UFC 284 took place last night (Saturday Feb 11, 2023) inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia which featured a lightweight title fight which saw Islam Makhachev defend his belt against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in one of the most entertaining fights of the year (review here). In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez put on one of his best performances against Josh Emmett, submitting him in the second round to win the interim featherweight title.
Winner: Islam Makhachev
Who should he face next: let’s wait and see…
This one might seem clear cut, but we have to wait and see how the upcoming fight between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush plays out when they collide at UFC 288 on May 6. Oliveira lost to Makhachev in his last outing, and Dariush was in line to fight the current champion despite not being the champion a few years ago. If Dariush wins, he should definitely get the next title. If Oliveira wins then he has a small case for a rematch against Islam, but it also opens the door for Dustin Poirier to launch his own campaign to get the next shot. What are your suggestions?
Winner: Yair Rodriguez
Who he should fight next: Alexander Volkanovski
This one is a no-brainer because after Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett, he got his title unification bout against Volkanovski. ‘The Great’ was asked when he wanted this fight to happen shortly after his loss to Makhachev and he was ready to jump straight into it. Although it was his adrenaline doing the talking, most of the time he is still very active, so I don’t think we will have to wait too long to see this fight.
Winner: Jack Della Maddalena
Who he should face next: Michael Pereira…maybe?
Maddelena continues her first-round finishing streak by submitting Randy Brown in the very first round (video here), moving to 4-0 inside the Octagon in the process. The fast start is going up quite impressively, so it will be interesting to see how the promotion plans to match it in the future. He’s not yet ranked in the Top 15, but that could change this week. I was thinking of suggesting he face the winner of Sean Brady and Michel Pereira, but news recently broke that Brady tore his groin and was ejected from the match, which was scheduled to take place at UFC San Antonio on the 25th. March. in a month and Maddalena suffered no damage last night, so he could be a perfect replacement for Brady.
Winner: Justin Tafa
Who should he face next: Jailton Almeida
Tafa earned his second consecutive first-round knockout victory by destroying Parker Porter in 66 seconds. He might have to do a little more before he can start sniffing out the Top 15, although the split isn’t as deep as the others, so maybe a fight against Almeida would be a good fit. Some may wonder why I am suggesting since they see Almeida as a rising prospect, but he has four fights inside the Octagon compared to six for Tafa. Tafa is 3-3 so far with the promotion while Almeida is 4-0, and was recently seen beating Shamil Abdurakhimov’s breaks at UFC 283 last month, so their timeouts could line up for a possible showdown.
For full UFC 284 results: “Makhachev vs. Volkanovski” and game-by-game, click HERE.
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