Derrick Lewis finishes Aleskei Oleinik in the main event of UFC Vegas 6.
Matchmaker Monday following UFC Vegas 6
UFC Vegas 6 was a big night for two fighters in particular.
One of those fighters was Derrick Lewis, who defeated Aleksei Oleinik in the main event and now has inserted himself back into title contention.
The other big winner from the event was Chris Weidman. The former middleweight champion is back in the win column and he believes that he is primed to make another run towards the belt.
Now let’s find out what’s next for these fighters on this Matchmaker Monday.
Derrick Lewis
Result: defeated Aleksei Oleinik by second-round TKO at UFC Vegas 6.
Next: Curtis Blyades
The Black Beast was impressive on Saturday. Forget about the TKO for a second, and just look at the first-round. Oleinik had a chances on the ground, but Lewis showed that he’s getting comfortable being on his back and that shows that he’s been putting in the work in the gym.
As for what’s next this is an easy one. Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will complete their trilogy this weekend at UFC 252. Regardless of the outcome the next heavyweight championship fight after that will be Miocic and Francis Ngannou. It’s just a matter of will Miocic being defending his title or fighting for a vacant one.
That leave Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis fighting in a title elimination fight. Lewis actually has a lot going for him too in the fact that he’s never faced Blaydes or Miocic and that he has a win over Ngannou.
Aleksei Oleinik
Result: lost to Derrick Lewis by second-round TKO at UFC Vegas 6
Next: Alexander Volkov
Oleinik was in a position to make a splash in the heavyweight division. Now the MMA veteran will need to start over in order to try and get himself into that type of position.
As for what’s next there’s plenty of options out there for him. I like a matchup with Volkov given that the two are both coming off losses and are both in a similar boat where they need to recreate their road map to the top.
One thing that might prevent this match up would be that both men are from Russia. Outside of America, fellow countrymen tend not to fight one another more often than not.
Chris Weidman
Result: defeated Omari Akhmedov by unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 6
Next: Luke Rockhold
It’s been three years since we last saw Weidman get a win, but now here we are and when you look at his record he’s actually 2-1 in his past 3 middleweight fights.
Weidman thinks he’ll be champ again one day, but there’s a lot of people doubting that and Weidman wants to prove people wrong. Before getting into a position to do that though, he’s going to have to start being better competition.
Right now the middleweight division is in a bit of a log jam. There’s some key fights coming up and you still have Jack Hermansson and Derrick Brunson who both are deserving of a big time matchup.
With that being said, that leaves Weidman sitting there. Yes, Weidman is a draw, but I don’t think any of the top their guys are eyeing that fight right this second and Weidman is unlikely to fight anyone lower than him.
So in the meantime, let’s revisit the one-time rivalry of Weidman and Luke Rockhold. We all know the back story. It definitely sells. The winner would have some serious momentum behind them. Not to mention both fighters are at similar spots in their careers as they’ve both had so tough outings as of late. I feel like this is the perfect time to revisit this fight.
