Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 83

UFC Vegas 83 went down last night (Sat. Dec. 9, 2023) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada which saw Sony Yadong earn a dominant unanimous decision win over Chris Gutierrez (full results here). In the co-main event, Khalil Rountree picked up an emphatic technical knockout (TKO) win over Anthony Smith (video here), while Tim Elliott picked up a huge submission win over Su Mudaerji (see it here).

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Winner: Song Yadong

Who He Should Face Next: Petr Yan

Why not? Yadong called for the fight during his post-fight interview, while “No Mercy” was quick to hit social media to respond with a yawning emoji, signaling that wasn’t impressed with the performance or the call out…or both. Still, it would be an interesting fight to make since Yan (No. 7) is ranked two spots ahead of Yadong (No. 5). Of course, that can change later next week, but if both men are willing to sing on the dotted line again let’s make it happen since they were supposed to fight at this event before “No Mercy” bowed out.

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Winner: Khalil Rountree

Who He Should Face Next: Anakalev vs Walker winner

While Rountree was quick to call for a title fight against Alex Pereira, that simply isn’t in the cards at the moment, but props for shooting your shot. On that not, “War Horse” should try to earn his sixth straight win against the winner of the upcoming rematch between Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker, which is expected to go down in early 2024. Rountree has a knockout loss to Walker from five years ago, so it’s one that I am sure he’s love to get back, especially since the towering Brazilian is still ranked ahead of him. As for Ankalaev, he is ranked No. 3, so a win over him would get Rountree closer to a title shot.

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Winner: Tim Elliott

Who He Should Face Next: Matt Schnell

Elliott made the most of his last-second opportunity to fight on this card, and he came out a winner and a bit more financially stable thanks to his performance. I like a fight against Schnell, who is coming off a knockout (KO) loss at the hands of Matheus Nicolau. That fight was a year ago, however, and Schnell’s comeback attempt was thwarted after he withdrew from his fight against Steve Erceg earlier this year. Should he be ready to go again in early 2024, this is a good scrap to book.

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Winner: Nasrat Haqparast

Who He Should Face Next: Drakkar Klose

Haqparast picked up his third straight win following his impressive TKO win over Jamie Mullarkey. As for Klose, he also earned his third straight victory inside the Octagon last Saturday following a knockout win over Joe Solecki in Austin, Texas (via slam). Both men are on the outside of the Top 15 looking in, a fourth straight win could get them close to reaching their goal.

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Winner: Andre Muniz

Who He Should Face Next: Cody Brundage

Muniz earned a new lease on his UFC life by defeating Park Junyong. Coming into the event he was on a two-fight losing streak, so another loss could have put him on the chopping block. Instead he will live to fight another day inside the Octagon. A fight against Brundage sounds appealing since their turnaround times could likely sync up. Brundage was last seen competing at UFC Austin last weekend, knocking out Zachary Reese (see it here). Brundage has won two straight, a streak he earned after losing his previous three fights.

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For complete UFC Vegas 83 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.