh-ranked Dolidze, Imavov is likely not cracking the top five of the division yet, making me want to put the idea of a Strickland rematch on the back burner for now.
But there’s also another issue at play: Many of the top names at middleweight are currently booked for fights. So, we’re going to do something that also happens later in this column (spoilers), and we’re going to match Imavov with the result of an upcoming fight.
Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker are booked to face off at UFC 298 in two weeks. Whittaker, a former champion, is ranked third in the division, and Costa currently sits at sixth. Because they’re both pretty highly regarded at 185 pounds, I’m going to suggest that Imavov faces the loser of this matchup.
Costa is an experienced fighter, with lack of activity being a real hindrance to his career. Nonetheless, if he is next for Imavov, he’ll be a tough test for him. Costa has faced many experienced middleweights before and has hung around the higher parts of the division since 2019. A win for Imavov against him would put the French talent in the discussion of serious contenders.
Whittaker would be a bigger challenge, considering his presence in the title picture over the years. Either way, I feel like a great challenge for Imavov presents itself here, giving him a good fight that isn’t shooting him too high up the division.
Roman Dolidze
Saturday was not a good night for Roman Dolidze. After narrowly avoiding a stoppage in the first round, he struggled to do much in the remaining 20 minutes of the fight. It wasn’t the type of performance he was hoping to have in his first-ever UFC main event fight. Now that he has suffered his second consecutive loss, let’s discuss what the plan should be for him.
While Dolidze will likely remain part of the middleweight rankings following Saturday, I feel we should give him an unranked name next. I’m thinking of someone who is arguably knocking on the door of being ranked but maybe has struggled as of late and thus has not made the list.
Two names who aren’t currently booked came to mind: Marc-Andre Barriault, and Park Jun-yong. For Park: He’s had a four-fight winning streak snapped two months ago in a split decision by Andre Muniz. He has overall had a really strong UFC campaign, earning seven wins in 10 fights. For Andre-Barriault, he’s just a few weeks removed from a split decision loss to Chris Curtis, who is ranked. Before then, he had a pair of respectable victories, in wins against Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders.
Either of these names would be a solid next matchup for Doldize. If I had to pick, I think Andre-Barriault would be my choice.
Renato Moicano
Renato “Money” Moicano is back. After an injury kept him on the sidelines for all of 2023, Moicano added another win to his record this weekend with a decision against Drew Dober.
Moicano utilized his ground control to overcome Dober. While Dober was able to do some damage and likely pick up the second round, work in rounds one and three allowed Moicano to walk away with a victory.
Moicano has won four of his last five fights, with the sole loss being a short-notice defeat to Rafael dos Anjos in 2022. While he is currently ranked 13th at lightweight, on paper it looks like he deserves to be higher in the division.
However, I feel like Saturday’s fight was not an incredibly strong performance from him. Of course, a win is a win, but it wasn’t a fight that made you think “Wow, he needs to be facing big names in the division now!”
I’m thinking a booking against Dan Hooker would be a “Fight of the Night” contender and a perfect next step for Moicano. Hooker is coming off wins over Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner. To reward Moicano after being on the sidelines for a while, it would be nice to give him another tough matchup that would mean something for his move up the lightweight division. Hooker, like Dober, can fight a fan-friendly style. If this matchup is too violent for you, maybe the aforementioned former opponent of Hooker, Turner, would be better.
Natalia Silva
It wasn’t easy, but Natalia Silva’s rise up the flyweight rankings continued on Saturday night. Silva easily picked up her biggest win yet on Saturday’s main card, overcoming Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision.
Araujo was incredibly aggressive, putting pressure on Silva throughout the fight. But Silva landed the better shots and picked up two of three rounds on all scorecards to get the victory. With that win, Silva now has an impressive five consecutive victories in the UFC since 2022.
Araujo walked into this weekend ranked seventh in the division, meaning Silva will likely go up a couple of spots from her current ninth-place ranking. What’s next for her is a little hard to decide currently.
The flyweight division is very booked up right now. When looking up the rankings: Amanda Ribas will soon face Rose Namajunas. Maycee Barber has been booked to fight Katlyn Chookagian. Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot will square off in March. So, really, if we’re going to give Silva another step-up in competition — which I think she is more than deserving of after this win — we’re not picking a fighter, we’re picking a fight.
I like the idea of Silva facing the winner of Chookagian versus Barber, which will go down on March 9. While that is arguably a big increase in challenge for her and a fight down for whoever wins that fight, it serves as a useful way to eliminate a contender while the flyweight title picture plays out.
Flyweight champ Alexa Grasso doesn’t have her next fight planned out at the moment, but there are arguably many possible matchups to make for her soon. In September, UFC CEO Dana White said Grasso should face former champ Valentina Shevchenko for the third time, as their second meeting resulted in a controversial draw. If things haven’t changed since White said that months ago (which is always possible), that will be Grasso’s next assignment. And after that, you could argue that the winner of the Fiorot and Blanchfield fight is the strongest contender for a title opportunity.
Since it probably would take a year for Grasso to get through two more title fights (and probably longer, considering her next match hasn’t even been announced yet), it makes sense to keep some of the higher-ranked names fighting each other and taking out contenders.
If Barber wins that March fight, she’ll have six straight UFC wins since 2021. If Chookagian prevails, it’s a former title challenger on the path to a new shot at gold. Either way, it makes for a great fighter for Silva to face next.
Molly McCann
Project Strawweight is off to a great start for Molly McCann. The 12-fight UFC vet picked up a win in her first 115-pound division bout, beating Diana Belbita in the first round with an armbar. This turned things around for her after losing back-to-back fights against Julija Stoliarenko and Erin Blanchfield over the past year or so via submission.
While it’s entirely possible that a division change could completely revitalize McCann’s career, it’s hard to say that just one fight in. During her 11 fights at flyweight, it felt like her ceiling in the division was figured out. Since she did recently suffer a pair of losses (including a defeat to Julija Stoliarenko, which is a very bad loss to take on paper), I don’t want to give her a super big step up in competition for her next fight. I want to give her another lower-ranked strawweight fighter for her second appearance at 115 pounds.
I was thinking that Emily Ducote would work as a strong next opponent for McCann. Ducote is similar to McCann in many ways: She is an experienced fighter who has proven herself on the regional scene. She is also coming off a win that snapped a two-fight skid. While she has less UFC experience than McCann, I believe this could be a good test for McCann that shows if we should start considering her as someone who could go on a run in the rankings.
Charles Johnson
Charles Johnson ended the hype train of Azat Maksum on Saturday night, gutting out a unanimous decision victory on the prelims. Truth be told, I think Johnson doesn’t get enough credit. He’s been a tough and crafty fighter for years, and anyone who followed him since his title run in LFA would know this.
Johnson came into this fight with his back against the wall: He had lost three consecutive UFC bouts, meaning another loss would almost certainly end his promotional run. With an impressive performance against a hyped prospect, Johnson is back in the flyweight picture.
After his win, Johnson called for a fight against Joshua Van for UFC 300 in April. Van, a former Fury FC flyweight titleholder, has put together three wins since joining the UFC roster. That would be an incredible matchup, but I have some second thoughts about that. First of all, is that possibly too risky of a fight for Johnson, considering he still has lost many of his most recent fights? And also from a purely logistical standpoint, is that quick turnaround possible?
I’ll say this: I think Johnson and Van would be an absolute barnburner that would deserve a spot on the UFC 300 card. However, I’m worried Johnson might be putting a little too much dip on his chip here. But now that it’s been mentioned, I can’t stop thinking about this matchup.
Fights To Make is all about being the matchmaker. But, when a fighter brings up a bout that sounds perfect, we simply can’t ignore it. I’m going to take Johnson’s advice in this instance and put him against Van in the next bout. Either at UFC 300, or sometime later.
Lee Jeong-yeong
That’s how you make a debut. Road To UFC 2022-23 season winner Lee Jeong-yeong had an incredible first appearance as a UFC fighter this weekend, going the distance against former CFFC champ Blake Bilder. Lee came close to a finish early on, hurting Blake with a knee on the feet and then firing away with ground and pound later on.
While a finish would have arguably made a statement for Lee, the performance was nonetheless a promising one for a talent’s first time in the UFC. What do we do with Lee now that he has kept his winning streak going?
I believe that Blake Bilder was a great first test for Lee. Bilder was proven on the regional scene but has struggled a little in the UFC. The next type of opponent I’m looking for Lee to face is someone who is a little more UFC tenured but similar to Bilder might be struggling a little more as of late. Lee looked good this weekend, but it’s worth remembering that we can’t matchmake simply off their last performance. This is to say, we need to see a few Lee performances before truly throwing him some big challenges in the UFC.
I think it would be interesting to see Lee face Hakeem Dawodu. Here’s my pitch: Dawodu has fought in the UFC for 10 bouts and was at one point considered a rising name at featherweight. However, after losing three of his last five, he has lost some momentum. He’s also been out of the cage since August of last year. Sure it will be a step up for Lee, but it would be one that could move him up the rankings in the massive featherweight division