UFC Fight Night 91: Fights to make for the main carders

UFC South Dakota is in the books, and the event actually turned out to be fairly exciting. Five of the six main card fights were finished before the final horn, and while the name value didn’t come close to the events last weekend, the fighters still put on a pretty good show.

With that in mind, let’s jump right into who these guys should face in their respective next bouts.

John Lineker – Three wins in a row since his return to bantamweight, and his first signature KO in a while. Taking out the number five guy in the division and a former interim title challenger like that was very impressive, and should earn him some big opportunities in a thin-ish division. If T.J. Dillashaw isn’t going to get a rematch withDominick Cruz right away, I think that’s a natural matchup. If not, I’d love to see him fight John Dodson.

Michael McDonald – Mayday hasn’t looked like the same fighter since his long injury layoff. First he barely beat Kanehara after being dominated, and then he got starched by Lineker. He’s still only 25 so there’s a lot of room for growth, but he’s going to need a big performance in his next bout. A matchup with fellow young fighter Thomas Almeidacould be interesting.

Tony Ferguson – Well, that wasn’t want people expected. Ferguson won the fight, but Vannata really took it to him in the first round. A finish is always nice, but it was an expected finish. When you’re facing a UFC newbie and you have that much trouble, it’s not exactly a ladder-climber of a performance for you. I don’t think they’re going to go back to the well for a Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, and I doubt they match him up withMichael Chiesa again either.  He would be an excellent bounce-back fight for Rafael dos Anjos, or he could get the winner of Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez. Either would be pretty interesting.

Lando Vannata – It wasn’t a win, but it was about as impressive as a new fighter can be without getting one. Vannata made a statement yesterday, and while he’s not going to continue to get ranked opponents right away or anything, he should be getting solid fighters immediately. I think a matchup between Vannata and Mehdi Baghdad would be a lot of fun.

Tim Boetsch – The big man staved off the pink slip with his big lumbering fists. Maybe he could take on preliminary card winner Sam Alvey next.

Josh Samman – That’s a tough loss for Josh. He’s now lost two in a row, so he needs something good for his next bout. Elvis Mutapcic might be a good option for Samman’s next opponent.

Daniel Omielanczuk – Tough first round, but he gutted out a win. The Polish fighter rebounded from two straight losses to start his UFC career, and has now won three in a row. A matchup with Ruslan Magomedov might make some sense in the thin heavyweight division.

Oleksiy Oliynyk – Oliynyk’s first loss in the UFC was a pretty big setback for him. I guess he could fight Cody East next or something.

Keita Nakamura – This was a pretty good win for K-Taro. Have him fight Vicente Luque.

Kyle Noke – It could possibly be the end of the line for the 36-year-old Australian. He’s lost two in a row now, and while he might be kept around to fight in Australian cards, there’s not a lot they can do with him. Perhaps they can throw him in there withDominique Steele Alex Garcia.

Louis Smolka – Since a split-decision loss to Chris Cariaso, Smolka has looked excellent. He’s picked up four straight wins and two performance bonuses. It’s time for a step up in competition, and Ali Bagautinov fits the bill.

Ben Nguyen – Nguyen’s first UFC loss stopped all his momentum.  Give him a fight with Neil Seery.