Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 74

UFC Vegas 74 went down last night (Sat., June 3, 2023) inside the friendly confines of UFC Apex featuring a Bantamweight showdown between Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi. After 25 minutes of back-and-forth action, Albazi was awarded the split-decision win (full recap here). In the co-main event, Alex Caceres defeated Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision, while Jim Miller scored a spectacular knockout win over Jesse Butler (knockout).

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Winner: Amir Albazi

Who He Should Face Next: Brandon Royval

Whenever there is a controversial split-decision, it takes a lot away from both fighter’s performances, especially the winner. But Albazi showed that he has what it takes to hang with the best, and with six straight wins in his back pocket he is ready to make a huge leap in the rankings. A fight against Royval (No. 4) makes sense because both men are on hot streaks and slowly making their respective cases for title contention and the winner could very well get the winner of Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja. Albazi isn’t all that interested in the fight, but it could happen whether he likes it or not.

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Winner: Alex Caceres

Who He Should Face Next: Edson Barboza

Caceres has really found his groove, winning seven of his last eight fights inside the Octagon, including his latest win over Pineda. Currently ranked No. 15, I fully expect “Bruce Leeroy” to make a huge leap in the rankings, putting him in place to to get offered bigger fights. It’s hard to believe that Caceres has been fighting for UFC for 12 years now, and during that time he’s faced some of the best the promotion has to offer, and Barboza would be no different. Both men love to stand-and-bang and Barboza is one of the most elite strikers the 145-pound division has ever seen. This potential matchup has “Fight of the Night” written all over it.

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Winner: Jim Miller

Who He Should Face Next: Jared Gordon

Miller just keeps trucking along with no signs of slowing down. Miller was set to face Gordon before he was pulled from the fight after not being cleared to compete the week of the fight. I would really love to see that fight re-booked, assuming “Flash” gets his medical situations cleared, of course. Miller is 4-1 over his last five fights, while Gordon is 2-2-1. It’s a solid matchup on paper.

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Winner: Tim Elliott

Who He Should Face Next: Manel Kape

Winner of two straight and four of five overall, Elliott has quietly been putting in some good work inside the cage in the midst of all of his personal chaos. His latest run should be enough to get him into the Top 10, Kape was set to somehow face Deiveson Figueiredo — who is ranked No. 1 — at UFC 290, but that fight doesn’t seem to be happening. With only two months away from fight night, why not let Elliott get a nice decent turnaround fight against Kape? They are more close to each other in the rankings than Kape (No. 9) was with Figueiredo.

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Winner: Karine Silva

Who She Should Fight Next: Natalia Silva

Silva continued her win streak and improved it to seven in a row (all finishes), after destroying Ketlen Souza’s knee in the very first round. Now 2-0 inside the Octagon, Silva still may have some work to do before she cracks the Top 15, but she is making the right moves to get there. As for Natalia Silva, she has also been doing some nice work as of late, winning nine straight including her first three fights inside the Octagon, two via stoppage. This is a great fight between two rising Flyweights.

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Winner: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

Who He Should Face Next: Alex Morono

Dos Santos earned his second straight win after escaping “Sin City” with a split-decision win over Abubakar Nurmagomedov, improving to 3-2 over his last five fights. But what if I told you that he is actually 10-3 under the UFC banner, and is not ranked in the Welterweight division? He is making great strides to get there, but since the 170-pound division is filled with sharks, he will have to likely need another big win or two to get there. As for Morono, he is coming off a submission win over Tim Means last month, and he is also on a nice run, winning five of his last six fights. The winner of this potential slug-fest could crack the rankings.

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For complete UFC Vegas 74 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.