Mario Bautista emphatically proved that Vinicius Oliveira is not yet ready for the top level in the UFC Fight Night 266 main event when he rolled to a one-sided victory.
It was an important moment for Bautista (17-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC), who had his eight-fight winning streak snapped by Umar Nurmagomedov in October, and with it any title momentum. Bautista is one of the ones who has to work a little bit harder than everyone else to get ahead, and that fight felt like a huge setback for his bantamweight title aspirations, especially after the division was reset by Petr Yan claiming the gold.
Advertisement
After being bumped off his surge, it felt like Bautista was being set up to fall even harder against the surging Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who had looked nothing but dangerous before stepping into the octagon on Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Bautista didn’t get the memo, however, because he crushed all of Oliveira’s hype inside nine minutes. A brilliant transition into a rear-naked choke sealed the deal for Bautista, who hardly looked like he’d been in a fight when he showed up to the post-fight press conference.
It was there where Bautista reiterated what he said pre-fight and in the octagon immediately after having his hand raised: He wants Cory Sandhagen next.
It’s a fine callout. They fought on the first ESPN show in January 2019, and Sandhagen got the job done with a first-round submission by armbar. It was Bautista’s UFC debut and Sandhagen’s third octagon appearance, and much has changed for both men since then.
Advertisement
What they do share in common, however, is that they’ve both proven to be top seven in the world at 135 pounds, so a rematch does feel warranted and logical. Does Sandhagen (18-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) want it as he rebound fight from a failed title shot, though? That’s be the question.
For him, there’s not as much appeal in giving Bautista that rematch when he’s still ranked behind him. Bautista could have a more realistic shot of getting an Aiemann Zahabi or Song Yadong (who called him out), but timing and availability is always key.
Bautista’s options get slim, however, when you recognize he’s locked out of quadrant of Yan, Merab Dvalishvili, Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley, so his best bet would be to stay option to any of the trio mentioned who are ranked directly below those four, because if he wants to sniff a title shot, activity will be key.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 113 matchmaker: Who’s next for Mario Bautista after win?
