Matchmaker Monday following UFC 270
UFC 270 was the UFC’s first pay per view event of 2022 and what great way to kick off the new year.
In the main event, Francis Ngannou was able to dig deep and secure takedowns in the final three rounds to retain his heavyweight title by beating Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno put on another great fight and Figueiredo was able to get his flyweight title back and put an end to the trilogy with a unanimous decision win.
Now that the event is over, let’s find out what’s next for the fighters involved the title fights at UFC 270 on this edition on Matchmaker Monday.
Francis Ngannou
Next: Jon Jones
Ngannou and the UFC are having problems and it appears to be a big one.
Following Ngannou’s win, UFC president didn’t put the belt on him and he didn’t come to the post-fight press conference.
Ngannou made it clear that he’s willing that might want out of the company if the two can’t again on things.
One big concern he has is money and if that’s the issue, one way to make more money is to fight in the biggest fight possible and that’s a fight with Jon Jones. If the two decide to square off, it will be a blockbuster event that will result in a lot of pay per views.
All signs are leading towards a Ngannou and Jones fight. It’s all about repairing a rocky relationship at this moment in time. Also, Ngannou appears to be headed for knee surgery so this fight may have to wait a bit.
Ciryl Gane
Next: Curtis Blaydes
Gane will be back. He’s one of the best in the world and if Ngannou does go in a different direction, Gane is in the mix to fight Jon Jones.
As far as for what’s next, a matchup with Blaydes makes sense. Both are ranked fight, both are off to amazing starts in their careers and most importantly they haven’t fought yet.
This division needs fresh matchups and this one is a good one.
If this fight doesn’t happen it’ll be from a timing stand point. Gane literally just fought and he fought a lot over the course of the last few months. If he takes a few months off, he’s deserving of it.
Deiveson Figueiredo
Next: winner of Askar Askarov or Kai Kara-France
The trilogy is closed. A fourth fight would be must-see TV. However, we don’t need to see it right away as the the two just fought three times in a row.
Now it’s time to welcome in a new title challenger and it looks like there’s a contender match on the horizon as Askarov and Kara-France will square off in March. The winner is next in line for the now two-time champion flyweight king.
Brandon Moreno
Next: Alexandre Pantoja
Remember a few years ago when the flyweight division was rumored to come to a close? Thank God that never happened, because this division is fun right now.
Look at the top six. What a bunch of studs and a lot of great matchups to be made here in the future.
One future one that makes sense is Moreno vs. Pantoja. The two are ranked in the top three and haven’t fought yet. The fight will also get the winner extremely close to a flyweight title bout.
