Matchmaker Monday following UFC Vegas 48
UFC Vegas 48 resulted in the UFC light heavyweight division getting a new rising contender.
In the main event, Jamahal Hill brutally knocked out Johnny Walker in the opening round and with the win he should crack the top 10 in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings.
Now that the event is over, let’s find out what’s next for the two men involved in the main event of UFC Vegas 48.
Jamahal Hill
Next: Dominick Reyes
Hill is coming off a win over a guy who was once on the rise and now has suffered a ton of losses in short period of time as Hill’s victory gives Walker losses in four of his past five fights.
Now that he’s going to be in the top 10 and he’s 4-1, 1NC, Hill is going to get a matchup pretty similar to what he just went through as a matchup with Reyes makes sense.
Reyes is ranked higher than Hill, but is coming off three straight losses. Given the spots they’re in, booking these too just seems right. A former title challenger in need of a win taking on a hungry rising contender in a battle of top 10 fighters.
Another fighter who is in a similar boat as Reyes is Volkan Oezdemir so look for Oezdemir to be a wildcard here.
Johnny Walker
Next: Ion Cutelaba
Walker is in a tough spot and needs a win.
Since he has a pretty good following from his early success, he is very likely to fight someone still ranked, but since he has been losing, he’ll need to fight someone ranked behind him.
There’s not many options left since he’ll fall outside the top 10. Since he already has a win over Ryan Spann and since Jimmy Crute is out with an injury, look for a Walker and Cutelaba matchup.
If the UFC decides to go with Walker fighting someone who isn’t ranked, look for Devin Clark as wild card here.
