Matches to Make After UFC on ESPN 41

Marlon Vera’s status as a bantamweight title contender is no longer a question of if, but of when.

In the main event of UFC on ESPN 41 on Saturday, “Chito” faced former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Dominick Cruz, in Cruz’s longtime adoptive hometown of San Diego. Under the brightest lights of his professional career thus far, Vera did not wilt, overcoming a fast start by Cruz to catch the famously elusive “Dominator” with increasing frequency as the fight wore on.

Even if the momentum had swung in Vera’s favor by the middle of the fourth round, however, the end was a shock, as Vera caught Cruz with a perfectly placed left head kick that smashed his nose and left him face first on the canvas. A few follow-up punches were all it took to close out Vera’s biggest win. While there is a certain amount of traffic between the 29-year-old Ecuadorian and a shot at the belt, he should definitely be a very interested observer of the Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw title fight as well as the Petr Yan-Sean O'Malley and Jose Aldo-Merab Dvalishvili contender matches scheduled in the next couple of months. Conversely, should any of those gentlemen be forced to withdraw from their obligations, Vera now is probably the first person on Sean Shelby or Mick Maynard’s speed dial.

In the wake of “UFC San Diego,” here are some matchups that ought to be made for Vera and the other main card winners:

Marlon Vera vs. Petr Yan…probably

Yes, Yan already has a fight booked, but it’s a complex situation. Hear me out: Vera has now won four straight fights and 10 of his last 11 at bantamweight, a strong case for a title shot. However, next weekend at UFC 278, Aldo and Dvalishvili square off. The winner of that fight will either be Aldo, an ex-champ from another division with a limited window of time in which to build on his already legendary résumé—and a head-to-head win over Vera—or Dvalishvili, the owner of the longest win streak in the division. Sterling is set to defend against Dillashaw at UFC 280 on Oct. 22, with Yan and O’Malley to meet on the main card.

If Sterling and Yan both win, the UFC could book a trilogy fight between them, but more likely the Aldo-Dvalishvili winner gets the next shot, even if Dvalishvili and Sterling’s status as longtime teammates complicates things. That would leave Yan vs. Vera as a perfect next matchup for both men. If O’Malley wins, he is likely to get the next title shot. He claims the UFC has told him as much, and it’s hard to picture Sterling or Dillashaw objecting to the closest thing the post-Conor McGregor UFC has to “red panty night.” In that case, Yan-Vera is still a solid matchup, either propelling Vera into undeniable next-man-up status, or helping Yan force the UFC’s hand into letting him get a third shot at Sterling. (If Dillashaw beats Sterling, your guess is as good as mine.)

Nate Landwehr vs. Jonathan Pearce

“The Train” was the little engine that could on Saturday, withstanding a first-round scare from David Onama and coming back to thrash his heavily favored opponent in the second round on his way to a majority decision win. It wasn’t a perfect performance—Landwehr’s questionable decision to showboat in the third round let a completely gassed Onama get off enough offense to sway one judge—but it was a scrappy one, it netted him a “Fight of the Night” bonus and it finally got him above .500 in the Octagon. In the ultra-deep UFC featherweight division, he’s still several wins away from being in any kind of rankings discussion, but he’s definitely on the rise and has earned the kind of matchup that can get him there. “JSP,” who pounded out Makwan Amirkhani in London three weeks ago, has now won four straight in the UFC since his embarrassing debut loss to Joe Lauzon. Pearce and Landwehr are both promising grinders who have proven vulnerable to opponents’ quick-strike offense. Book them against one another and let one man rise another rung towards the Top 15.

Yazmin Jauregui vs. Angela Hill

In a battle between two of the youngest fighters in the UFC, Jauregui won a unanimous decision over fellow debutante Iasmin Lucindo after three fairly wild rounds. Both women have plenty of apparent upside, but Jauregui’s taller frame, longer reach and fast hands were particularly impressive. Still just 9-0 as a professional, what the 23-year-old Mexican needs next is any unranked strawweight coming off a win, preferably one well-rounded enough to test multiple elements of her game. Hill, who upset Lupita Godinez in the top prelim, is the call.

While at first blush it might seem odd to pit the very green Jauregui against Hill, one of the most experienced fighters in the division, it is worth noting that Hill came into the Godinez fight having lost three straight fights and five of her last six, and was almost certainly fighting for her job on Saturday. Part of the problem during Hill’s recent run has been brutal matchmaking; every time she wins, the UFC throws her right back in with Top 10 opponents. Rather than do so yet again, let the game and entertaining “Overkill” test another prospect in Jauregui.

Azamat Murzakanov vs. Ion Cutelaba-Johnny Walker winner

Is there a less heralded undefeated fighter in the UFC than “The Professional?” All the 12-0 Murzakanov has done since coming to the UFC from Brave CF through Dana White's Contender Series is knock out a pair of credible light heavyweights in fellow Contender Series alum Tafon Nchukwi and Devin Clark, whom he dispatched on Saturday with one of the nastiest body punches you’re likely to see this year.

It’s understandable why Murzakanov has flown under the radar; as a balding 35-year old built like a middleweight journeyman, he is the polar opposite of 2009 Jon Jones in terms of the prospect eyeball test. However, Murzakanov’s hand speed, accuracy and power are beyond debate, and considering his age and the depleted state of the UFC light heavyweight division, it’s time for a major step up. Cutelaba and Walker meet next month at UFC 279, and the winner will be a Top 15 fighter who isn’t in the immediate title discussion—in other words, the perfect next matchup for Murzakanov. Both are younger and larger (much, much larger, in the case of Walker) but with the same tendency towards wildness and defensive lapses that Murzakanov has exploited ruthlessly in his two UFC wins so far.

Priscila Cachoeira vs. Miranda Maverick-Shanna Young winner

Speaking of unheralded, Cachoeira’s gradual evolution from promotional roadkill to fringe contender has been something to behold. Upon joining the UFC four years ago in the most daunting circumstances imaginable—sacrificial lamb for Valentina Shevchenko’s flyweight debut—Cachoeira absorbed one of the worst beatdowns of 2018, then lost her next two as well. She might well have been cut at that point, but the UFC kept her on, and “Zombie Girl” has rewarded the promotion’s faith by winning four of her last five fights. That the most recent of those wins came against Ariane Lipski, who was once the most highly touted flyweight to join the UFC since Shevchenko, adds a nice touch of irony. Like Lipski, the other women Cachoeira has beaten during this run are either out of the UFC or on their way out, but Cachoeira has more than proven she belongs. (Competitively, that is; I still think she should have been fired or at the very least suspended for a year or more for her flagrant eye gouging against Gillian Robertson.) Maverick and Young meet next week at UFC 278, and the winner should be Cachoeira’s next opponent. Maverick, while certainly not a bust on the level of Lipski, has had her share of struggles since joining the UFC as a blue-chip prospect from Invicta FC, while the “Shanimal” is closer to Cachoeira herself: a woman who joined the UFC to little fanfare, but who has shown surprising staying power.

Gerald Meerschaert vs. Andre Petroski

It isn’t particularly shocking that Meerschaert defeated Bruno Silva in UFC San Diego’ main card opener. Anyone who had seen a few of Meerschaert’s fights knew that he was a live underdog against the Brazilian knockout machine, and if you were picking him to beat Silva, you were just as well off taking the prop for “wins by submission in Round 3,” which is exactly what happened. What was surprising is that Meerschaert’s win was not his usual Paul Craig or Darren Elkins-style comeback win, where he snagged a late tapout against a fighter who had been beating him. Instead, Meerschaert appeared to be the bigger, faster and far better conditioned fighter, and won most of the striking exchanges in a lopsided beating. Indeed, the guillotine choke that ended things could just as easily have been a TKO if not for Meerschaert’s choice to halt his ground-and-pound in favor of continuing his assault on the UFC’s all-time record for wins by submission.

After the win, Meerschaert called out Petroski, who choked out Nick Maximov in May to go 3-0 since joining the UFC out of Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He would be yet another opponent with greater apparent athleticism than “GM3,” and Petroski has a college wrestling pedigree and the ridiculous unbeaten streak of team Renzo Gracie Philly on his side as well. It’s a ballsy callout, and there’s nothing we like better than when the fighters help with the matchmaking.