Matches to Make After UFC on ESPN 36

An untimely injury to Aleksandar Rakic’s right knee led to a UFC on ESPN 36 main event with no real winners, at least in terms of title implications.

Heading into “UFC Vegas 54,” the main event between Rakic and former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz seemed to be flying a bit under the radar for a likely title eliminator. The fight ended in disappointment for all involved when Rakic’s leg buckled under him early in the third round; the Austrian was so clearly distressed that Blachowicz did not even follow him to the ground, assuming—correctly—that referee Mark Smith was on his way to make the injury stoppage official.

Despite the unexpected timing and lack of a direct injury-causing strike, Blachowicz deserves some credit for the win. He had battered Rakic’s left leg with kicks, leading him to switch stances, move differently and generally favor that leg, which placed untold stress on the right leg. However, it remains a TKO win by injury in a fight in which each man had won one round, and Rakic arguably had the momentum. It goes down as a win for Blachowicz, but one that does not make a definitive case for a title shot. For a 39-year-old fighter with a limited window of time in which to win his way back to the top, that’s nearly as bad as a loss, but regardless of what the UFC decides, he needs a next step. In the wake of UFC on ESPN 36, here are matchups that ought to be made for the purveyor of “legendary Polish power” and some other prominent winners:

Jan Blachowicz vs. Anthony Smith-Magomed Ankalaev winner

If either Blachowicz or Rakic had won decisively and uncontroversially on Saturday, the likely next matchup would have been the winner of next month’s Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka title fight. Blachowicz and Rakic appeared to be working under that hopeful assumption, UFC President Dana White had been suggesting as much, and notably, Teixeira tweeted several times that he would be happy to grant Blachowicz a rematch if they defeated their respective opponents. Instead, the odd finish answered some questions about Blachowicz’s current state, but not all. Certainly he looked better than the version of himself that had come out so flat and gassed out so quickly against Teixeira in their first meeting, but he also found himself helpless to get out from under Rakic in the second round, which does not portend well for a rematch with one of the heaviest top-position grapplers in MMA history. Smith and Ankalaev meet on July 30, and the winner should be within shouting distance of a title shot. Let the winner face Blachowicz and see who rises.

Ryan Spann vs. Tyson Pedro

The good news is that in a Marvel vs. DC crossover fight, “Superman” defeated “The Hulk,” as Spann put away Ion Cutelaba with a fast and viciously applied guillotine choke in under half a round. The bad news is that Spann had arguably been losing every moment of the fight up until Cutelaba gacked it away with one of the mental lapses for which he has become so rightly famous. A win is a win, though, and the throttling of Cutelaba is the best victory of Spann’s career to date. It brings him to 6-2 in the UFC, with the only losses coming against Smith, who happens to be very good, and Walker, who landed about a dozen clearly illegal strikes in the finishing sequence. Spann has earned, if not a major step up, at least another matchup with a rising fringe contender coming off a win. Most of the men fitting that description — Nikita Krylov, Dustin Jacoby, Da Un Jung or Jamahal Hill, for example — already have dance partners for the summer, so waiting for winners to shake out of their upcoming fights might keep him on the shelf longer than he would like. Pedro, who came back from a three-year-plus hiatus last month to stop Isaac Villanueva in the first round, is not quite at the level of those four, but has enough name value to merit another fight night co-main spot, or perhaps a showcase on a pay-per-view card.

Davey Grant vs. Journey Newson

“Dangerous Davey” lived up to his name on Saturday, getting the better of a back-and-forth scrap with Louis Smolka before upending him with a brutal leg kick, then knocking him senseless with ground punches in the third round. The win brings the 36-year-old Brit to 2-2 in his last four fights, a span during which he has shown exactly what audiences—and UFC matchmakers—can expect from him. Against unranked foes in Smolka and Jonathan Martinez, he has authored highlight-reel finishes, against contenders like Adrian Yanez and Marlon Vera he has come up short on the judges’ scorecards, and in every case the fights have been a whole lot of fun. There is always a place for that kind of reliable action fighter in the Octagon. If Grant wants to prove he is more than that, as he seemed to imply in his postfight interview, he deserves the chance to show it, but it should start with another fighter in a similar situation. Newson, who got the better of a rousing striking match with Fernando Garcia at UFC 274 last week, fits the description. Book that one, pencil both men in for a likely “Fight of the Night” bonus, and the winner for another crack at a Top 15-ish fighter.

Katlyn Chookagian vs. That French Chick

Chookagian, already one of the UFC’s most skippable fighters—certainly its least exciting top contender—was placed in a situation seemingly designed to highlight that tendency, as her main card bout with Amanda Ribas was sandwiched between two featuring knockout artists against overmatched opponents. “Blonde Fighter” responded by putting on her most entertaining winning performance in years, netting herself and Ribas the “Fight of the Night” bonus. Afterward, Chookagian called out a few rising flyweights, including Alexa Grasso and Manon Fiorot, whom she dismissed without deigning to name. As a well-established name and a former strawweight contender, Grasso can probably win her way to a title shot without having to face Chookagian, but Fiorot is another matter. The 32-year-old Frenchwoman has dazzled since arriving in the UFC but is a veteran of just 11 professional fights and needs marquee wins. The matchup makes sense, and the callout demonstrates that Chookagian understands her current reality: i.e., her route to another crack at Valentina Shevchenko will require her to take at least a couple of steps back, at least in terms of ranked matchups.

Virna Jandiroba vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk-Weili Zhang loser

It’s a rough life out there for UFC strawweight contenders in the…oh, No. 7-15 range or so. Where several UFC divisions—middleweight, women’s flyweight—are absolutely dying for new contenders, the strawweight title picture is practically vacuum-packed. The five women who have held the belt are still the top five in the division and are still working on completing a huge round-robin with each other, the most recent example being Carla Esparza’s win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274, which brought the title full circle. Marina Rodriguez, the top fighter outside of that champ quintet, should be up for a title shot at some point…early next year?

Jandiroba took a fairly easy decision over perennial tough out and fellow former Invicta FC titleholder Angela Hill on Saturday, but it leaves her in the same limbo as just about everyone. “Carcara” is 4-3 in the UFC against an absolutely brutal slate of foes, but her losses to Ribas and Mackenzie Dern leave her behind those two as well as presumably Rodriguez in any kind of contenders’ queue. What to do with a woman who might be one of the five best fighters in her division on talent but might not get a chance to prove it for at least a year due to sheer logistics? Here is where I make the rare recommendation of a loser-meets-winner matchup. Former champs Jedrzejczyk and Zhang meet at UFC 275 on June 11. The winner is your likely next title challenger, as Zhang has yet to fight Esparza, while “Joanna Champion” beat her soundly in their first meeting. The loser, however, will be at loose ends. Give Jandiroba her chance to break through to the next level.