Fights to Make After UFC 278
UFC 278 was the changing of the guard. Rocky shook the world.
At UFC 278, we saw a classic finish in the main event — a complete 180 from how the fight was going. Leon Edwards was down 3-1 on many fans’ scorecards and needing a finish in the fifth and final round, he did just that. In the co-main, we saw an all-time slugfest between two men who should maybe never fight at altitude again. We potentially saw the end of a Hall of Fame career and a fight-of-the-year candidate. The rest of the card had folks talking, and with the event wrapped up, we shall play matchmaker and book the next fights for the main card fighters.
If you are new to this series, here are our fights to make from UFC 277. We now look at the UFC 278 fights to make.
Tyson Pedro (W) vs. Henry Hunsucker (L) (Light Heavyweight)
Arguably the easiest fight to pick on this card, Tyson Pedro vs. Henry Hunsucker opened UFC 278 and lasted a mere 65 seconds. Pedro was always going to fly through Hunsucker here. For Hunsucker, he falls to 0-3 in the UFC, which to me means he’s getting cut.
For Pedro, he should see a fight with another fighter to crack the top-15. Azamat Murzakanov is undefeated and right on the outside of the top-15, pair these two guys up on any card and you can expect a hell of a fight. I could see giving Pedro a ranked fighter like No. 10 Paul Craig or the winner of No. 15 Dustin Jacoby and Khalil Roundtree.
Lucie Pudilova (W) vs. Wu Yanan (L) (Women’s Bantamweight)
The UFC is going to have a field day with cuts from this card. Wu Yanan falls to 1-5 in the UFC, and at the bottom of the rankings, Yanan should be looking for another promotion to fight for.
Lucie Pudilova is in a weird spot: 3-5 in the UFC, but on a winning streak. Has she turned it around? Let’s test that. Stephanie Eggar is right outside the top-15, and the winner lands a spot in the rankings. Not much to say here.
Merab Dvalishvili (W) vs. Jose Aldo (L) (Bantamweight)
Jose Aldo is rumored to have told Merab Dvalishvili after their fight at UFC 278 that he was retiring from the sport, saying this was his last chance at a run for a title. If this is the case, Aldo will be remembered as one of the greats not only in the featherweight division, where he ruled with an iron fist for years, but in all of mixed martial arts. A surefire Hall of Famer. But, at only 35, it certainly looks like he has some left in the tank. I won’t try to book him a next fight after the reports of retirement, but I certainly hope to see Aldo fight again.
Merab Dvalishvili went out on Saturday and executed his plan to perfection. He had to make this a grind for 15 mins and that’s exactly what he did. One would think that Dvalishvili would be next in line, but he has said multiple times he will not fight training partner Aljamain Sterling, so where does this leave him? Could he move divisions? I will work under the assumption he would move up, and he could get a high profile fight right away. Merab vs. #5 Arnold Allen or #4 Josh Emmett would be fantastic stuff. He could honestly work his way into a title shot against Volk, too.
Paulo Costa (W) vs. Luke Rockhold (L) (Middlweight)
Luke Rockhold announced that he is walking away from the sport. Another legend of the sport rides off into the sunset following UFC 278. Rockhold made his name in Strikeforce and did hold gold in the UFC as well. Rockhold has an outside chance to make the Hall of Fame.
For Paulo Costa, this is going to be a waiting game. Eight of the top 10 fighters are booked for fights this year, which means we might not see Costa for a while unless he moves divisions. I don’t see him getting a title shot, but I could see him fighting the loser of No. 2 Robert Whittaker and No. 3 Marvin Vettori. No. 10 Andre Muniz is a rising prospect and needs a dance partner as well.
Leon Edwards (W) vs. Kamaru Usman (L) (UFC Welterweight Championship)
Should we see the immediate rematch to complete the trilogy?
The short of it is yes, we should. I think no matter how the fight went, we have to see the trilogy especially since these guys are 1-1 and both in their primes. I think the things that drives this to be a resounding yes is that Usman was easily up 3-1 going into the fifth round and was up that round as well before the head kick heard around the world. Edwards has a lot of film to watch to make adjustments for a third fight, whereas Usman needs only maybe 30 seconds of film. A third fight would do numbers, and what if UFC put this fight in England? Imagine the scenes.
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