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#4. Casey O’Neill – defeated Roxanne Modafferi in a UFC flyweight bout
Outside of middleweight Jared Cannonier, the fighter who probably inched closest to a title shot with her performance last night was Casey O’Neill. It wasn’t her best showing, but ‘King Casey’ clearly outpointed Roxanne Modafferi, moving her to 4-0 in the octagon. A meeting with UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko could even be next for her.
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Quite how one judge decided Modafferi had won this fight was truly baffling. O’Neill essentially bested her in every possible area, clearly outstriking her veteran opponent and never letting her bother her on the ground, too.
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Naturally, the knock on ‘King Casey’ here would be the lack of an explosive finish. However, Modafferi has not been stopped since 2018. More to the point, she’d upset a vaunted prospect in Maycee Barber in recent years, meaning O’Neill was probably smart to not take too many chances.
Can the Scottish-born, Australian-based fighter provide a threat to Shevchenko, then? Based on last night’s evidence, it seems doubtful, but then again, O’Neill is a young fighter who, theoretically, should be improving with each bout.
Right now, she’s got as good a chance as anyone else of defeating the champ. After last night’s win, she’s probably the most viable challenger too. It’s time for the promotion to book this fight for later in 2022.
#3. Tai Tuivasa – defeated Derrick Lewis in a UFC heavyweight bout
The most explosive finish from UFC 271 came from Tai Tuivasa. He dispatched Derrick Lewis with a genuinely brutal elbow strike in the second round. Due to the high stakes of the bout, ‘Bam Bam’ was undoubtedly one of the night’s biggest winners, too.
Not only should his win over Lewis, a former heavyweight title challenger, move him into the division’s top five, but it also proved a lot about his sheer toughness.
Most fans figured that the first man to land a big bomb would win the fight. In fact, ‘The Black Beast’ landed first in both the opening and second rounds, and yet Tuivasa ate the shots right up and fired back. He eventually landed a hard enough strike to put Lewis down for good.
Quite how the Australian’s chin withstood the same punches that’d previously put 13 different fighters down is anyone’s guess. Will eating shots like that do any good for Tuivasa’s future health? Of course not, but it’s unlikely that he’ll care right now.
Whether ‘Bam Bam’ is a genuine threat to the likes of Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes and Ciryl Gane is also a fair question. He may well be too limited to beat them, but given his toughness and knockout power, it’s now impossible to count him out.
If nothing else, this win should guarantee him a headline spot in his next bout. For a fighter who seemed on the verge of being cut from the UFC just a year or so ago, that’s huge.
