Namajunas vs Ribas
"Thug Rose" is back this weekend in the UFC Apex against the 8th ranked 135-pound woman in the world, Amanda Ribas. Another week in Vegas should give us plenty of fun and exciting fights to watch in the 5th fight night of the year. Namajunas vs Ribas and much more is set to start at 8pm and will look to get the two-time strawweight champion back to her winning ways.
Main Event
Rose Namajunas is only 31 years old but has had quite the career already. She has beaten legends of the strawweight division in Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedzercyche to become a two-time UFC champion, but recently moved up to 125 lb. to take on a new challenge. In her first fight at flyweight, she lost to Manon Fiorot in a decision loss that gave her plenty of experience against a championship level fighter. Namajunas has said she plans to go back to her old training ways and will try to conquer a new challenge in the Ju jitsu specialist and 8th ranked flyweight, Amanda Ribas.
Ribas has had a very up and down UFC career as of recently hasn't seen a lot of movement in her rank. She has alternated between wins and losses in every fight since 2020 but will look to end that streak by starting a winning streak against the former champion. Ribas has plenty of submission skills but will need to look for striking and wrestling advantages if she wants to beat Namajunas, who is clearly better at those two aspects. The fight is fairly close in odds and there isn't a clear favorite in this due to Namajunas coming off two straight losses and never winning at 125 lbs.
Other Fights
Karl Williams vs Justin Tafa- Karl Williams has not fought since May of last year but will look to build a 3 fight UFC win streak that could get him ranked in no time. His opponent is Justin Tafa who has proven to have plenty of KO power but will need to show improvements in his wrestling if he wants to beat the experienced grappler in Williams. This fight seems pretty obvious that the winner will be whoever can utilize their specific strengths to the best, Williams on the ground or Tafa on the feet. There is no tell as to what we should expect as both of these heavyweights have provided plenty of exciting fights in their careers.
Payton Talbot vs Cameron Saiiman- 7-0 Payton Talbot will put his undefeated record on the line in an extremely exciting fight between two young stars of the sport. Both Talbot and Saiiman boast good records and love to stand tall and strike with the opponent. This will be a big test and one of the more anticipated fights of each of their short careers. Talbot has looked absolutely dominant so far in two UFC fights but hasn't faced a counter striker like Cameron Saiiman so far.
Who's Next
There isn't a lot in the news right now, but notably we don't have too many upcoming bouts scheduled. After the huge build up for UFC 300, Dana White hasn't kept us in the loop for what's next in the PPV aspect of the organization. In this section I'm going to list who I think should and will be next for each UFC Champion and why.
Tier 1: Obvious Ones
These guys either have a bout scheduled or it's pretty obvious what will be next.
Alexander Pantoja: #10 Steve Erceg (UFC 301 in Rio)
Alex Pereria: #1 Jamahl Hill (UFC 300 in Las Vegas)
Weili Zhang: #1 Xiaonan Yan (UFC 300 in Las Vegas)
Alexa Grasso: #1 Valentina Shevchenko
This one hasn't been announced officially, but it feels basically confirmed as these two are the coaches for TUF 32 (usually the coaches end up fighting after the season). They also are very due for a third fight after an upset win and a draw in their previous two matchups.
Tier 2: These Should Happen
All of these fighters should have pretty obvious title defenses coming up, they just haven't been announced yet and you never really know what could happen.
Ilia Touporia: Should and will fight #1 Alexander Volkanovski
I have a feeling that it would be a similar result to the first fight, but if anyone deserves a rematch after getting KO'd its consensus top 10 all time fighter Volkanovski.
Sean O'Malley: Should and will fight #2 Merab Dvalishivili
Even though Sean wanted Ilia Touporia, it seems like he has come to terms with the reality that the Geogian on a 9-fight win streak has to be the next challenger for Sean. He can't escape this 145 Lb weight class yet.
Raquel Pennington: Should and will fight #1 Juliana Pena
This arguably belongs in the first category, but no one else in this weight class is even close to a title shot besides Pena.
Tier 3: Whatever is Happening at Heavyweight
Jon Jones: should fight IC Tom Aspinall. Will fight Stipe Miocic
This weight class doesn't make sense right now. I understand Jon Jones is the best ever and the UFC will let him do whatever he wants but are they really going to waste a year of Tom Aspinall's prime on Jones to vacate the belt or retire. Stipe is an all-time great, but the UFC should not let that fight happen.
Interim Champion- Tom Aspinall: should fighter Jon Jones. Will fight Curtis Blades in England
This division is just a cluster and it put Aspinall in a terrible spot. Usually, an interim champion doesn't have to defend his belt, but here we go.
Tier 4: Anything Could Happen
Islam Makachev: Should fight Justin Gathje or Leon Edwards (170). Will fight Dustin Porier
Justin Gathje vs Max Holloway is a huge fight and it's going to be awesome at UFC 300, but it really screws up lightweight. Gathje deserves a title shot right now and if he waited another month or two, Islam would be ready to defend his crown. However, that won't be the case as the top 2 fighters in the division (Charles Oliveria) won't be ready either. That leaves only two options, Dustin Porier and Leon Edwards at welterweight. Both are tricky. Porier doesn't deserve the title shot over Oliviera or Gathje, but he will be ready by summer and is coming off a huge KO win. It may be the only realistic option for the UFC because I believe that welterweight has a lot to figure out right now before they let Islam move up in weight.
Leon Edwards: Should fight Islam Makachev, Belal Muhammed, Shavkat Rakhmanov. Will fight Shavkat Rakhmanov
Speaking of welterweight, Leon Edwards has a lot of great fighters ready to take the belt from him. Belal Muhammed is easily number 1 in most deserving, but he's not very exciting and in a class like welterweight that has straight killers, I think Rakhmanov is the best move. Simply put, I think Rakhmanov is the best fighter at welterweight right now and there is no reason to keep making him weight. He finishes everyone and wasting time isn't getting anyone anywhere. Get him the belt and then you can feed him Islam or Belal. Dana has also commented how he thinks Shavkat is ready for a title shot.
Dicus Du Plessis: Should fight Sean Strickland. Will fight Israel Adesanya
I am going to be very upset when Israel Adesanya is gifted another title shot when he clearly doesn't deserve it. He needs to fight a challenger in a number 1 contender match before getting a chance at Du Plessis. I get he was great in his prime but after Strickland rag dolled him for 25 minutes, there's no reason he deserves this. Strickland may have never successfully defended his belt, but I believe he won the fight against Du Plessis and there really isn't anyone deserving of the belt right now. Give everyone what's rightfully deserved in a rematch.
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