winners

The dust has finally settled after UFC 229 where a post-fight brawl overshadowed what was a memorable fight card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The moment that fans had been waiting for finally arrived as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were locked in the Octagon together. The Russian dominated from the offset and even won the striking exchanges with the Irishman – who looked a shade of his former self. After brutal rounds of punishment, McGregor eventually tapped in the fourth round. The events that followed was truly horrible for the sport of mixed-martial-arts. A visibly emotional Khabib jumped the cage to attack McGregor’s training partner, Dillon Danis, and a brawl ensued at cageside. To make matters worse, various members of Team Khabib stormed the cage and attacked McGregor from behind. In a night that was supposed to create history, the carnage grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Nevertheless, here are my matches to make for the winners and losers of the main card action… Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Conor McGregor via fourth-round submission Nurmagomedov retained the UFC lightweight title and extended his perfect record to 27-0. His actions after the fight may have further repercussions with the Nevada State Athletic Commission rescinding his pay cheque. Dana White also refused to confirm whether he would be stripped of the belt. Away from the madness, the Russian looked exceptional yet again, and a win over the UFC’s biggest star further enhances his reputation. Speculation of a rematch has already begun but Khabib looked a different level to McGregor and a second fight would more than likely end in the same result. Therefore, the only fight to make is the long-awaited scrap with Tony Ferguson. The pair have been scheduled to fight on five occasions, most recently at UFC 223, but the bout has never came to fruition. Both fighters are riding exceptional win streaks, and the history between the two only serves to make the fight bigger. On the other hand, McGregor’s next move remains unknown. ‘The Notorious’ looked nothing like the man who dissected Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 – perhaps the two-year hiatus from the cage played a more significant factor than anyone expected. Not regaining the belt leaves the options for his next fight wide open. The matchup that makes the most sense is another rematch with Nate Diaz who will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 230. The current score is 1-1, and McGregor has always insisted the trilogy will be complete. The third fight at lightweight makes perfect sense for both men and the UFC. MATCHES TO MAKE: Khabib vs Ferguson | McGregor vs Diaz 3 Tony Ferguson def. Anthony Pettis via second-round TKO In the co-main event of the evening, Tony Ferguson defeated Anthony Pettis in an instant classic. On his return from injury, ‘El Cucuy’ looked phenomenal with ‘Showtime’ unable to cope with his relentless pressure. Both men threw caution to the wind and wore a crimson mask throughout a wild second round. With Pettis claiming to have broken his hand, the fight was waved off before the third round commenced. The win over the former champion is huge for Ferguson who previously held the interim lightweight belt. He cemented his position as the number one contender at 155lbs and must get the next shot at Khabib despite the fight falling through on multiple occasions. Ferguson-Nurmagomedov is a fight that needs to happen. Despite the loss, Pettis’ stock remains pretty much intact. He failed to deal with Ferguson’s pressure but did land some clean shots throughout. He bit down on his mouthpiece after he was cut badly and no doubt delighted the fans with his showing. A fight against James Vick could be next for the former champion – Vick was knocked out by Justin Gaethje in his last fight. MATCHES TO MAKE: Ferguson vs Khabib | Pettis vs Vick Derrick Lewis def. Alexander Volkov via third-round KO Against all the odds, Derrick Lewis was victorious over Alexander Volkov to stake his claim for a title shot at heavyweight. Lewis’ cardio looked a problem once again with Volkov stalking his opponent and landing at will. Lewis’ corner demanded a finish in the final round and ‘The Black Beast’ delivered with just a minute remaining; landing a huge shot to send his opponent to sleep. The heavyweight title picture remains unclear with Brock Lesnar set to face Daniel Cormier for the strap in the New Year. Lewis himself admitted he was not ready to fight for the belt and will no doubt work on his cardio issues. A fight with ex-champion Stipe Miocic makes sense. Miocic hasn’t fought since losing the belt at UFC 220 and is unlikely to be granted an immediate rematch. A fight with Lewis would be a dream scrap for fans with title aspirations for the victor. Defeat for Volkov was his first in the UFC, and the Russian will be bitterly disappointed after dominating the majority of the fight. If he had survived just one more minute, he would have cruised to a decision victory. The loss could prove costly with a host of fighters likely to leapfrog him in the rankings. With Francis Ngannou meeting Curtis Blaydes later in the year, booking Volkov against the loser seems like a sensible decision. MATCHES TO MAKE: Lewis vs Miocic | Volkov vs Ngannou/Blades loser Dominick Reyes def. Ovince St. Preux via unanimous decision Dominick Reyes extended his unbeaten record in MMA with a dominant decision victory over former title challenger Ovince St. Preux. ‘The Dominator’ looked fantastic yet again and sliced his opponent up with excellent kickboxing as well as brilliant work in the clinch. A late strike dropped St. Preux, but the bell saved him. A win for Reyes moves him from prospect to contender in the 205lb division. This was his biggest test to date, and he passed with flying colours. He is now 10-0 in his professional career and 4-0 in the UFC; he could

It’s been a difficult week for Las Vegas following the recent tragedies, but UFC 216 provided fans with a welcome relief from the pain on Saturday evening. The Ultimate Fighting Championship paid its respects to the victims and emergency services superbly on the night, and the fighters delivered an exciting fight card for the spectators – four of the five main card fights ending in stoppage. We step into the shoes of UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to pick out some potential matches to make for the winners and losers from the evening’s action… Tony Ferguson def. Kevin Lee via submission http://gty.im/858856456 Tony Ferguson became the interim UFC lightweight champion of the world by defeating Kevin Lee via triangle in the third round of the main event. The current champion, Conor McGregor, has not defended his belt since dethroning Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 – hence why the interim belt was put on the line. Despite Ferguson now holding lightweight gold, a unification bout with McGregor may not be the next move. The Irishman, who recently lost his boxing debut to Floyd Mayweather, has plenty of other options on the table – options that may be more enticing than a fight with Ferguson. A trilogy fight with Nate Diaz would be the biggest draw given McGregor’s history with the Stockton native with the score tied at 1-1, the lightweight belt would add even more weight to the bout. UFC president, Dana White, said in the build-up to the Mayweather fight that McGregor was chasing a bout with Khabib Nurmagemedov, but doubt surrounds the Russian’s future at 155lbs following his pull-out at UFC 209. Regardless of what the UFC or McGregor wants, his next opponent should be Ferguson. The win at UFC 216 makes ‘El Cucuy’ the true number one contender in the lightweight division, stretching his consecutive win streak to ten and means a meeting with McGregor is inevitable. For Lee, a fight against the loser of Eddie Alvarez vs Justin Gaethje would be a smart move and give both men the opportunity to stake their claim to stay in title contention. The ‘Motown Phenom’ endured a severe weight cut, not helped by the revelation of staph infection, in the build-up to the bout with Ferguson. A win against either Alvarez or Gaethje would keep him at the top of the lightweight rankings. MATCHES TO MAKE: Ferguson vs McGregor/Lee vs Alvarez-Gaethje loser Demetrious Johnson def. Ray Borg via submission http://gty.im/858846488 Demetrious Johnson made history on Saturday night when he defeated Ray Borg to break Anderson Silva’s title defence record sensationally. It was his 11th title defence since becoming the inaugural flyweight champion. Johnson was initially slated to face Borg at UFC 215 before his opponent pulled out due to a virus. Nevertheless, ‘Mighty Mouse’ continued his dominance in the flyweight division with a ‘Submission of the Year’ contender and remains the only champion the UFC’s 125lb has ever had. His next move remains uncertain after cleaning out the majority of the flyweight division. The natural step would be a jump to 135lbs where he would be at a size disadvantage but has more challengers of his calibre. However, Johnson has maintained his stay at flyweight may not be over anytime soon with the possibility of a bout with Sergio Pettis and a rematch with Henry Cejudo being mooted. Personally, I believe Johnson should move up and fight the winner of Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title. It would be a ‘Mighty Mouse’ fight that fans could get behind and would make him both the most money and cement his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound best the company has ever seen. Borg’s credibility remains mostly intact despite the loss as no-one has been able to compete with the flyweight king. At just 24-years-old, his best years are still to come, and he wore his heart on his sleeve against Johnson. His next fight could be against Wilson Reis – who is coming off losses to Johnson and most recently Cejudo. The Brazilian needs a win to stay in the mix at 125 and Borg’s stock would continue to rise should he pick up a victory. MATCHES TO MAKE: Johnson vs Garbrant or Dillashaw/Borg vs Reis Fabricio Werdum def. Walt Harris via submission http://gty.im/858840530 Fabricio Werdum was expected to fight Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight barnburner, but an injury to the ‘Black Beast’ forced him out of the bout on the day of the fight. Instead of the bout being cancelled, Lewis was replaced with Walt Harris who was expected to fight Mark Godbeer on the undercard. Despite having little preparation for his new opponent, the fight was a complete mismatch with Werdum submitting Harris via armbar just 65 seconds into the contest. The Brazilian is 2-1 after losing his title to Stipe Miocic, and the former heavyweight champion called out the Cleveland native following his win. His loss to Alistair Overeem is still fresh on the mind, and his victory over Harris does little to add to his hopes of a title shot given the strength of opponent. Werdum remains at least one win away from another crack at Miocic meaning his next opponent could be Alexander Volkov – who recently knocked out Stefan Struve at UFC Rotterdam. Volkov has climbed the heavyweight rankings, riding a five-win streak and with most other top heavyweights booked, he could be the perfect opponent for Werdum. A win over Volkov would keep Werdum in the heavyweight title picture and boost his hopes of a title shot. On the other hand, Harris’ stock is not hurt by his loss to Werdum given his opponents experience and Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise. If anything, he should be applauded for taking such a dangerous fight on extremely short notice. The logical move will be to simply reschedule his bout with Godbeer if the Brit is willing to retake the fight after the cancellation. Harris took little damage during the round and would likely be