Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night 203

Magomed Ankalaev did enough to get his hand raised on Saturday night, but was it enough to secure him the title shot he seeks?

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 203 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, the 29-year-old Russian took a five-round unanimous decision over former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos. The fight played out somewhat surprisingly, as Ankalaev made no earnest attempt to bring “Marreta” to the floor until late in the fourth round. While it made a statement of sorts that Ankalaev won despite most of the fight taking place in his opponent’s wheelhouse, the action was tepid for long stretches and the 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 decision closer than might be expected of such a prohibitive betting favorite.

Nonetheless, the question now is what comes next for Ankalaev, who has now rattled off eight straight wins since stumbling in his UFC debut against Paul Craig four years ago. The light heavyweight belt is scheduled to be contested at UFC 275 in June, Ankalaev has made his case to be the one to face the winner, and it now falls to the UFC’s matchmakers to decide whether it was enough, or he needs to beat another contender. In the wake of “UFC Vegas 50,” here are some matches that ought to be made for Ankalaev and the other main card winners.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Jan Blachowicz

If Ankalaev had simply blown through Santos on Saturday, either finishing him or grinding him out to 50-44 scorecards, the call would be for him to wait for the winner of Glover Teixeira’s scheduled title defense against Jiri Prochazka on June 11. It would have meant a little more shelf time than he might prefer, but there simply wouldn’t be much more to prove, so why would the UFC risk squandering the momentum of his stellar win streak in a keep-busy matchup? Instead, we got a sometimes impressive, more often frustrating performance that still leaves Ankalaev as deserving as anyone, but not truly standing out from the pack.

If he needs another fight, there are only three possible opponents who don’t represent a major step down: Blachowicz, Aleksandar Rakic and Anthony Smith. Of the three, former champ Blachowicz offers the best ratio of risk to reward for the UFC, since matching Ankalaev and Rakic effectively kills off one of the two best contenders who haven’t yet fought for a title, while Smith has the biggest name and smallest weight cut of the three, and so is attractive as a possible short-notice step-in should June’s title fight need one. Make Ankalaev-Blachowicz, and the winner is a viable title challenger — even if it results in a Teixeira-Blachowicz rematch.

Yadong Song vs. Sean O'Malley

The “Kung Fu Monkey” made quite a statement in the co-main event, blasting Marlon Moraes senseless in just 2 minutes, 6 seconds. Even accounting for Moraes’ recent slide, it was an unexpectedly easy and vicious finish. Song is now 8-1-1 in the Octagon, with the lone loss coming in a competitive fight against a fellow bright prospect in Kyler Phillips. He has won three straight since that setback, positioning himself in the Top 10 and within shouting distance of the title picture; not bad for a 24-year-old in one of the deepest divisions in the sport.

Song’s post-fight callout of Dominick Cruz was not a bad one in terms of competitive merit, but realistically, the UFC will probably make the Cruz vs. Jose Aldo dream match while it can, and Cruz’s status as a former champ leaves him closer to a title shot than Song, so it would be a poor proposition for “The Dominator” anyway. O’Malley, who blasted Raulian Paiva in December for his third straight win, is a potential superstar on the rise, perhaps the closest thing the UFC has to a "next Conor McGregor" at the moment. He and Song each have something the other could use, as well: Song represents a Top 10 opponent with positive momentum who is likely to strike with “The Sugar Show,” while O’Malley, whose last six fights have all been on numbered pay-per-views, has the potential to pull Song into the limelight with him, win or lose.

Sodiq Yusuff vs. Julian Erosa

Yusuff’s performance on Saturday was equal parts impressive and head-scratching. Snapping Alex Caceres’ five-fight win streak was a solid accomplishment, but he did so with little more than leg kicks, and just happened to be fortunate that “Bruce Leeroy” made even fewer adjustments than Yusuff did. In any case, Yusuff’s callout of Bryce Mitchell was wishful thinking; Mitchell made what may go down as his star turn on the UFC 272 pay-per-view last week, while Yusuff just reminded us of his existence with his first win in over two years. Erosa, who win his second straight fight in a split decision over Steven Peterson on Feb. 5, would be more appropriate. Both are inconsistently dazzling featherweights who need just a little push to get onto the rankings radar, and Erosa’s status as one of the UFC’s greatest equal-opportunity creators of highlights for himself and his opponents means there is a chance “Super Sodiq” gets to show exactly why he was so highly touted coming off Dana White's Contender Series in 2018.

Khalil Rountree vs. Dustin Jacoby

Rountree served up a gut-wrenching first-round TKO of Karl Roberson on Saturday — why don’t more fighters kick to the body of their downed opponents? — then followed it up with a gut-punch of a postfight interview, all vulnerability and emotion. It was a great moment, and a great reminder that with his unique personality, winning backstory and horrifying highlight reel, all that lies between “The War Horse” and stardom is consistency. The man who lamped Gokhan Saki in two minutes and who beat Eryk Anders so badly that it changed the popular perception of Western fighters training in Thailand, has also been prone to coming out flat and losing badly to less-skilled fighters at the worst times. There is no need to rush Rountree and his modest two-fight win streak up the ladder; instead, he could use a matchup with another fighter in a similar competitive place. Jacoby, who beat Michal Oleksiejczuk last week to stretch his own win streak to three, yet looked less dominant than in his previous couple of outings, fits the bill — and it’s not as if Rountree will be intimidated by Jacoby’s kickboxing credentials.

Drew Dober vs. Bobby Green

Dober had a wild night, nearly getting finished by the hyper-aggressive Terrance McKinney, who stepped up on just days’ notice and swarmed him immediately. Dober’s experience won out, though, as he survived the onslaught, bided his time — relatively speaking — and turned the tables as McKinney faded. The win puts an end to Dober’s two-fight skid against Brad Riddell and Islam Makhachev, and leaves the blocky Nebraskan as the same exciting fringe contender he has been for the last three or four years. Also fitting that description is “King Bobby,” whose own shot at short-notice glory against Makhachev two weeks ago ended in disaster, but that shouldn’t detract from Green’s skills or the breakthrough year he is having so far. The matchup would be competitively appropriate and likely fireworks.

Alex Pereira vs. Joaquin Buckley

“Poatan” won a unanimous decision over Bruno Silva in the main card opener, which was heartening in that he got up quickly each time he was taken down, but concerning in that he was taken down with relative ease by a much smaller fellow kickboxer. Let us be blunt: The UFC’s best move here is to fast-track this man to a shot at Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title. I would normally be the last person arguing for this, if not for the fact that otherwise, Adesanya is probably going to spend the next two years rematching people he has already destroyed. If the promotion messes around, even if it has Pereira fight someone like the winner of the upcoming Krzysztof Jotko-Gerald Meerschaert or Dricus Du Plessis-Chris Curtis fight, there’s a strong possibility he gets tapped out or at least outwrestled, and all the hype from his kickboxing wins over Adesanya will evaporate. He needs a matchup with another “Blindado” type: a solid UFC middleweight who is unlikely to embrace a wrestling-heavy strategy. Buckley, who can wrestle but greatly prefers to try and keep padding his ridiculous highlight reel of knockouts, is your man.