Let’s take a look at what could be next for Allen, along with the other standout winners on the night.

Brendan Allen

“All In” Allen’s last loss was back in 2021, and you’d have to go back six fights to get there. The 27-year-old has put on an incredibly impressive streak of performances, scoring a rear-naked-choke win in four of his last four fights, tying the longest active submission record.

There is no doubt that since that loss to Chris Curtis two years ago, the Louisiana product has improved leaps and bounds, and now finds himself ranked in the top 10 at 185lbs, above the aforementioned “Action Man”.

Allen is now in a position where he is knocking on the door of the top five, in a division that has seemingly been screaming out for new title contenders for the past few years. The submission artist has already shared the cage with the current champion, Sean Strickland, in which he was finished, but that was going back to 2020. Strickland will defend his title against Dricus Du Plessis, who you could say would be a favourable matchup for Allen and his grappling upside.

With the rest of the top five already being booked into fights, there is one name that stands out more than most for me, and that is, Marvin Vettori.

The Italian is seemingly struggling to find a fight and this one makes perfect sense. He is coming off a loss to Jared Cannonier and needs to defend his ranking.

Allen’s Next Fight: Marvin Vettori 

Michael Morales

When thinking of the most impressive prospects in the UFC, Michael Morales must be a name that comes very close to the top of the list.

The 24-year-old now boasts a professional record of 16-0, with four of those coming under the UFC banner. Jake Matthews proved to be his toughest outing thus far, but the Ecuadorian showed a different side to his style, and proved to be the better fighter over a technical three rounds.

That is now back-to-back wins over fighters with 15 or more UFC fights, providing the youngster with integral experience.

Despite being just 24-years-old, it seems as though Morales is ready for the next step in his UFC tenure. There are several fighters inside the top 15 who make sense for him moving forward.

Of course, when talking about welterweight prospects who are nearing the rankings, Neil Magny’s ears must run hot. “The Haitian Sensation” is already booked to fight Canadian prospect, Mike Malott though.

The occupant of rank 15 though, is someone Morales has been slated to fight previously but due to injury, he had to withdraw from the scheduled bout. Rinat Fakhretdinov could make a lot of sense again now, being as though he sits upon a ranking that Michael Morales could be coming for.

Morales’ Next Fight: Rinat Fakhretdinov  

Chase Hooper

“The Dream” Chase Hooper marked his second lightweight outing with another extremely impressive performance. In this one, he had to face some early adversity when he was rocked with some heavy Leavitt ground-and-pound. From there though, he was able to win the grappling exchanges, subsequently getting the first round sub.

Before the fight, Hooper told Cageside Press, that he wanted to enter the unofficial ‘best grappler in the lightweight division rankings’ and with the rear-naked-choke, he may have done exactly that.

With him looking increasingly more comfortable with each 155lb outing, the 24-year-old will likely want to take a little bit of time off as he and his wife expect a baby.

With that being Hooper’s 8th UFC fight despite only being 24-years-old, there is no reason to try and rush him up the rankings of the lightweight division.

Someone who I think could be a fun next matchup for Hooper, is Lando Vannata. Despite his recent skid, the losses have come to some of the higher echelon fighters in the division.

Hooper’s Next Fight: Lando Vannata

Payton Talbott

After a highly impressive performance on the Contender Series earlier this year, Talbott came into his UFC debut with a lot of eyes on him.

The 25-year-old didn’t disappoint as he put on another emphatic performance, submitting Nick Aguirre in the final round. It is going to very interesting to see Talbott’s UFC career unfold.

Selfishly I would love to see a fight between Payton Talbott and Da’Mon Blackshear, however that’s quite farfetched for Talbott’s second UFC outing. A fight that would be more realistic would be, Dan Argueta.

Talbott’s Next Fight: Dan Argueta

Amanda Ribas

The Brazilian striker bounced back from her loss to Maycee Barber, with a great third round KO over Luana Pinheiro, in her strawweight return.

Once again Ribas showed a full arsenal of striking, and began her final finishing sequence with a picture perfect spinning wheel kick, which wobbled and subsequently dropped Pinheiro.

With Ribas hoping for a resurgence at strawweight, there is female who is on her rise up the rankings, and sits just one spot behind Ribas. That is Loopy Godinez who has continued impressing. That is a fight I could see next.

Ribas’ Next Fight: Loopy Godinez

Myktybek Oralbai

Marking his UFC debut with a second round finish was, Myktybek Oralbai. The Kirghiz native had a slow round one against the powerful, Uros Medic, but was able to capitalise with his grappling advantage in round two.

There are plenty options for the 25-year-old, but one I’m keen on is, Ange Loosa.

Oralbai’s Next Fight: Ange Loosa

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 82 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

No Fight of the Night was named at the Fight Night show, which got off to an early start on Saturday afternoon (or morning, if you were on the west coast). Four Performance of the Night awards, however, were issued, including one to main event middleweight Brendan Allen.

Earning his sixth straight victory to cement himself as a real contender at 185lbs, Allen locked up a rear-naked choke on Scotland’s Paul Craig just over 30 seconds into round number three. Craig was forced to tap, giving Allen five rear-naked choke submissions in his current six-fight win streak.

Additional Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 82 went to Joanderson Brito, Amanda Ribas, and Jeka Saragih. Brazil’s Ribas mounted a comeback victory in her strawweight match-up with Luana Pinheiro, after being pieced up in the opening round. Fellow Brazilian Brito, meanwhile, called for a bonus after his ninja choke submission win over Jonathan “JSP” Pearce to close out the preliminary card.

Brito had some pointed criticism, complaining previous finishes had gone unrewarded.

As for Jeka Saragih, his UFC Vegas 82 knockout of favorite Lucas Alexander, who missed weight for their featherweight fight, was historic, as he became the first UFC fighter from Indonesia to earn a win in the organization.

All four bonus-winning fighters will pocket an extra $50,000 for their efforts, on top of their fight purse, outfitting pay, etc.

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Ribas was once 4-0 in the UFC, but has traded losses and wins every fight since then to fall to 6-3. Though that is still a respectable record which has her ranked at both strawweight and flyweight, at thirty years old Ribas needs to stack a winning streak together starting now in order to get to a title fight. She could do that at either 115 or 125-lbs potentially, but in this fight she moved back down in weight after her recent loss to Maycee Barber at flyweight. On the other hand, Pinheiro sat where Ribas did in 2020, undefeated in the UFC with tons of momentum and the number nine next to her name. She had not lost since 2017 as a matter of fact, but Ribas took exception to that and walked out of the Apex with a win at the end of the night.

Both women started the fight swinging but especially Pinheiro, who landed on Ribas early and hurt her. Ribas retreated and the onslaught eventually stopped, giving her time to recover. Pinheiro still landed wild hooks every time that she let her hands go, as Amanda’s head was always on the center line. The pace slowed and Pinheiro picked her spots judiciously as she began to mix in leg kicks and avoiding the little offensive output that Ribas provided. Just past halfway through the round Ribas had a moment when she landed three good punches that stunned Luana momentarily, but Pinheiro recovered and got back to her gameplan. Her footwork and head movement was on point and Ribas could hardly land a glove on her most of the time. Ribas failed a takedown with one minute left but otherwise the same dynamic played out for the rest of the round.

The second round began with Ribas pressing forward again and Pinheiro evading, but this time Luana had far fewer moments where she dealt major damage to Ribas. Ribas added kicks to her attack and it served to deal damage when she could not reach with her hands. Pinheiro even attempted a takedown of her own with two minutes left as she began to slow down. She got in on a single leg but Ribas pushed her off and threw up a head kick that just missed as Pinheiro stood up. Amanda began to find success with her hands at last but then Pinheiro began to open up with hers again somewhat. Still, when the round ended it was certainly one that went to Amanda Ribas, who defended one last takedown right before the horn.

The final round in a presumably tied-up fight saw Pinheiro fight for momentum early, coming forward with punches more and throwing kicks of her own. The pace and volume of Ribas clearly still troubled her, but her defense allowed her to stay safe for the most part. Pinheiro failed another takedown but this time landed a knee on the break to score damage. One sequence saw Ribas land a backfist, eat a hook, and get thrown by Pinheiro. She bounced back to her feet but Pinheiro jumped on a front headlock, then try to take the back before settling in full guard. Luana pushed Ribas up against the fence but Amanda seemed more interested in striking off her back. However when she began to lock up an omoplata submission and Pinheiro was forced to withdraw, Ribas got back to her feet. There, she continued her relentless volume assault.

Pinheiro’s fatigue meant her defense had broken down completely and she ate every strike thrown at her, including a spinning wheel kick. Eventually she could not take it any longer and fell to her back, exhausted and badly hurt. The referee stopped the fight after only a few ground strikes to a semi-conscious Pinheiro.

Amanda Ribas showed at UFC Vegas 82 why she has won so many fights against good fighters, once again displaying true veteran grit and will to win. Despite being outclassed early on, she doubled down on her offense and just went forward harder until she broke her opponent. She will surely be in the running for a performance bonus at the end of the night, and can look ahead in the rankings to plan her assault on the throne now with a win back at strawweight.

Official Result: Amanda Ribas def. Luana Pinheiro by TKO (punches), Round 3, 3:53

The post UFC Vegas 82: Amanda Ribas Stages Gritty Comeback After First-Round Pummeling, Finishes Luana Pinheiro appeared first on Cageside Press.

“We lived together 2012, 2013 I think, some part of 2014,” Pinheiro told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Live (under) the same roof. Used to go out together weekends. I remember!”

With the history they have Pinheiro said she wishes this fight had a lot more on the line.

“I obviously would not ever choose this fight to happen except for a belt. I wish this fight was for a belt. It is weird the fact that we lived together. We’re friends, we hung out together, and we never though that this could happen. Specially now,” Pinheiro said.

“I think it’s one of the beauties in fighting and in MMA.”

At the end of the day it’s not personal between the two fighters.

“I’m not fighting Amanda the person. I’m fighting Amanda Ribas the fighter. So after the fight we’re going to hug each other and we’ll continue with that. That’s the name of the game,” said Pinheiro.

With two ranked strawweights fighting to move up towards a title shot the fight is expected to deliver.

“I think it’s going to be a good fight. It’s going to be a good fight because she presses forward, and she goes at it. She really looks for a fight, and I really think you’re going to see an actual MMA fight,” she said.

“A very complete fight. It’s an opportunity for us to showcase everything that we trained for, everything that we are, and I’m very excited about the fight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Luana Pinheiro above. She takes on Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 82.

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“It’s funny because I lived with her when we were young,” Ribas told reporters on Wednesday.

“Now we see each other here and fight each other. It’s crazy, but good crazy. My dad since (I was a) baby he said to me that I will be UFC fighter. Now I’m here and she’s here too. It’s nice.”

Fighters normally aren’t big on fighting friends or teammates, but a former roommate? Now that’s a little different.

“I am extremely professional. Now I (see) her as my opponent. She wants to take my prize. I don’t want to let her do this so I see her now like this,” she said.

“After (the) fight, ok,” Ribas laughed. “Enjoy Vegas or do a lot of things, but now, I see her like this.”

Friends or not Ribas knows Pinheiro won’t be an easy fight for her.

“Intensive fight. Aggressive fight, because she is like this and I am too,” said Ribas.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Amanda Ribas above. She takes on Luana Pinheiro at UFC Vegas 82.

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You know how this works by now — it’s our time to play matchmaker. We’ll take a look at the losing side of Saturday’s card to see what comes next for the fighters in question.

Josh Emmett

Josh Emmett always had a puncher’s chance at stopping Ilia Topuria in the UFC Jacksonville main event — but it never seemed like much more than that. And when the knockout wasn’t there, Topuria pulled further and further ahead, picking Emmett apart. By the fifth round, as Emmett’s corner was insisting that he was still in the fight, trying to motivate their man, the rest of us watching saw the writing was on the wall.

Emmett proved to have plenty of heart and chin by surviving until the end of the fight. But this setback is particularly soul-crushing. Emmett was coming off a loss in an interim title fight against Yair Rodriguez, and back-to-back losses at age 38 means it is highly unlikely he can work his way back to a title shot — and even more unlikely that he can win it. Fighters north of 35 have had a historically rough go in title fights in the UFC’s lower weight classes, after all.

One thing we don’t do in this column is tell fighters to retire, though Emmett probably should reflect on what he wants to do from here. There’s money to be made and some fun fights, but if the plan was to push to the title until the wheels came off, wheel, at least one wheel is off.

Assuming Emmett fights on, however, he’s in a bit of a pickle. A lot of hungry up-and-comers like Topuria himself would no doubt like to make a name off the Team Alpha Male veteran.

One of those could be Giga Chikadze. Sharing Georgian heritage with Topuria, Chikadze has been out since suffering his first career loss against Calvin Kattar in January 2022. He did have a fight booked with Sodiq Yusuff last September, but was forced out due to injury. With Emmett ranked #5 (for now) and Chikadze #8, rankings-wise, this fight makes sense.

Emmett’s next fight: Giga Chikadze

Amanda Ribas

Perhaps as important as who Amanda Ribas should fight next is the question of what weight class she should be at. Ribas has been bouncing back-and-forth between strawweight and flyweight, and unless you’re Amanda Nunes (or maybe Jessica Andrade), that rarely goes well.

Ribas was bloodied and beaten by Maycee Barber in the UFC Jacksonville co-main event, at 125lbs. She’s 2-2 in her last four fights, but 1-2 at flyweight and 1-0 at strawweight. If she can make the weight, giving 115lbs another go, and staying there consistently, might be ideal for the perpetually perky Ribas.

The Brazilian was scheduled to face Michelle Waterson-Gomez last year; an injury to “The Karate Hottie” scuttled that, but it’s worth putting this fight between top 15 strawweights back together.

Ribas’ next fight: Michelle Waterson-Gomez

Justin Tafa vs. Austin Lane

There wasn’t a loser, or a winner, just an eye poke that ended Tafa’s night early. Once he’s able to go again, maybe run this one back. They’ve already trained for each other, no reason to let that effort go to waste.

Tafa/Lane’s next fight: rematch

Gabriel Santos

LFA featherweight tournament winner Gabriel Santos is now 0-2 in the UFC, after starting his career a perfect 10-0. A win in his next fight is a must.

“Slick” Nick Aguirre is 0-1 in the UFC so far, after starting his own MMA run at 7-0. He doesn’t have a fight booked but has stayed busy taking a grappling match during his downtime. One of these fighters get their first UFC win. Book it.

Santos’ next fight: Nick Agguire

Bruno Silva

Being submitted by Brendan Allen is becoming a common occurrence in the middleweight division these days. Bruno “Blindado” Silva is the latest fighter to succumb to Allen’s dangerous ground game.

Silva is now 1-3 in his last four. Sporting an identical 1-3 record in his last four bouts is Phil Hawes. Both fighters had Performance bonuses in their lone win of late, and this feels like it could lead to an explosive finish. Hawes fought just last month, so the timing should work out as well.

Silva’s next fight: Phil Hawes

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Barber’s eyes were no doubt on the prize, a potential rematch with Alexa Grasso, though Grasso had a different rematch first, as she was set to run it back with Valentina Shevchenko in September.

Ribas targeted the legs early, while Barber looked to counter the jab of Ribas. Before long, Ribas was sporting a bloodied nose, but she managed to land a right hand moments later, which was answered in kind by Barber.

Ribas remained light on her feet throughout the round, but Barber’s hands seemed to continually find the injured nose of Ribas. Towards the final minute, they went to the ground off a clinch, Ribas hunting submissions and looking for a kneebar in particular.  Barbar was able to defend, and found the right angle to land some nasty elbows, finishing the frame on top.

An early clinch in round two saw Barber land an elbow, but Ribas fired back, and soon Barber was sporting some blood of her own. Ribas was a bloody mess in comparison, however. Just under two minutes in, Ribas landed a throw, landing in side control though she would end up in Barber’s guard. Regardless, on top was a great spot to be, given it was a fair bit harder to Barber to target that nose off her back.

Barber, meanwhile, scooted back to the fence and wall-walked up and out. They moved back to center, where Barber fired a head kick, only to slip off a Ribas counter. Barber then ripped another head kick, Ribas landed a counter, and Barber went on the attack! A kick up high started off the finishing sequence, with Barber firing lefts and rights as Ribas went down. Barber got on top, landing smashing elbows, pummelling Ribas until the ref had seen enough.

MAYCEE BARBER IS A PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!! 😤😳 @MayceeBarber | #UFCJacksonville pic.twitter.com/SgSxA30wiY

— UFC (@ufc) June 24, 2023

It’s five straight wins for Maycee Barber, and a very memorable performance that should inch her closer to that desired title shot.

Official Result: Maycee Barber def. Amanda Ribas by TKO, Round 2, 3:42

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Maycee Barber (12-2) is expected to face Amanda Ribas (12-3) at the promotion’s June 24, 2023 Fight Night event.

Combate was first to report news of the match-up, which both fighters later confirmed on social media.

24-year old Barber has been on a roll as of late, winning four straight fights including a split decision victory against Andrea “KGB” Lee last month. “The Future” is once again starting to look like just that, having turned things around following back-to-back losses to Roxanne Modafferi and Alexa Grasso in 2020/21.

Ribas, 29, has also competed as a strawweight, and has expressed an interest in juggling both divisions. Her last two fights have come at 125lbs, however; she’s 1-1 in that stretch, coming off a unanimous decision win against Viviane Araujo.

The Brazilian has been trading wins and losses over her last handful of fights, after starting her run in the promotion on a four-fight win streak that included victories over Mackenzie Dern and Paige VanZant.

Barber is ranked #10 in the weight class currently, while Ribas sits at #9.

The UFC’s June 24, 2023 Fight Night event does not have a venue, location, or broadcast plan officially announced. Only one other fight has been reported for the card thus far, a flyweight contest that will see Japan’s Tatsuro Taira go up against Brazilian Kleydson Rodrigues.

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What was surprising was Ribas landing a knockdown on her fellow Brazilian, despite the going theory that Ribas’ path to victory was on the ground. Ultimately, she came away with a unanimous decision, but held her own on the feet even with her unorthodox style.

After the fight, Ribas (12-3) took to the mic to make a couple of callouts, and told media outlets including Cageside Press back stage that fighters need to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise.

“For a fighter, we need to take advantage of this. So when I took the microphone, I was a little ambitious, but I think I deserve it, because my last fight was against Katlyn [Chookagian], and she was number two at the time,” Ribas stated.

“So now, in flyweight, I ask for maybe [up] until number five, and in strawweight, if the UFC thinks I deserve [it], maybe Carla [Esparza] or somebody good, [with] a good ranking. Because there is a fight that we scheduled, but didn’t happen. So I’m here!”

Ribas was given a thirty day medical suspension following the fight, however, so there will be at least a little pause before her return. In the meantime, she plans to continue juggling weight classes, moving between strawweight and flyweight.

“In strawweight, I am number nine. So I think I need to go more, because I want to fight for the belt,” said Ribas. “In flyweight, I was number 15, but they cut me off of this. So I hope I can get more ranking in flyweight, and take the opportunity to fight in strawweight too.”

Watch the full UFC 285 post-fight press conference with Amanda Ribas above.

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Both fighters were 1-2 in their last three bouts; both were coming in off decision losses in their most recent outing.

Less than a minute into Saturday’s contest, Araujo jumped guard, locking on a guillotine that looked tight. After some initial discomfort, Ribas pulled free, working from the side, though Araujo managed to hook a leg and recover some version of half-guard.

Regardless, Ribas was in a dominant position for a bit before Araujo created some space and scrambled out. Both fighters had landed punches in that sequence, but it was Ribas showing a bit of damage. Back on the feet, Ribas stayed outside, but a couple of solid strikes by Araujo had her thinking takedown.

Concernedly, Ribas had her hands down, and her chin up as she traded with Araujo, who hit home with a right hand towards the end of the round.

The second frame opened with Amanda Ribas rocking Araujo! Despite Araujo having a massive edge in technical striking, Ribas had her on rubber legs care of a straight right, and shortly thereafter Araujo was her back care of the knockdown. For Araujo, that may actually have been a blessing, just in terms of recovery. Ribas, however, looked to set up an arm-triangle choke while going body-head from top position.

The grappling battle continued, with Araujo offering little off her back, but managing to fend off the submission. Ribas opened up, moving to side control and forcing Araujo to give up her back. Ribas re-secured the back mount as Araujo tried to stand up, and while she couldn’t find the finish, she ended round two in the driver’s seat.

Araujo was going to need to bounce back in round three, with the possibility of a 10-8 for Ribas looming following a dominant second round. Ribas, however awkward her striking appeared, held her own early in the third, landing a kick off a combo upstairs. A spinning back kick and switch knee followed. Araujo appeared hesitant, her pace slowed. In a round that Viviane Araujo dearly needed to win, she appeared stuck in first gear.

Ribas, meanwhile, fired another spinning back kick. Then went high with a kick that nearly caught Araujo unaware. A third spinning kick glanced off Araujo, who was running out of time. With 90 seconds to go, Ribas opted to shoot, and land, a takedown — but Araujo was able to latch on with an arm-bar! Ribas landed some knees to the body; Araujo released the submission to fire punches, reapplied it, but ultimately, Ribas pulled free and got on top, dropping punches to the bell.

Official Result: Amanda Ribas def. Viviane Araujo by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)

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