Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night 202

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Facing a high-risk, low-reward scenario in which merely winning might not have been enough to move him up the ladder, Islam Makhachev delivered beyond all expectations.

In the 160-pound catchweight main event of UFC Fight Night 202 Saturday night at the UFC Apex, the 30-year-old Dagestani blew through Bobby Green in just 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Once the fight began, Green’s collegiate wrestling credentials counted for naught and his slick striking never even came into play, as Makhachev landed a takedown within seconds, then advanced to mount, threatened with rear-naked chokes and finally pummeled his turtled foe with unblocked punches until referee Herb Dean moved in to stop the mauling. By pitching a complete shutout over an overmatched, short-notice opponent, Makhachev made the best of a difficult situation. There were no moral victories for Green and precious little material for anyone looking to criticize Makhachev’s performance.

The question now is whether the dominant showing against Green was enough to keep Makhachev on his title trajectory, or the matchup against Beneil Dariush, which had been the original main event before Dariush hurt his ankle last week, is still a hurdle he must clear. In the wake of “UFC Vegas 49,” here are some matches that ought to be made for Makhachev and the other main card winners.

Islam Makhachev vs. Beneil Dariush

UFC President Dana White more or less stated on Saturday night that Makhachev will be next in line for a lightweight title shot once current champ Charles Oliveira settles his business with Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. However, rebooking Makhachev-Dariush would make more sense. Considering that Oliveira and Gaethje don’t meet until May 7, Makhachev will be waiting until mid-August before the winner is ready to defend again, and even that is under ideal circumstances. If the winner suffers even a simple broken hand or orbital, Makhachev is looking at six months or more on the shelf. Meanwhile, Dariush is ranked higher than Makhachev in both Sherdog’s rankings and the UFC’s own, and he is the only other contender with a live winning streak that is comparable in quality. As impressive as Makhachev was on Saturday, to pass up Dariush because of a blowout win over a short-notice replacement — in a fight that didn’t even take place at lightweight — would be a slap in the face.

The real power move would be for the UFC to rebook Makhachev and Dariush as the co-main of UFC 274. It would be a 10-week turnaround for Makhachev — quite doable, considering Green didn’t lay a finger on him Saturday — and the promotion would have its two most viable contenders available as backup in case something were to happen to Oliveira or Gaethje.

Wellington Turman vs. Punahele Soriano

Turman picked up a much-needed win in Saturday’s co-main event, snatching a lightning-quick armbar against Misha Cirkunov in the second round. That snapped a two-fight skid for the young Brazilian, evened out his UFC ledger at 3-3, gave him his first finish in the Octagon, netted him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus check — and probably saved his job. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Turman was in a world of trouble for much of the fight up until then, against a fighter in Cirkunov who was on a two-fight losing streak of his own. A win is a win, but Turman’s performance didn’t exactly inspire confidence that he is a whole new fighter since relocating his training to Teixeira MMA.

For that reason, I’ll deviate here from my usual, Joe Silva-inspired belief that winners vs. winners and losers vs. losers is the cornerstone of solid matchmaking. Soriano faced Nick Maximov at UFC Fight Night 200 on Feb. 5, dropping a close split decision against the wrestling-grappling prodigy. “Story Time” is on a two-fight losing streak, but he was competitive against Maximov as well as Brendan Allen, who is probably better than anyone Turman has faced. Book this one and let one of these two young middleweights take a step away from the edge with a win.

Priscila Cachoeira vs. Maryna Moroz-Mariya Agapova loser

For the second fight in a row, we’re matching winners with losers, and for the same reason. Much like Turman, Cachoeira won on Saturday and thereby avoided a likely pink slip, but the specifics of the victory do not do her stock much good either. In the case of “Zombie Girl,” the problem is that her unanimous decision win over Ji Yeon Kim probably should have been a loss — and I say that as the only media member to score it in her favor. Moroz and Agapova face off at UFC 272 next week, but the winner of that fight frankly deserves a higher-level matchup than Cachoeira, who needed an iffy decision to get past one of the worst flyweights on the roster. It might be fairest for all involved, including Cachoeira herself, to pair her with the loser, who will be in more or less the same place as Cachoeira in terms of divisional standing.

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Gregor Gillespie

Tsarukyan was as impressive as anyone who fought on Saturday, as he absolutely mauled one of the UFC’s most promising lightweight prospects in Joel Alvarez on his way to a bloody second-round TKO. “Ahalkalakets” was superior everywhere, stinging Alvarez on the feet, grounding him with relative ease and threatening with submission attempts and strikes from the top. What looked to be a straightforward Round 1 in favor of Tsarukyan turned nasty late in the round, when he opened a deep gash between Alvarez’s eyes with an elbow strike. Both men were covered in blood within seconds, and the rout was on. Alvarez was still game, but clearly distracted and distressed by the blood in his eyes, the cutmen had little success stopping the bleeding between rounds, and when Tsarukyan took him down again early in the second frame, it was just a matter of time.

By the eyeball test, Tsarukyan has every appearance of a future title contender, and maybe more. His only UFC loss, to Makhachev in April 2019, has aged well as both men keep on winning, and it was the hardest fight of Makhachev’s otherwise dominant 10-fight winning streak. Remarkably, Tsarukyan is still just 25 years old, so there’s no reason to push, especially considering that the immediate title picture is probably tied up through the end of the year. Tsarukyan called out Gillespie, who smashed Diego Ferreira at UFC on ESPN 24 last May to bounce back from his first career defeat. Gillespie’s performance against Ferreira restored some of the luster lost in his crushing KO by Kevin Lee and subsequent long layoff. A former NCAA Division I champ versus a Master of Sport in wrestling? Sign me up, please, and sign up the winner of that fight for a spot in the middle of the lightweight Top 10.

Armen Petrosyan vs. Kyle Daukaus

Petrosyan’s main card tilt with Gregory Rodrigues was the inverse of Turman-Cirkunov and Cachoeira-Kim: a fun, competitive fight in which the winner as well as the loser came off looking pretty good. While it would have been nice to see how Petrosyan reacted if Rodrigues had made more of an effort to get his ground game going, on the feet the 31-year-old Armenian looked quite sharp. He is now 7-1 in his young career and on a three-fight winning streak. Daukaus, who tapped out short-notice opponent Jamie Pickett in the first round last Saturday at “UFC Vegas 48,” is far more experienced than Petrosyan despite being younger, but finds himself with just as much to prove. The Pickett win was Daukaus’ first in over a year, and while it isn’t Daukaus’ fault that the fight took place at a catchweight, the fact remains that after nearly two years in the UFC, he has exactly as many middleweight wins as Petrosyan does after one weekend. Matching them up would give Daukaus a chance to keep his momentum going, while perhaps offering us another chance to see Petrosyan’s defensive wrestling and grappling tested.