Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the hurt business this past weekend (Sat., Nov. 24, 2018) for UFC Fight Night 141, which went down inside Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. In the main event of the evening, Francis Ngannou steamrolled right through Curtis Blaydes in 44 seconds to score his second win over “Razor” in devastating fashion (see it again here). In the co-main event of the evening, Alistair Overeem made quick work of Octagon newcomer, Sergey Pavlovich, taking him out in the very first round via vicious ground-and-pound (full recap here).
Now it’s time to see who all of the main card winners could (or should) face next after their respective victories.
Winner: Francis Ngannou
Who He Should Fight Next: Junior dos Santos vs Tai Tuivasa winner
As impressive as “The Predator’s” 44-second knockout win over Blaydes was, rematching Derrick Lewis or Stipe Miocic — who are ranked above Ngannou — doesn’t make sense at the moment, neither does a do-over against Alistair Overeem. Junior dos Santos and Tai Tuivasa are set to hook them up at UFC Fight Night 142 this Saturday (Dec. 1, 2018) in Adelaide, Australia. The winner of that fight will be looking at a higher-ranked opponent with a victory, and since Ngannou is currently sitting at No. 4, either man would be a good for “The Predator.”
Winner: Alistair Overeem
Who He Should Face Next: Derrick Lewis
This fight I would make for the fact that “Black Beast” is one of the few big men who “Reem” has yet to face inside the Octagon. Sure, Lewis is coming off a submission loss to Daniel Cormier, but it was in a world title fight and that could be enough to entice Overeem to take the fight. Both men like to bang, so Lewis doesn’t have to worry about getting wrestled down to the mat, while Overeem can pick up back-to-back wins at for the first time since 2017 over a well-known name.
Winner: Yadong Song
Who He Should Face Next: Frankie Saenz
Song has been perfect so far in his Octagon career, winning all three of his fights, bringing his consecutive win total to six dating back to 2016. The challenges will only get tough for the Chinese prospect after outlasting Vince Morales, so facing off against long-time veteran Frankie Saenz, who he was supposed to face in China anyway before he was forced out with an injury, seems like the logical match up.
Winner: Li Jingliang
Who He Should Face Next: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
“The Leech” scored his second straight third round knockout victory with a spectacular finish over UFC newcomer David Zawada, giving him back-to-back wins for the first time since 2017. He was set to face Elizeu in Beijing with a small tear in his knee. If his recuperation time lines up with Li’s desired return date, re-booking this fight makes a lot of sense. If not, then perhaps a fight against Curtis Millender — who has won both fights inside the Octagon — would be a good pairing.
