The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicked off a busy April with its latest Fight Night event from the Meta Apex. Headlining UFC Vegas 115 was a lightweight scrap between veteran contender Renato “Money” Moicano and rising prospect Chris Duncan. The 13-fight card also featured fights in the light heavyweight, bantamweight and women’s strawweight divisions that will have repercussions later in the year.
Here are the matches to make for winners of the UFC Vegas 115 main card.
“Money Moicano” showed that he has plenty left in the tank by submitting Duncan (15-3) in the main event with a face crank. Carneiro (21-7-1) is now 5-2 in his last seven fights and there’s no shame in a short notice defeat to Islam Makhachev. The Brazilian is 36 but is still a tough out for anyone, so a fight against Pimblett next would make sense. Both men are fan-favorite contenders but aren’t championship level, so it’d be a thrilling Fight Night main event or a welcomed addition to any pay-per-view main card. Pimblett (23-4) is coming off a defeat to Justin Gaethje but has surprised fans with recent wins over Bobby Green and Michael Chandler. Let’s see if “The Baddy” can add another respected veteran’s name to his record or if Carneiro can pull off the upset.
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Jandiroba made it look easy against Tabatha Ricci, who she took a unanimous decision win over. After the win, the former title challenger called out titleholder Mackenzie Dern for a rematch, but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment or a fight many want to see a second time right away. A lot of the top strawweight fighters are currently booked or have recently fought Jandiroba (23-4), but Robertson would be a competitive fresh face at 115 pounds. Robertson (17-8) has been on the best run of her career, as she’s currently riding a five-fight win streak and holds victories over Amanda Lemos, Marina Rodriguez and Luana Pinheiro. This would be a welcomed UFC Fight Night headliner and the winner would be in a great spot moving forward.
Yakhyaev stayed undefeated with a rear-naked choke submission win over Brendson Ribeiro. Yakhyaev is 9-0 as a pro and is an exciting prospect at just 25. “The Hunter” is now 2-0 inside the promotion and I want to see him face off against a veteran next. A fight versus Crute would be particularly interesting as the Australian’s creative grappling would make it an interesting fight from a strategy standpoint. Crute (14-4-2) is riding wins over Ivan Erslan and Marcin Prachnio, which broke a five-fight winless streak. It’ll show if we need to pump the brakes on Yakhyaev or if he’s ready for tougher tests going forward.
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Ewing showed off his well-rounded game by punishing an overweight Rafael Estevam and picking up a knockout with a well-placed punch to the liver. Now 10-2 as a pro, “The Professor Finesser” is an interesting prospect to watch at bantamweight. The 28-year-old has shown a lot of poise, so I want to see him take on a high-level gatekeeper next. Former champion Garbrandt fits the bill and has shown how hittable he is in recent years. However, “No Love” is still dangerous with wins over Trevin Jones, Brian Kelleher and Long Xiao. Let’s see if Ewing can get past Garbrandt (15-7) and prove that he’s ready to battle contenders at 135 as he’d be a welcomed fresh face, if so.
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McMillen made an impressive UFC debut as he overwhelmed Manolo Zecchini with knees and punches. Now 10-0 as a pro, McMillen will look to take on a tougher opponent in his next fight. I’d like to see the 28-year-old striker take on Riley next. The English fighter is coming off impressive victories over Michael Aswell and Bogdan Grad and impressed in Cage Warriors for several years. With Riley holding a13-0 record of his own, it’d have a strong storyline of two young prospects to watch clashing with the winner deserving all the attention that they would get.
