UFC Auckland: Fights to make

All the best, most interesting, and unquestionably coolest fights the UFC needs to book following their latest event in Auckland, NZ.

Depending on your view of the main event scoring, UFC Auckland went off without a hitch. Which is to say that a card booked for excitement over narrative on paper, delivered all the thrills. Dan Hooker and Paul Felder put on an absolute show, Yan Xiaonan introduced herself as a potential future title contender, and Brad Riddell is well on his way to carving out a slot as a must-see action lightweight.

So, can Hooker really goad Justin Gaethje into a taking him on? Is there any reason not to run Xiaonan up the strawweight division as fast ass possible? And how many more times can Angela Hill get booked in 2020?

I’ll be answering all those questions – and one or two others – using the classic Silva/Shelby method from years past. That means I’ll be pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, that means at least a few of the fights I’d like to see are actually fights the UFC will end up booking sometime in the not-too-distant future. Now, let’s get to the bouts!

DAN HOOKER

I’m sure being in front of a hometown crowd didn’t hurt Hooker with the judges, but I’d hardly call this any kind of gift decision. It was a good close fight. And especially when he not only took Felder down, but pulled him back down as Felder struggled up to his feet – late in the fight – it just felt like that was the kind of work judges were going to reward heavily. Even if there wasn’t a lot of damage done for the trouble. The fact that every judge scored the fight different just underscores what a tough bout it was to decide. Either way, Hooker walks away with the big win, and made a huge call-out in the aftermath.

Justin Gaethje isn’t a fighter many people are lining up to throw down with, but Hooker made it clear he wants to go to war with the ‘Highlight’. Only problem? Gaethje is currently campaigning to get a title shot with the winner of Khabib vs. Ferguson. If Gaethje is willing to sit out long enough, then Hooker vs. Poirier would be an obviously great fight—as would a scrap against the winner of Kevin Lee vs. Charles Oliveira. But, ultimately, if Gaethje isn’t going to get the title shot he wants, then Hooker vs. Gaethje is a top quality battle.

PAUL FELDER

Will Felder hang ‘em up? I can’t blame him if he does. His fighting style is all about putting his body on the line, no less the case in this fight. If, however, Felder does recuperate, gather himself, and decide he wants to keep going, there are still great lightweight bouts out there for him. Win or lose to Charles Oliveira, I’d love to see Felder fight Kevin Lee. And a fight against Al Iaquinta would absolutely be a bout I have to see. Of course there are always newer fighters on the rise, like Carlos Diego Ferreira or Gregor Gillespie (Lee loss notwithstanding), but it’s hard to see Felder wanting to take any real steps back at this point in his career. End of the day, that Al Iaquinta fight just feels like a bout that we should have already seen by now. And most like a fight that’d be great to see before Felder walks away from the sport. Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta would be another strong lightweight classic, if Felder’s still interested in competing.

JIMMY CRUTE

An outstanding and unexpected performance from Crute here. And as he said himself, afterward, he knew that Oleksiejczuk was too dangerous to fight standing and crafted a rock solid wrestling game to neutralize that. He then called for a rematch with Misha Cirkunov. And while I don’t doubt that he could win that, it’s not a fight that makes a whole lot of sense right now. Bouts with Da Un Jung or Devin Clark would both be rock solid. I’d also love to see him against the winner of Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba. Lots of strong, fun options at 205 right now. But with Clark un-booked for the moment, lets make Jimmy Crute vs. Devin Clark. It’s a chance for Crute to really put together a win streak, and for Clark to continue proving that he’s a strong gatekeeper to the top 15 at light heavyweight. Crute vs. Clark should be a banger.

YAN XIAONAN

An outstanding performance form Xiaonan, who clearly had Kowalkiewicz injured early and just poured a constant stream of offense onto her opponent. Her striking looked more powerful and accurate than before, her takedowns looked fantastic, and she did well not to slow down too much over the distance. Now 5-0, she should be in line for a real step up. Unfortunately almost all the top 15 is booked, so Xiaonan will likely have to wait for a potential upcoming winner. To that end, fights against the victor of Randa Markos vs. Amanda Ribas, Tecia Torres vs. Mizuki Inoue, and Claudia Gadelha vs. Marina Rodriguez would all be solid. Heck, even the winner of Esparza vs. Waterson doesn’t feel like a bridge too far. Of all those, I think the winner of Gadelha vs. Rodriguez would be the most fun. If Gadelha won, she’d likely want something higher profile, but it’d be a huge opportunity for Xiaonan to step into the contention. And if Rodriguez won, it’d be good battle of fast-rising prospects. The winner of Markos/Ribas might be more likely, but I’d love to see Xiaonan against the winner of Gadelha/Rodriguez.

MARCOS ROGERIO DE LIMA

‘Pezao’ only seems to have two setting: first round KO win or second round submission loss. This was one of the former. And in that kind of performance, he always thrills. Just a nonstop output of heavy, heavy leather as Sosoli stepped into the pocket again and again. I dunno what Todd Duffee is up to right now, but Duffee vs. de Lima is a must-see mess of a heavyweight battle. If Duffee isn’t around, then a fight against the winner of Ben Rothwell vs. Gian Villante also feels like it would have a certain air of absurdity to it that can’t be missed. Still, if Duffee is there, and waiting for a fight, then Todd Duffee vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima is a fight the UFC needs to make ASAP.

BRAD RIDDELL

Riddell is in kind of a weird place with the UFC lightweight division. He called for a top 15 opponent next time out, in Alexander Hernandez, but his resume isn’t exactly deep. Of course, Hernandez caught lightening in a bottle with his debut against formerly top ranked Beneil Dariush, and a followup win over Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Still, having just beat Francisco Trinaldo, it feels like Hernandez is a step further than makes sense coming off an upset win over Magomed Mustafaev. But what’s the next fight out there for Riddle then? Don Madge? Rafael Fiziev? David Teymur? I think there’s one fighter that’s also just made a huge splash early in his division that would be the perfect matchup instead. Arman Tsarukyan took a tough loss to Islam Makhachev in his debut, but did great against OAM the next time out. He’s a remarkably complete and experienced fighter for a relative newcomer, and should provide another all-terrain test of Riddell’s skills. And for Tsarukyan, this would be a major step forward in terms of striking ability from his first two opponents. Riddell vs. Tsarukyan would be a fascinating lightweight fight.

ZUBAIRA TUKHUGOV

A fantastic performance from Tukhugov this time out, after struggling badly with a UFC newcomer in his last bout. Exactly the kind of win he needed to reassert his position as a real threat in the featherweight division. After Dan Ige’s last big win, I kinda feel like Ige should deserve a bigger fight. But, if he’s not about to get one, the Tukhugov vs. Ige would be absolutely wild. Since I do think ‘Dynamite’ will get a top 15 ranked opponent, however, then the fight to make is Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Hakeem Dawodu. Dawodu has been a high-output striking machine so far in the UFC, but has had trouble putting his opponents away. A battle with Dawodu would give the Chechen plenty of time to land dangerous single shots, or to bring his wrestling into play. And for Dawodu it would be a chance to show he can fight smart and out-hustle a dangerous opponent who can take the fight anywhere. Tukhugov vs. Dawodu is an excellent featherweight fight.

KAI KARA-FRANCE

A strong win for Kai Kara-France at home. One of flyweight’s more entertaining action-fighters, he’s always fun to watch—win or lose. And while his divison is incredibly thin on options, the fact that the UFC needs to keep making flyweight bouts means he should get any sensible fight on the table. And right now, there’s a pretty obvious next bout for Kara-France: Alex Perez. Perez is coming off a strong win over Jordan Espinosa, and has been something of a physical force at 125. A bout against France would really test the Kiwi’s ability to constantly stuff shots and keep his output up. And for Perez, it’s an opportunity to take on another busy boxer with a bit of pop in his hands to see if he can keep his momentum rolling. Kara-France vs. Perez should be a fast-paced battle.

ANGELA HILL

A fantastic performance from Hill, who started out with great pressure and volume, and kept landing the bigger strikes and controlling the clinch throughout the bout. She’s looked like she’s really turned a corner with her boxing lately, and her willingness to fight anyone at any time has kept her in fun action fights. Most likely, she’ll just be fighting again whenever someone gets hurt, but – if she wants to target a specific bout – Alexa Grasso is one of the few ranked strawweights she hasn’t faced yet. Grasso is coming off a loss, but it was a debatable majority decision to Carla Esparza. Hill vs. Grasso would be a surefire thriller. Otherwise, the winner of Tecia Torres vs. Mizuki Inoue would be pretty great. Hill does have a loss to Torres already, but that was five years ago, so a rematch would hardly feel undeserved if that’s the way it played out.

OTHER BOUTS: Michal Oleksiejcuk vs. Klidson Abreu, Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Syuri Kondo, Ben Sosoli vs. Jake Collier/Tom Aspinall loser, Magomed Mustafaev vs. Nasrat Haqparast, Kevin Aguilar vs. Julio Arce, Jalin Turner vs. Claudio Puelles, Joshua Culibao vs. Jonathan Pearce, Jake Matthews vs. Rustam Khabilov, Emil Weber Meek vs. Michel Pereira, Song Kenan vs. Dwight Grant, Callan Potter vs. Cole Williams, Tyson Nam vs. Jordan Espinosa, Loma Lookboonmee vs. Virna Jandiroba, Priscila Cachoeira vs. Yanan Wu, Shana Dobson vs. Nadia Kassem