Brandon Moreno, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
The UFC went to Canada for the third time prior to now 18 months, this time with a UFC Edmonton card that had large stakes hooked up to it.
The cardboard featured a pair of two-time champions in the principle and co-main occasions. Canadian fighters went 2-2 to finish the remainder of the principle card. It began with a mixture of timid selections and enjoyable finishes earlier than Brandon Moreno capped it off with considered one of his higher performances to this point. Let’s take a look at what must be subsequent for Moreno, Erin Blanchfield and the remainder of the winners on the principle card.
Brandon Moreno
Brandon Moreno, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
The Murderer Child appeared rejuvenated after dropping a pair of break up selections to the present champion and the present no 1 ranked contender. He fought like somebody who wanted a while off and clearly benefited from it. He took all 5 rounds on all however one choose’s scorecard. He discovered his rhythm early and made certain Amir Albazi couldn’t catch as much as him.
With this win, he will get to maintain his quantity 2 rating, but it surely does put him in an attention-grabbing place. He’s in a really comparable spot as Max Holloway was when he misplaced his rematch to Alexander Volkanovski. Like Holloway after he dismantled Calvin Kattar, beating one contender gained’t be sufficient when 0-2 towards the champion.
With Moreno having fought everybody ranked within the top5, a few of them a number of instances, who can he battle subsequent? A battle that might make sense is Henry Cejudo ought to he ever select to drop again all the way down to flyweight, although there aren’t any obvious indicators that it’s going to occur. We then go to the subsequent closest contender who isn’t coming off a loss, and that’s Kazakhstan’s Asu Almabayev. He’s ranked seventh and is undefeated within the UFC, having gained all 4 of his fights. It’s a tricky battle for Almabayev, however he did name for the elite of the division after his most up-to-date battle towards Matheus Nicolau. So let’s see what’s received.
Moreno’s subsequent battle: Asu Almabayev
Erin Blanchfield
Erin Blanchfield, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
That is by far the most important win of Blanchfield’s profession. Whereas her sport plan appeared complicated after two rounds, she did ultimately impose herself and took the remaining three rounds on all of the scorecards.
Her subsequent battle is pretty apparent and it’s the one she known as for on the mic: Alexa Grasso. The previous champion is in want of a pair nice wins if she needs to remain within the combine after the egg she laid on the Sphere. A win over a surging contender like Blanchfield is a good place to start out.
Blanchfield’s subsequent battle: Alexa Grasso
Brendson Ribeiro
Brendson Ribeiro, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Ribeiro got here into the UFC with a giant upset knockout on final yr’s season of Dana White’s Contender Sequence. It was then his flip to get knocked out within the first spherical when he misplaced to Zhang Mingyang in his debut. These two fights confirmed us that the Brazilian wasn’t afraid to throw down and whether or not he would win or lose, he would make it entertaining. Nonetheless, since that loss, he has fought much more timidly. Dropping a call to Magomed Gadzhiyasulov again in June and now successful an in depth, uneventful one towards Caio Machado.
I assumed there was an excellent likelihood the loser of this battle could be offered with their strolling papers, so getting the win is what mattered. Whereas Ribeiro was most likely by no means going to grow to be an actual participant at 205 lbs, he has now despatched the message that he can not even be relied upon to ship thrilling fights, making him even much less invaluable. For that motive, I see him being fed to somebody the promotion truly has some inventory in.
That description matches the 27-year-old, 10-0 Diyar Nurgozhay who received a candy head kick KO on this yr’s Contender Sequence.
Ribeiro’s subsequent battle: Diyar Nurgozhay
Jasmine Jasudavicius
Jasmine Jasudavicius, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Jasudavicius used her measurement to overwhelm Ariane da Silva and get her second D’arce choke end of the yr. She now finds herself on a three-fight win streak and retains climbing the rankings. Already being 35, the Canadian will look to maintain combating ladies ranked above her. Nonetheless, having misplaced convincingly to Natalia Silva and Tracy Cortez, she can’t be quick tracked to the highest.
In two weeks, veteran Viviane Araújo will tackle ascending contender Karine Silva at Madison Sq. Backyard. With each of them ranked not too far forward of Jasudavicius, the loser of that battle makes loads of sense for her.
Jasudavicius’ subsequent battle: Loser of Araújo/Ok. Silva
Dustin Stoltzfus
Dustin Stoltzfus, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Stoltzfus received an incredible bounce again win after getting knocked out by Brunno Ferreira again in June. After the win, former foe Joe Pyfer known as for a rematch with Stoltzfus after dropping to him in 2020 on the Contenders Sequence due to a slam that resulted in an damage. It’s clear that since then, the UFC has put much more inventory into Pyfer and that is almost definitely a matchup that he would now be favoured to win.
If Pyfer needs to avenge it and the UFC needs to be within the Joe Pyfer enterprise, why not? They’ll even argue over who received the higher KO of Marc-André Barriault.
Stoltzfus’ subsequent battle: Joe Pyfer
Mike Malott
Mike Malott, UFC Edmonton ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Correct Mike was by far the most important hope Canada had coming into this yr. He got here into the UFC getting three consecutive finishes and was set as much as enter the rankings this previous January when he fought Neil Magny. He was nicely on his technique to win when he immediately imploded and received completed within the final minute of the battle. That end soured lots of people, and it was going to be robust for Malott to regain the hype he as soon as had.
Trevin Giles, a person he had already crushed in a grappling match, ought to have given him loads of confidence coming into this battle. But, he clearly didn’t really feel comfy chasing a end like he used to do, and as an alternative opted to point-fight his technique to a call.
With him turning 33 this week, it’s not even just like the UFC can take their time to rebuild him. Let’s put him in there with one other prospect who finds himself in an analogous place. Gabriel Bonfim additionally got here into the promotion with a ton of hype and misplaced to a veteran earlier than rebounding this yr with a forgettable determination victory. It’s sink-or-swim time. Let’s see who the UFC ought to put their inventory into.
Malott’s subsequent battle: Gabriel Bonfim
