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UFC 297 will not be remembered as the best pay-per-view card of 2024. We have no other PPV shows to stack it up against currently, but it would be an incredibly educated guess to assume that things will get better from here on out. This weekend’s show, a return to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, might have been short on exciting matchups, but it was certainly a newsworthy night for the sport. We have two new champions, we have some rising contenders plus some campaigns crushed by sudden losses. And, as always, we have fights to make.
Join us as we take a look at eight different fighters who competed at UFC 297, looking at where they should go after this weekend. Sure, our matchmaking is purely a guessing game, but we actually get things right sometimes! Last week, our pick for Jim Miller’s UFC 300 fight ended up being right! Let’s get started, we have a lot to cover.
Fights to Make after UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis
Dricus Du Plessis
The UFC middleweight division has a new champion — that’s a phrase you’ve been hearing every few months. After beating Sean Strickland in a close split decision this weekend, Dricus Du Plessis is the fourth fighter to hold the middleweight belt over the past two years. When he attempts to become the first fighter to successfully defend his middleweight belt since Israel Adesanya’s first reign, who should he do it against?
If you ask Du Plessis, the answer is Israel Adesanya. That’s quite honestly not a bad idea. Adesanya had his dominant first reign, his brief time back on top last year, and then dropped the title to Strickland at UFC 293. I’m all for that matchup. But, there’s a catch: Adesanya said last fall that he’s going to be away from MMA for “a long time.”
How long is “a long time?” Depends on who you ask. “A long time” could end next week, or could carry into 2025. Your guess is as good as mine. So, even though I think Adesanya would be a good matchup for Du Plessis, let’s make a backup plan.
I’m going to be honest, there aren’t a whole lot of great options at middleweight right now. Many of the top names are coming off losses or have already received title shots in recent years, making it not as appealing to throw them back into the title picture.
However, there’s one name that I find interesting: Jared Cannonier. Yes, Cannonier did lose to Adesanya in 2022. However, he beat Marvin Vettori in a five-round main event last year, and — in an even more appealing result — he overcame now-former UFC Middleweight Champion Strickland in late 2022.
Cannonier is ranked third at middleweight right now, placing him just below those who fought in Saturday’s main event, Adesanya, and Robert Whittaker (who is coming off his loss to Du Plessis from July). I think this is a decent matchup to make, of course, if Adesanya is truly out of the picture currently.
Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland’s title reign ended up being pretty short. For what it’s worth, his upset over Israel Adesanya from last year was quite the moment. Anyway, what now? I want to keep Strickland near the top of the middleweight division so that we can see if he can make another push toward a title. I want to see how he does against other strong talents in the division.
I’m interested in seeing if he could face the winner of the April 6th UFC headlining fight between Brendan Allen and Marvin Vettori. If Allen wins, Strickland will be trying to snap the momentum of a crafty grappler who has won seven consecutive fights, with at least five via stoppage. If Vettori wins, he’ll face an experienced challenger who has faced nearly every top name in the division at this point.
No matter the result, I believe the winner of that fight would be a good opponent for Strickland. And the winner of the matchup between Strickland and this successful headliner would have a good case for a title shot, possibly.
Raquel Pennington
Raquel Pennington is the first UFC Bantamweight Champion in an era where the titleholder doesn’t have to worry about Amanda Nunes snatching the belt from them. Pennington picked up the title with a not-too-noteworthy five-round performance against Mayra Bueno Silva.
Pennington finally getting a hold of UFC gold is a nice story, considering she took the long road of more than a decade in the promotion to finally attain the belt. It took 18 fights, but she finally reached the top of the mountain.
The promotion seems quite set on giving Julianna Pena the next title shot at bantamweight. Pena briefly held the title by scoring an upset win over Nunes in late 2021, then lost the bout in an incredibly one-sided rematch seven months later. The argument here probably is that, since Nunes is gone, she’s due for another shot at the top. Sure. I mean, the women’s bantamweight division is pretty small, so that can be all it takes.
I can’t say that seeing Pena get another title shot is particularly interesting, especially considering how badly she was beaten by Nunes that second time. But if that’s the best option available, I guess we’ll do that.
Mike Malott
Things were going well for Mike Malott… Until they weren’t. For a large portion of the welterweight main card bout on Saturday night, Malott was performing as well as most expected him to. But a late takedown from Neil Magny and a persistent pace of ground and pound shots from full mount erased the Canadian’s lead and handed him his first-ever UFC loss.
I usually cover winners of lower bouts on a UFC card, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss Malott instead of Magny in this case (sorry Magny, congrats on your win though). Malott received quite the jump up in competition with Magny, considering his previous wins were Adam Fugitt, Yohan Lainesse, and Mickey Gall. Now, in some cases, your reaction would be: “Wow, I guess he bit off more than he could chew.” But honestly, I don’t know how fair that is. Malott had a pretty solid performance against Magny before the finish. He had a well-rounded game plan that included solid work on the feet and the ground. It all got erased in the final few minutes.
I’m not trying to repress the fact that he lost and got finished in this fight. But, I don’t think this loss was a sign for him to get bumped back to the bottom of the 170-pound class. Considering Magny is 13th at welterweight, I want to suggest someone who has hovered around the top 15 in recent years but isn’t in the rankings currently.
I think a name like Daniel Rodriguez would be a decent next challenge for Malott. Rodriguez has 10 UFC fights under his belt. He had a strong run from 2021 to 2022, attaining four consecutive wins, including a victory over Li Jingliang. He’s now trying to come back from a rough pair of losses from over the past year, getting submitted by Magny and Ian Machado Garry.
Rodriguez is a tested name but feels like a slight step down from facing Magny. He walks that thin line between being a solid challenge for Malott and not being too much of a decrease in competition. I think he’s the right name to line up with Malott next.
Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis kept his spot in the middleweight rankings with his win over Marc-Andre Barriault on Saturday night. The split decision result was close, but a win is a win.
Picking what’s next for Curtis is not easy, quite honestly. It’s no fault of his doing, the middleweight division is quite booked up right now. Nearly everyone around him in the standings has a fight scheduled. So, like what I did with Sean Strickland higher up in the piece, I’m going to link him to an upcoming fight.
I like Anthony Hernandez. I think his run in the UFC has been underrated, likely partly because it has slowly developed since 2021. He scored his fourth consecutive victory in 2023, beating Edmen Shahbazyan. He similarly beat Barriault in 2022.
Hernandez will face Roman Kopylov at UFC 298 next month. Kopylov isn’t ranked but is on a really strong run, having scored four consecutive finish victories since 2022. I think it would be fun to match either of these guys against a veteran like Curtis and see what happens. And this fight is just a few weeks away, so Curtis doesn’t even have to be benched for long before he can figure out who he will face from this matchup!
Movsar Evloev
Oh, geez. We’re in the tough position of figuring out whether or not a guy is ready for a title fight. Today we’re talking about Movsar Evloev, who moved his undefeated record to 18 victories and overcame fourth-ranked featherweight Arnold Allen in a competitive three-round unanimous decision result.
This is a hard one to figure out. Part of me is thinking: The three names ranked above him have been in title fights in recent years and not come up on top: Brian Ortega lost in 2021, Yair Rodriguez lost in 2023, and Max Holloway lost three times since 2019. So wouldn’t it be good to see a fresh name get a shot after the upcoming title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria takes place?
But, there’s another part of me thinking this: Evloev hasn’t been tested in any big way that makes me think he’s certainly next in line for a title fight. Before Saturday, his biggest win was against Dan Ige in 2022, who took his third consecutive defeat with that loss. He beat Arnold Allen this weekend, but it was less of a statement-making performance and more of a close fight. Plus, Allen was already coming off a loss to Holloway from last year. I personally also like to see fighters get challenged in a main event bout before they get a title shot, and Evloev hasn’t competed in one yet. That last detail is a bit of a nitpick.
Anyway, when weighing the two options in front of me, I think it wouldn’t hurt to have Evloev face someone higher in the division. Having that one more high-profile win before he gets a title shot would be a strong way to build him as a legitimate contender. I want Evloev to sit out for a little and watch the February 24th co-main event between Ortega and Rodriguez. I want him to face the winner of that bout. If he is successful in that performance, he is, in my mind, an undeniable title challenger.
I want to end by reiterating that it’s hard to decide which path Evloev should take now. There certainly is a solid argument for giving him a title shot next. So at the end of the day, either option here is fine with me. But of course, I like my idea more.
Sean Woodson
A split decision result for Sean Woodson meant that he moved his record in the UFC featherweight division to an impressive five wins, one loss, and one draw. He’s unranked but likely ready for that discussion of who he can face to get him into the rankings. So, let’s have that talk!
The last time Woodson took a loss, it was against a veteran in Julian Erosa. But that was six fights ago, and he has grown a lot since then. To test his skills and see if he is a ranked fighter now, I want to put Woodson against 14th-place veteran Alex Caceres.
Caceres took a loss to high-ranked Giga Chikadze last year in August. He had quite the run going before then, having won seven of his previous eight fights. He’s an incredibly experienced name, but one at 35 years old that still has the juice and can be a challenge for Woodson. If he wants to get into the rankings, a fight against Caceres could likely do that.
Sam Patterson
After suffering a brutal knockout loss in his lightweight UFC debut last year, Sam Patterson has found his footing at welterweight. Patterson had a quick performance this weekend, getting Yohan Lainesse to the ground and submitting him with a rear naked choke.
Patterson is now in a division where he feels more comfortable making weight and just had a great performance on Saturday. So, what should we do with him next? When looking for what to give a fighter who just earned their first UFC win, there are lots of options. I like the idea of giving him someone similar to Lainesse, in the sense that they have UFC experience but are maybe a little inconsistent on paper.
I found two names on the UFC roster who are coming off a win but have struggled during their UFC run. Ramiz Brahimaj has fought in the UFC since 2020 and has a promotional record of two wins and two losses. He last fought in early 2022, submitting Michael Gillmore. He has been out of the cage for a while due to injury, but is seemingly healthy again, as he just competed in grappling a few months ago. His return fight could come against Patterson, who I would argue is about as early in his career as previous names that Brahimaj has faced, like Gillmore and Sasha Palatnikov.
Another choice could be Khaos Williams, who has attained five wins through seven UFC fights. Williams’ last performance was a split decision nod over Rolando Bedoya, putting him back into the win column after taking a loss to Randy Brown in 2022. This could possibly be a more riskier fight for Patterson, given that Williams is more proven on the UFC level.
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