The Riyadh Season Noche UFC card just went down in Las Vegas, Nevada, at The Sphere. So how did it go and who is next for every winner on that card?
Raul Rosas Jr.
After a convincing, yet underwhelming, win at The Sphere for the youngest fighter in UFC history, it is apparent that if you have the best interest in mind for Raul, you can’t let him get a big bump up in competition next. In the second round, in which Rosas wasn’t able to get Aoriqileng down, the exchanges were not just close, but The Chinese had an edge in most of them.
Next step: Cody Stamann
A matchup against unstable, but very experienced Cody Stamann would surely lead to Rosas improving and learning. Cody is also a wrestler, so stylistically such announcement would make sense for the Mexican grappler. As much as Raul wants to retire by the age of 25, rushing him into a fight with a top 20, or even a top 15 opponent would be anticlimactic and just not smart from the promoter’s perspective.
Joshua Van
Van walked into the octagon on short notice that night, with the intention of bringing his momentum back after a brutal loss to Charles Johnson. Joshua was incredibly close to getting it done at the beginning of the wild second round, but the short notice cardio is only there for so long. The fight was taken to the scorecards, where the judges were unanimous to give the fight to Van.
Next step: Alessandro Costa
Matching Joshua up against Alessandro Costa, who was recently set to face Matt Schnell, would surely bring us a thrilling one. You can say both of them are prospects, so it isn’t very wise to let Costa and Van face each other at this point in their careers. But I say that I’m an MMA fan, which means I want to see competitive and exiting matchups at any level of this sport, and Van vs. Costa does it for me.
Ketlen Souza
After her spectacular outing and, surprisingly, the first finish of the night, in my opinion Souza deserves a top 15 opponent in the women’s strawweight division. She didn’t crack under the bright lights of the historic card, dropped, and then submitted a huge favorite on the night in Yasmin Jauregui in a jaw-dropping quick manner.
Next step: the loser of Lucindo vs. Rodriguez
Looking at the bottom half of the women’s strawweight top 15, most of the fighters there are booked. I think, it would make sense to book Ketlen Souza against whoever losses on UFC 307 between no. 14 Iasmin Lucindo and no. 6 Marina Rodriguez.
Ignacio Bahamondes
Ignacio Bahamondes gets it done in the very first round! Dropping Torres multiple times before the stoppage, Ignacio showed a significant improvement when it comes to his boxing and absolutely got the crowd going. In the in-cage interview, Bahamondes stated that he is ready to fight “whoever” in the stacked 155-pound weight class.
Next step: King Green
The thought of seeing the striking exchanges in a potential Bahamondes vs. Green showdown just doesn’t leave my mind. Both competitors are on an incredibly high level in terms of standup, both in their own way. Green is coming off a crushing defeat by submission to Paddy Pimblett on UFC 304. But people don’t seem to give him enough credit for his activity at 38 years of age and even his results, as The American is 3-2 in his last five. Bahamondes is more than deserving of such a known opposer after a near perfect performance tonight.
Norma Dumont
Norma Dumont just dominated a former title challenger in Irene Aldana, bloodied her, and took her spot in the top 5 of the women’s bantamweight class. Dumont was almost as flawless as it gets in a fight that goes full distance. The only thing Irene accomplished in that outing is showing her will in a real Mexican manner.
Next step: rematch Macy Chiasson
Although Dumont vs. Chiasson turned out to be pretty lackluster in terms of entertainment back in 2022, with Macy winning on the scorecards, both have obviously progressed since. Norma went on a five-fight winning streak, and Chiasson found her way at the elite level with two back-to-back Performance of the Night bonuses. So while the champ Pennington fights a loudmouth contender in Juliana Peña, and decorated judoka Harrison tries to find her way against Ketlen Vieira, there are not many other options for Norma.
Ronaldo Rodriguez
Every Mexican heart sank in that first round, when Ode Osborne knocked down “Lazy Boy” and went for the full-blown knockout. Rodriguez bit down on the mouthpiece, came back into the fight, and ultimately got the decision victory. As controversial as this judge’s choice was, Rodriguez’s hand was up in the air at the end of the day.
Next step: Nate Maness
Ronaldo and Nate are both riding a two-fight UFC winning streak, and both are pretty close to flyweight rankings. This will decide which one of them will go on to fight Elliott, Durden, or perhaps even Schnell.
Esteban Ribovics
In what started as a technical striking battle between Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber, we witnessed one of the craziest rounds of all time in the third segment of the fight. Rocking Zellhuber, putting on a Nick-Diaz-like avalanche of follow-up punches, and then slugging it out with no thought of backing up until the bell rang, the Argentinian unexpectedly became one of the brightest stars of UFC Noche.
Next step: Jalin Turner
As much hate as Jalin Turner started to get after his decision to not finish Renato Moicano at UFC 300, and instead get finished himself, we still have to remember that this man is never in a boring fight. Every single one of his victories came inside the distance, including his annihilation of King Green in December of last year. Ribovics, in my opinion, should be given this opportunity to break the top 15 at lightweight, fighting a guy with as much of a crazy style as himself after putting on this kind of performance.
Diego Lopes
Diego Lopes proved to be the better man tonight, coming close to finishing Ortega on multiple occasions. Lopes destroyed Brian in striking, controlled the action in grappling, and showed an improved gas tank. He also was in the corner of Alexa Grasso right after winning. What a guy!
Next step: title shot
Dana White commented that Lopes was more aggressive than usual in his already traditional dialogue with the UFC CEO after the win, demanding “his” title shot. White stated that “[Lopes] was all fired up tonight” and that they are ready to make him a back-up fighter for the Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway fight for the title. Seems like Diego Lopes is the fighter that loved by the fans, the promotion, and generally every person around him.
Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina Shevchenko just made a now former champion look easy, bringing a number of Mexican UFC champions back to zero. The performance was great skill-wise, as Valentina proceeded to shut her younger counterpart down in every aspect of MMA. Yes, it wasn’t the most action-packed fight, especially comparing to some of the bangers on that same night. But hey, it is primarily about skill after all, right..?
Next step: defend against Manon Fiorot
Manon Fiorot is on a seven-fight win streak in the best organization in the world. A slick french striker, who won a title elimination bout in March of this year against Erin Blanchfield, is itching to get her opportunity to win the belt. It is not apparent for how much longer will 36-year-old Shevchenko be around, but tonight she didn’t show any signs of wanting to retire.
Merab Dvalishvili
Demolition job!
This is the way to describe what happened in the main event of UFC 306. Merab Dvalishvili broke O’malley’s will throughout all five rounds. And while “Suga” had his moments, it was clear who is going to walk out of the cage with the belt around his waist and papakha on his head.
Next step: defend against Umar Nurmagomedov
Yes, I think Umar deserves a title shot with only one ranked win. And that is because I just can’t see how anyone who beats streaking Cory Sandhagen can be left without it. The question if he deserved that fight in the first place (no) is irrelevant today. The matchup between Merab and Umar is thrilling, since you can be sure that the winner of that will be a dominant force in the UFC 135-pound division.
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