5 fights to make after UFC Fight Night: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza

The UFC’s latest Fight Night event might’ve been overshadowed by the Misfits Boxing event on the same night, but it turned out to be a decent one overall.

With a number of violent finishes and impressive performances, UFC Fight Night: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza saw a number of fighters shine – but what is next for them?

As usual, the matchmakers have plenty of options for most of last night’s biggest stars, and it’s just about finding the right ones.

Here are five fights to make following UFC Fight Night: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza.

---

#5. UFC bantamweight bout: Christian Rodriguez vs. Adrian Yanez

Christian Rodriguez has beaten two highly touted prospects in a row [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

Bantamweights Christian Rodriguez and Adrian Yanez saw very different fates last night.

Rodriguez picked up a win over Cameron Saaiman, knocking off another highly touted prospect. Yanez, meanwhile, was stopped for the second time in a row, this time by Jonathan Martinez.

Despite this, it’d actually make a lot of sense for the UFC to match them together in their next fight, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, despite his win last night, there are question marks over ‘CeeRod’ after he missed weight badly, coming in four pounds over the 136-pound non-title fight bantamweight limit.

Secondly, Yanez still has a lot of talent and may well have simply been pushed a little too hard against elite-level foes before he was ready.

Rodriguez, while a strong fighter, is not as good as Rob Font or Martinez. Therefore, he’d offer Yanez a chance to rebuild, while a bout with Yanez would also present ‘CeeRod’ with another shot at knocking off a touted prospect.

It might take time for this bout to be put together as Yanez may well need recovery time, but overall it’d definitely be a smart one to make.

---

#4. UFC lightweight bout: Terrance McKinney vs. Jalin Turner

Terrance McKinney needed just 20 seconds to win last night [Image Credit: @ufc on Twitter]

While he only defeated a late-notice replacement in the form of Brendan Marotte, it was hard not to be impressed by Terrance McKinney last night. He destroyed the newcomer with a flurry of violent strikes in just 20 seconds.

Based on his prior defeats to the likes of Drew Dober and Ismael Bonfim, ‘T-Wrecks’ may never make it as a proper contender at 155 pounds, but there’s no disputing that he’s one of the division’s most exciting fighters.

After all, in eight trips to the octagon, he hasn’t been the distance once, win or lose. In many ways, though, McKinney is a little hard to match. After all, he deserves a step up after two KOs in a row, but there’s no point in matching him against someone who’ll look to stifle him.

With that in mind, No.11-ranked Jalin Turner might be the perfect opponent. ‘The Tarantula’ always looks to strike, and his recent five-fight win streak saw him finish all of his foes.

Turner has since lost his last two bouts, which means a potential bounce-back against a lower-ranked opponent like McKinney could be perfect. Overall, we could expect fireworks from this one, making it well worth booking.

---

#3. UFC bantamweight bout: Jonathan Martinez vs. Dominick Cruz

Jonathan Martinez has now won six in a row in the UFC [Image Credit: @ufc on Twitter]

Jonathan Martinez was definitely one of the biggest winners at last night’s event. Not only did he stop a highly touted foe in the form of Adrian Yanez via TKO, but he also pulled the win off with leg kicks, making him the first fighter to win two bouts via leg kicks in the UFC.

More importantly than that, ‘The Dragon’ is now on a six-fight win streak in arguably the deepest division in the promotion – 135 pounds. Overall, he could well be the dark horse title contender at bantamweight.

With that in mind, a fun fight for him could be legendary former titleholder Dominick Cruz. ‘The Dominator’ hasn’t fought since his 2022 knockout defeat to Marlon Vera, but he’s still ranked a few spots higher than Martinez at No.9 and his name value remains high.

After years of facing prospects and tough veterans, it’s time to throw Martinez a bone, and if he could knock Vera off, he’d ascend to a level he’s not yet reached. With six wins in a row behind him, why not give him that chance?

---

#2. UFC middleweight bout: Michel Pereira vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Michel Pereira should be pushed hard at 185lbs [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

Even though Andre Petroski took the fight on relatively late notice, it was still highly impressive to see Michel Pereira dispatch him in just over a minute.

After all, Petroski had been unbeaten in the UFC at 5-0, and looked to have the type of grappling game capable of stifling ‘Demolidor’ in his middleweight debut. Instead, Pereira sparked him out and made it look easy.

Based on this, it’s worth pushing the Brazilian as hard as possible, and that means matching him with a ranked foe next time out.

One name who could work, then, is Nassourdine Imavov. Ranked at No.11, ‘The Sniper’ hasn’t fought since an unfortunate No Contest with Chris Curtis in June, as his Visa issues ruled him out of a planned October bout with Ikram Aliskerov.

Given he’s technically available, then, Imavov could be ready to face Pereira as soon as possible – perhaps before the end of 2023 – and this battle of strikers could well be an entertaining one. Therefore, the promotion’s matchmakers should look to book it soon.

---

#1. UFC featherweight bout: Edson Barboza vs. Max Holloway

Edson Barboza remains dangerous at 145lbs despite his age [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

For the second time in 2023, veteran featherweight Edson Barboza rolled back the years last night and took out a highly touted younger fighter.

While his last bout saw him stop Billy Quarantillo, last night’s win was even more impressive as he weathered a horrible storm in the first round to eventually edge out Sodiq Yusuff.

Barboza has been with the promotion now for well over a decade, and while he’s probably past his best, after these big wins it might be worth pushing him up the ladder again.

‘Junior’ isn’t likely to contend for the title, but the promotion should look to put him into a fun and big fight next – and so one opponent who comes to mind is Max Holloway.

Sure, ‘Blessed’ is probably the second-best 145lber in the world right now and would be favored to destroy Barboza, but the bout still sounds like fun, it’s fresh, and it’d also be worthy of headlining an event, too.

If Barboza would be willing to take this fight on, then it’d be well worth the promotion looking to book it in the near future.