5 current UFC stars who need a step up in competition in their next fight

#2. Chidi Njokuani – UFC middleweight contender

Chidi Njokuani needs a step up in competition before his time starts to wane

It’s probably safe to say that few newcomers to the UFC in recent years have made the impact that Chidi Njokuani made in 2022. Not only did ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ take out his first opponent in just 16 seconds, but he then followed that up this past weekend with one of the best knockouts of the year, a brutal elbow that switched the lights of Dusko Todorovic off in an instant.

However, Njokuani is no MMA neophyte. The younger brother of former UFC fighter Anthony, he’s actually been around the game for a long time. His professional debut came back in 2007, and he had a notable run in Bellator from 2015 to 2019, going 5-3 there.

Add in the fact that he’s already 33 years old, and the fact is that his window of opportunity to make it to the top of the UFC probably won’t last all that long.

With that considered, then surely it’s worth giving him a step up in his next fight. Nobody would mistake Todorovic or Marc-Andre Barriault as genuine contenders for the middleweight title, but based on what he did to them, Njokuani is on a different level.

Therefore, why not give him a fight against someone like Brad Tavares, Kelvin Gastelum or Jack Hermansson? After all, the middleweight division could do with some fresher contenders, and while it may be jumping the gun, a fight between ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ and Israel Adesanya already sounds like fun.

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#1. Michel Pereira – UFC welterweight contender

Michel Pereira has tuned up his game and now looks like a legitimate contender at welterweight

While Michel Pereira’s UFC debut was probably up there with the flashiest of all time – he needed just under two minutes to dispatch Danny Roberts via flying knee – the efforts he produced just after suggested that he’d be a fighter who would flatter to deceive.

‘Demolidor’ completely gassed out in his loss to Tristan Connelly, seemingly more focused on throwing wild offense like backflips than actually fighting, and he didn’t look too hot in his disqualification loss to veteran Diego Sanchez, either.

Since then, though, Pereira has changed things up entirely, and it’s clearly working for him. Largely eschewing much of his flashy offense, ‘Demolidor’ has instead focused on the basics, and he’s been able to use his timing, athleticism, slick striking and underrated grappling to reel off five wins in a row now.

Given that his most recent win came over a ranked fighter in Santiago Ponzinibbio, it’s highly likely that the Brazilian will wind up somewhere in the top fifteen at welterweight in the near future. That should guarantee him a big fight next time out, but he might also find it hard to pin down an elite opponent.

That’s where the UFC ought to step in, though, and force someone’s hand. ‘Demolidor’ has everything needed to make the climb to the top, and his athleticism should make it hard for anyone to handle. It’s time to give him a chance and see if he can take it.