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UFC 287 is in the books, and while the ramifications of the event will be felt for some time, fans are already looking to the future for the fighters involved.
So which bouts should be next for the stars of UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2? Thankfully, there are plenty of options.
Whether the promotion’s matchmakers have similar ideas or whether they’ll look for something else entirely, of course, is up to them and will remain to be seen. Here, though, are five fights to make following UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2.
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#5. UFC welterweight bout: Kevin Holland vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Kevin Holland was one of UFC 287’s big winners, as he knocked out the tough Santiago Ponzinibbio in the third round of an entertaining scrap.
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The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for ‘Trailblazer’, and should move him back towards contention in the welterweight division. So who should he face off with next?
Holland was desperate for a fight with Jorge Masvidal. With ‘Gamebred’ choosing to retire this weekend, though, he’ll probably need to settle for a lesser name, albeit one who could give him a path into the rankings. With that in mind, one option could be Vicente Luque.
‘The Silent Assassin’ is currently winless in his last two fights, but he’s still ranked at No.10 in the division. More importantly, he’s one of the most exciting fighters in the promotion, with a ridiculous 11 finishes in 12 wins to his name.
Given Holland’s own penchant for stopping his opponents, there’s almost no way that this fight would go the distance, meaning it’d be a brilliant addition to any event in the near future.
#4. UFC bantamweight bout: Rob Font vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
In a stellar performance that won him a bonus $50k, Rob Font turned back the challenge of hot prospect Adrian Yanez this weekend. Font stopped Yanez in the first round, becoming the first fighter to beat him in the octagon.
The Boston-based fighter probably won’t move in the rankings after the bout, as he’s currently at No.6. Realistically, the win should allow him to take on a fighter above him next time out.
There’s a problem with that, though. It looks like Cory Sandhagen, Merab Dvalishvili, Petr Yan and Marlon Vera are set on fights with one another, while Sean O’Malley is likely to sit out and wait for a title shot.
Therefore, Font is probably more likely to play the gatekeeper role again, just as he did this weekend. If he does that, then the best opponent for him could be Umar Nurmagomedov.
Currently ranked at No.11 – one spot above Yanez – Nurmagomedov is 15-0 overall and has won his first four bouts in the UFC.
The cousin of former lightweight kingpin Khabib, Umar has the same brutal grappling style as ‘The Eagle’, and would definitely provide Font with a different test. After all, Font hasn’t faced a real grappler in years.
Overall, this would be a fun and worthy fight to book, and the promotion could easily use it to bulk out a stacked pay-per-view – perhaps its next trip to Abu Dhabi in October.
#3. UFC welterweight title: Gilbert Burns vs. Leon Edwards or Colby Covington
Gilbert Burns picked up arguably the biggest win of his UFC career this weekend when he whitewashed Jorge Masvidal, sending the ‘BMF’ champion into retirement.
‘Durinho’ didn’t stop ‘Gamebred’, but he clearly outfought him across the three rounds. Afterwards, he asked to be the backup for the upcoming welterweight title bout between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington – and to be given a title shot outright afterwards.
It looks like Dana White is quite happy to go forward with that plan, and it does make sense, particularly if Edwards’ fight with ‘Chaos’ can be put together in the near future as the promotion would hope.
The only question mark here is whether such a plan would be unfair to Belal Muhammad, who is riding a longer win streak than Burns and is also ranked above him.
However, the truth is that ‘Durinho’ is the hotter fighter right now, and if Muhammad has a clash with Shavkat Rakhmonov in the pipeline, as White suggested recently, then ‘Remember the Name’ will simply need to bide his time.
#2. UFC light heavyweight bout: Alex Pereira vs. Jan Blachowicz
After losing his UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in dramatic fashion this weekend, the logical move for Alex Pereira would probably be a trilogy bout with ‘The Last Stylebender’. After all, including their fights in kickboxing, he remains 3-1 against his rival.
However, when questioned on this in the post-event press conference, Dana White poured cold water on the idea. Instead, he suggested that ‘Poatan’ could move to 205 pounds for his next fight.
It’s an idea that could make a lot of sense. After all, Pereira cuts a huge amount of weight to make 185 pounds, and could be better suited to light heavyweight.
Should he get an instant shot at current champ Jamahal Hill, as some have suggested? It’d make sense in some ways. After all, Hill won his title by beating Pereira’s mentor Glover Teixeira.
However, ‘Sweet Dreams’ should hopefully defend his title against former champ Jiri Prochazka, who never lost the gold in the octagon, first, assuming Prochazka can return soon.
Therefore, why not introduce ‘Poatan’ to 205 pounds by having him take on another former champ in Jan Blachowicz?
Blachowicz famously beat Adesanya during his reign as champion, is still highly ranked at No.3, and would definitely provide Pereira with a tough test. With the winner almost certainly moving onto a title fight, this would be the perfect fight to book.
#1. UFC middleweight title: Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus du Plessis
Israel Adesanya’s win over Alex Pereira not only settled the score with arguably his greatest rival, but it also saw him regain the UFC middleweight title.
Unfortunately, the win has also left ‘The Last Stylebender’ in a bit of a bind when it comes to future fights, particularly if Pereira moves to 205 pounds as the suggestion has been.
Adesanya has already beaten every other fighter ranked in the top five, and he actually holds two wins over the No.2-ranked Robert Whittaker and No.3 ranked Marvin Vettori.
That leaves a couple of options for him. One would be Khamzat Chimaev, but despite ‘Borz’ holding an unbeaten record and carrying plenty of hype, he probably needs at least one more win at 185 pounds before a title shot.
That leaves the No.6-ranked Dricus du Plessis as the best opponent for ‘The Last Stylebender’, and thankfully, there’s already a built-in storyline to sell the fight.
Du Plessis, who hails from and fights out of South Africa, claimed last month that he wants to be the “UFC’s first real African titleholder,” essentially sniping at Adesanya, who has African heritage but fights out of New Zealand.
This clearly didn’t go down well with ‘The Last Stylebender’. In this weekend’s post-even press conference, he seemed furious with ‘Stillknocks’.
Adesanya refused to mention Du Plessis by name, but stated that he’d “drag his carcass across South Africa” if they were ever to fight.
While Adesanya did claim that Du Plessis needs “more work” before a title shot, the truth is that there are no other viable opponents for him right now. If Dana White and company have any sense, they’d put the fight together – and book it to headline the promotion’s first visit to Africa, too.
