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The UFC’s latest Fight Night event is in the books, and while it didn’t feature too many ranked fighters, it turned out to be a fun show with some cool finishes.
What should be next for the big winners from UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill? As per usual, there are a number of options for the promotion’s matchmakers.
Whether they decide to run with these fights, or go in another direction, only time will tell.
Here are five fights to make after UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill.
#5. UFC strawweight bout: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Lupita Godinez
With time schedules often a limiting factor for the UFC when it comes to booking future bouts, it often makes sense to match the winners of different fights at the same event against one another.
With that considered, the promotion could easily make a strawweight fight between Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Lupita Godinez for a future event after both women won last night.
Kowalkiewicz defeated Vanessa Demopoulos to extend her current winning run to three fights, showing that she’s bounced back nicely from the five-fight skid she hit from 2018 to 2021.
‘Loopy’, meanwhile, defeated Emily Ducote to record her second win on the bounce despite taking the fight on late notice.
Neither woman seems likely to crack the top fifteen at 115lbs any time soon; Kowalkiewicz is probably past her prime, while Godinez isn’t quite at that level yet. However, this is a fight that makes sense for both, and could lead to better things in the future.
#4. UFC lightweight bout: Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
One fighter who definitely won big last night was Carlos Diego Ferreira. The Brazilian veteran turned the lights out on Michael Johnson, scoring one of the best KO’s of the year and likely saving his UFC career in the process.
At the age of 38, Ferreira is probably in the twilight of his days in MMA, so the promotion could easily pair him with a fellow ageing veteran like Clay Guida for his next fight.
However, perhaps a better foe for him could be Viacheslav Borshchev, who fought well last night too, defeating Hayisaer Maheshate via second-round TKO to claim a $50k bonus.
A win for either man in this prospective fight wouldn’t elevate them into the top 15 at 155 pounds, but it would tell us a lot about them.
If Ferreira could win, then he’d prove himself as still belonging on the roster going forward, while if Borshchev could come out on top, then he’d mark himself out as a definite prospect to watch.
With both men coming off heavy hitting, entertaining finishes, this is definitely a fight that would make plenty of logical sense.
#3. UFC middleweight bout: Anthony Hernandez vs. Caio Borralho
Last night’s co-headline bout saw Anthony Hernandez produce one of the best showings of his UFC career to stop the heavily favored Edmen Shahbazyan in a key middleweight clash.
Given that ‘The Golden Boy’ was once ranked in the top 15, Hernandez likely isn’t far away from that kind of area himself. The big problem for him, however, is that most of the ranked fighters at 185 pounds are already booked.
One bout that could make sense for ‘Fluffy’, then, could be Caio Borralho. ‘The Natural’ last fought in late April, dispatching Michal Oleksiejczuk to pick up his first octagon finish. Overall, he’s 4-0 in the promotion.
What would make this clash interesting is the fact that Borralho seems to be a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu based grappler, and Hernandez destroyed one of the best grapplers in the world in the form of Rodolfo Vieira in 2021. It’d be fascinating to see whether he could repeat the trick against Borralho.
Essentially, the winner of this one would almost have to find their way into the top 15 at 185 pounds, making it a fine fight to be put together in the near future.
#2. UFC welterweight bout: Joaquin Buckley vs. Khaos Williams
Already renowned for his famous 2020 knockout of Impa Kasanganay, Joaquin Buckley added another great finish to his highlight reel last night with his head kick KO of Andre Fialho.
What made this finish more interesting was the fact that it came at 170 pounds, meaning ‘New Mansa’ could be seen as a new player in the welterweight division.
The UFC could easily push him up the ladder and look to match him with a top 15 opponent next, but the issue is that the majority of the ranked fighters in the division are already booked.
Therefore, a fun opponent for Buckley could be fellow heavy hitter Khaos Williams.
‘The Ox Fighter’ recently defeated newcomer Rolando Bedoya earlier this month, and has won three of his last five bouts in the octagon. More importantly, like Buckley, he’s renowned for producing wild knockouts.
Essentially, the likelihood of this fight producing a highlight reel moment would be high, making it a fight well worth booking.
#1. UFC strawweight bout: Mackenzie Dern vs. Rose Namajunas
The biggest winner at last night’s show was definitely Mackenzie Dern. She dominated Angela Hill over five rounds despite struggling through her training camp, and claimed a $50k bonus in the process.
The grappling ace came into the clash ranked at No.8 in the strawweight division, and while it’s unlikely that this win over the unranked Hill will see her climb the ladder, it still showed that she’s improved since her 2022 loss to Yan Xiaonan.
So who should be next for her? There are plenty of options, but after the fight, Dern made a call-out that would be very interesting – former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.
‘Thug Rose’ has not fought since losing her title to Carla Esparza a year ago, but she’s still ranked at No.2 in the division. Therefore, a win over her would carry more weight than a victory over basically any other fighter at 115 pounds.
Has Dern earned a crack at the former champ? That’s debatable, but she’s a highly marketable, potential star, and so the UFC ought to look to move her up the ladder if she looks capable, which she does.
With all that considered, the promotion should agree to Dern’s call-out, and look to book her against ‘Thug Rose’ as soon as they can.
