Matches to Make After UFC 277

Amanda Nunes entered the cage at UFC 277 with more on the line than just the bantamweight title she lost to Julianna Pena last December.

Ever since Nunes succumbed to a second-round rear-naked choke from Pena in one of the biggest title fight upsets in Ultimate Fighting Championship history at UFC 269 last December, the former two-division champ had endured questions about her commitment to fighting, about her training—particularly the decision to move from her longtime home, American Top Team, to her own gym—and even about her heart. In some ways, it was remarkable how much the aura of the sport’s most dominant fighter was dimmed in less than 10 minutes of cage time.

Thus, going into their rematch on Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Nunes had more to reclaim than a mere strap. Could she win in convincing enough fashion that their first meeting would look like a fluke, or at least not a map of a repeatable path to victory over the “Lioness?” Along those same lines, given the UFC’s penchant for instant title rematches and trilogies in recent years, could Nunes beat Pena badly enough that there was no call for an immediate rubber match?

To be fair, most of the same pressures weighed on Pena, only in reverse; the onus was on “The Venezuelan Vixen” to prove that her upset for the ages last December wasn’t an aberration, and that she was 2021’s Chris Weidman rather than Matt Serra. However, once the cage door closed, it was the Brazilian’s narrative that played out, as she battered Pena for five rounds in a thoroughly dominant showing. At least one 10-8 round in the middle frames gave way to Nunes appearing almost to coast by the championship rounds, but none of the official judges awarded Pena a single round, and rightly so.

The question remains now of whether the UFC will book the two for a third fight, or send them their separate ways and let the trilogy happen if it makes sense down the road. In the wake of UFC 277, here are matches that ought to be made for Nunes and the other main card winners:

Amanda Nunes vs. Ketlen Vieira

One of the more low-key prizes Nunes may have won in Saturday’s main event is the right to not end her career on a string of rematches. (Think of Daniel Cormier and, if things keep going at the rate they are, Stipe Miocic.) Nunes’ victory over Pena was one-sided enough that if the two were to fight 10 times, I have the feeling that most of the fights would look more like UFC 277 than UFC 269. That’s good enough to earn a fresh face, and the most deserving of the available fresh faces at bantamweight is Vieira. “Fenomeno” took a hard-fought split decision over Holly Holm in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 206 in May, her second straight win since losing to Yana Kunitskaya last February. Two straight wins may not seem like much to write home about, but it’s worth noting that the first of those was over Miesha Tate, who absolutely would have gotten a title shot if she had beaten Vieira, so it only seems fair.

Do you need someone to sell you on the Vieira title shot? I almost feel I need it, even though I’m the one writing this column. Here goes: Vieira is just 30 years old, still improving and is 7-2 in the UFC, with both losses coming against Top 10 fighters. She presents physical matchup problems as perhaps the biggest fighter in the division, yet seems to have gotten her weight cut dialed in and she went five full rounds in each of her last two fights. If Nunes’ gas tank issues in the first Pena fight are still a concern, or her inability to adjust when she couldn’t just bully her opponent, Vieira is another fighter who could test her there.

Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo 4

This one appears to be a done deal. With Moreno’s third-round finish of Kai Kara France in the co-main event of UFC 277, the former flyweight champ picked up an interim belt and a golden ticket to an unprecedented fourth title fight with Figueiredo, a reality confirmed by their charmingly respectful and conciliatory in-cage face-off after Moreno’s win. While on one hand it’s painful to see one of the UFC’s most dynamic divisions subjected to a further logjam, with deserving contenders like Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau now probably waiting their turn well into next year, it’s hard to complain too much about another sure-fire banger between two of the best fighters in the world, in their prime.

Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes

In the biggest fight of his career, Pavlovich stepped up and delivered on Saturday, scoring a 55-second knockout of perennial top contender Derrick Lewis. Controversy will likely swirl over whether referee Dan Miragliotta’s intervention was premature, especially in light of Lewis immediately jumping to his feet to protest, but at the very least, Pavlovich at the time of the stoppage was absolutely putting it on one of the biggest hitters and most historically durable fighters in the division. It also means that after stumbling out of the gate in his UFC debut against Alistair Overeem almost four years ago, the 30-year-old Russian has won four straight fights via first-round TKO. Those wins have come over a gradually rising slate of opposition, ranging from marginal talents in Marcelo Golm and Maurice Greene, to aging former contender Shamil Abdurakhimov, and now to a fighter in Lewis who, even if he appears to be slipping, is an undeniable Top 10 heavyweight.

In hindsight, the Overeem loss feels almost like a blessing in disguise; without the undue attention and pressure of a zero in the loss column, Pavlovich has been brought along in a sensible manner. However, the time has come for him to take a step up to a matchup that could realistically vault him into the title picture. In last week’s edition of this column, I called for Blaydes to take on Ciryl Gane in his next fight, regardless of whether Gane defeats Tai Tuivasa on Sept. 3 or not. However, that was based in part on wanting to avoid a Lewis-Blaydes or Lewis-Gane rematch. With Pavlovich triumphant, pitting him against Blaydes makes more sense. The winner—without freak injury or other controversy, knock on wood—would be well positioned to fight for the belt in his next outing.

Alexandre Pantoja vs. Deiveson Figueiredo-Brandon Moreno winner

“The Cannibal” feasted once again at UFC 277, getting the best of a wild 90 seconds against Alex Perez before eliciting the tap with a crushing neck crank. The win is Pantoja’s third straight and brings his record to 6-2 over the last three years, with the only setbacks coming against Figueiredo, and a razor-close decision loss to Askar Askarov. Just outside that three-year window lies Pantoja’s unanimous decision win over Moreno. Despite Pantoja having history with both halves of the upcoming Figueiredo-Moreno tetralogy, there should be plenty of interest; the Pantoja-Moreno fight was over three years ago and Moreno has clearly improved since then, while Figueiredo-Pantoja was two years ago, and Pantoja has probably improved. It’s time for the man to get his shot, not least because he has already fought almost everyone in the flyweight Top 10. The UFC could match him up with someone like Matheus Nicolau, who is on an impressive run of his own, but why saddle one of its top contenders with a loss when it can use both? Pantoja gets the Figueiredo-Moreno 4 winner, and Nicolau can rack up one more Top 10-15 win while he waits.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Jiri Prochazka

In the main card opener, Ankalaev stretched his UFC winning streak to a divisional-best nine straight at the expense of former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith. Better yet, he showed off some of the aggression and killer instinct that had gone missing in his last few performances, as a somewhat tepid fight became a savage beating after Smith pulled guard early in the second round. Ankalaev avoided any submission danger, held onto top position and punished Smith with ground-and-pound until referee Jacob Montalvo halted the beating at 3 minutes, 9 seconds. Ankalaev is now 9-1 in the Octagon, and with the exception of his infamous buzzer-beater submission loss to Paul Craig in his debut, he has won pretty much every minute of every fight. Much like Pavlovich, Ankalaev’s early loss helped tamp down what could have become a runaway hype train, but at this point the pendulum has swung the other way and the man is overdue. Still just barely 30, Ankalaev has the look of a fighter who, once he gets his hands on UFC gold, might hold on to it for a good long while.