Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 78

UFC Vegas 78 went down last night (Sat., Aug. 12, 2023) in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Welterweight bout between Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos. After 25 minutes of action, “The Silent Assassin” walked away with a unanimous decision win. In the co-main event, Cub Swanson defeated Hakeem Dawodu by earning a clean sweep on the judges scorecards.

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Winner: Vicente Luque

Who He Should Face Next: Sean Brady

When looking at the lay of the land at 170 pounds, there aren’t a ton of fights that makes sense for Luque at the moment. At least none that are available. He’s already lost Stephen Thompson (No. 7) and Geoff Neal (No. 8), and fights against Gilbert Burns (No. 5) and Shavkat Rakhmonov (No. 6) do not make sense for him at the moment. That leaves a potential fight against Brady on the table, who is currently ranked No. 9 and hasn’t competed since losing to Belal Muhammad at UFC 280. If a fight against Jack Della Maddalena doesn’t come to fruition for Brady, this should be the fight to make.

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Winner: Cub Swanson

Who He Should Fight Next: Andre Fili

After escaping “Sin City” with a questionable win, Swanson gets back in the win column after getting stopped by Jonathan Martinez in Oct. 2022. The longtime veteran isn’t anywhere near the Top 15 at Featherweight or Bantamweight, so it’s going to be a tough path there. Swanson has been fighting inside the Octagon for nearly 13 years now, so there aren’t too many people he has yet to face. But Andre Fili is one of them. “Touchy” is coming off a tough decision defeat at the hands of Nathaniel Wood and a matchup between these two longtime veterans would be a solid scrap.

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Winner: Khalil Rountree

Who He Should Face Next: Oezdemir vs Murzakanov winner

Rountree picked up his fourth straight win last night by obliterating Chris Daukaus in the very first round (see it again here). Now, “War Horse” is eying a spot in the Top 10, as well as a headlining bout. Volkan Oezdemir (No. 9) and Azamat Murzakanov (No. 11) are set to throw down next month, so perhaps Rountree (No. 13) can face the winner of that bout tin Fight Night headlining scrap. If he gets past either one of them, a title shot should be in the near future.

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Winner: Iasmin Lucindo

Who She Should Face Next: Bruna Brasil

Lucindo picked up her second straight win after submitting Polyana Viana via arm-triangle choke. She improves to 2-1 inside the Octagon and is slowly trying to climb the Strawweight ladder. As for Brasil, she picked up her first win inside the Octagon in her second try by defeating Shauna Bannon last month. Both ladies are fairly young in their respective careers, so there paths are bound to cross sooner or later.

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Winner: A.J. Dobson

Who He Should Face Next: Dusko Todorovic

Dobson picked up an all-important win by defeating Tafon Nchikwi, his first win inside the Octagon after kicking off his UFC career with two straight defeats. As for Todorovic, he was last seen losing to Christian Leroy Duncan this past March as a result of a knee injury. If his health setback isn’t too serious, perhaps between he and Dobson is one that should be made. Todorovic hasn’t managed to pick up much steam in three years with the promotion, picking up a record of 3-4.

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Winner: Josh Fremd

Who He Should Fight Next: Roman Kopylov

After kicking off his UFC career with two straight losses, Fremd has now won two in a row, with his latest win coming against Jamie Pickett. I am feeling pairing with Kopylov next for Fremd. Kopylov has won three straight and is coming off a win over Claudio Ribiero via head kick at UFC 291 last month (see it again here). Kopylov is 3-2 so far under the UFC banner after also starting his career with the promotion with two straight defeats.

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For complete UFC Vegas 78 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.