Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 81

UFC Vegas 81 went down last night (Sat., Oct. 14, 2023) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a “Fight of the Night”-winning main event between Featherweight contenders Edson Barboza and Sodiq Yusuff. In the co-main event, Viviane Araujo defeated Jennifer Maia via unanimous decision in a women’s Flyweight fight.

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Winner: Edson Barboza

Who He Should Face Next: Calvin Kattar

Don’t go counting out Barboza just yet. The Brazilian bomber won his second straight fight last night, earning a hard-fought unanimous decision over Yussuff, snapping “Super’s” two-fight win streak. At 37 years of age, Barboza earned himself his twelfth $50,000 post-fight bonus award, with nine of those being “Fight of the Night” bonuses. A fight against Kattar might seem a bit perplexing at first glance, but it makes sense when you dissect it. Kattar is currently on a two-fight losing streak but he is currently ranked No. 7, which is six spots ahead of Barboza, who could make a nice jump later this week. Both men love to stand-and-bang so it would be another opportunity for Barboza to add to his post-fight bonus awards.

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Winner: Vivian Araujo

Who She Should Face Next: Lauren Murphey

Araujo managed to snap her two-fight skid by edging out Jennifer Maia after 15 minutes of action, walking away with a unanimous decision win. I initially was thinking a fight against either Tracy Cortez or Maycee Barber would be ideal for Araujo, but both of those ladies are on hot streaks, and maybe pairing them against one another makes more sense. As for Murphey (No. 7), she is 1-2 in her last three fights like Araujo, and is coming off a tough loss to former champion, Jessica Andrade.

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Winner: Jonathan Martinez

Who He Should Face Next: Song Yadong

Martinez has now won six straight fights after dismantling Adrian Yanez with vicious leg kicks (see it here), so don’t be too surprised to see the the scrappy Bantamweight hit the Top 10 once they are updated next week. As for Yadong, he is coming off an impressive stoppage win over Ricky Simon, stopping him via strikes this past April. Yadong is 4-1 in his last five fights and is currently tied for the No. 7 spot. Martinez should make a big leap later this week and will be closer to Yadong. This fight would be an interesting one to say the least, and one that would certainly be in line for a post-fight bonus award given their track history.

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Winner: Michel Pereira

Who He Should Face Next: Marc-Andre Barriault vs Chris Curtis winner

Pereira’s return to Middleweight was a success, knocking out Andre Petroski in the very first round (see it again here). Pereira moved up to Middleweight after he missed weight for his fight against Stephen Thompson that was scrapped, but he was on a five-fight win streak at Welterweight and a Top 15 spot was within reach. Nevertheless, the electric striker is off to a good start now that he is back at 185 pounds. I really don’t know what his plans are regarding staying at 185 pounds or going back to 170. If he decides to try Welterweight again, I still want to see him face Stephen Thompson, though there is no telling of “Wonderboy” would sing on for the fight after the scale fail and the drama that ensued afterward. If he stays at 185 pounds, let him face the winner of the upcoming fight between Marc-Andre Barriault and Chris Curtis, who collide at UFC 297.

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Winner: Christian Rodriguez

Who He Should Face Next: Garret Armfield

Rodriguez followed up his big win over Raul Rosas Jr. by earning a unanimous decision win over Cameron Saaiman. Despite his win over Rosas and 3-1 UFC record, he still isn’t getting the spotlight that Rosas is. Funny how that works, right? Nevertheless, Rodriguez is determined to get his and will look to earn his fourth straight win in his next outing, that could come against Armfield, who is 1-1 in his UFC career, but 4-1 overall in his last five fights. Both are very young in their UFC careers, so the winner here takes a nice next step.

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For complete UFC Vegas 81 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.