The
Ultimate Fighting Championship kicked off February with
UFC Fight Night 235. The main event featured an important
middleweight scrap between
Roman
Dolidze and
Nassourdine
Imavov, while the co-main event saw
Renato
Carneiro take on
Drew Dober.
There are now plenty of exciting options in each division for the
main card winners.
Here are five matches to make after UFC Fight Night 235.
Imavov (13-4, 1 NC) picked up his first UFC main event win by
winning a dominant decision over Dolidze (12-3). As shown during
the fight, the French fighter still has unfinished business with
Dolidze’s Xtreme Couture teammate, Curtis. A fight between the two
would make plenty of sense after their 2023 fight ended in a no
contest after an accidental clash of heads. So, let’s run it back
and settle this bad blood for once and for all.
Carneiro (18-5-1) made a statement with his decision win over the
always game Dober (27-12, 1 NC). "Moicano" has put two straight
wins together and deserves a fun fight against another Top 15
lightweight with name value, such as Hooker. The Australian has
bounced back from a rough patch with two straight wins: a split
decision over
Jalin
Turner and a body kick finish against
Claudio
Puelles. It'd be guaranteed fireworks, and the winner would be
ready for a marquee fight next.
After taking care of
Muslim
Salikhov
with a gorgeous right hand, Brown is ready for a tougher test
inside the Octagon. An exciting fight would see "Rude Boy" (18-5)
go up against Fakhretdinov, who hasn't lost so far inside the UFC.
Fakhretdinov (22-2-1) is looking to bounce back from a majority
draw against Elizeu Zaleski and previously picked up impressive
wins over
Kevin Lee and
Bryan
Battle. It'd be an intriguing stylistic battle and would cement
the winner as a rising contender.
Silva cemented herself as a contender in the women’s flyweight
division by winning a decision over
Viviane
Araujo. Up next for Silva (17-5, 1 NC ) should be another
surging 125-pound fighter, such as Cortez. 5-0 inside the
promotion, Cortez (11-1) is most recently coming off a win over
Jasmine
Jasudavicius and has proven herself a fan-favorite inside the
division. The winner would be in a strong position and inside the
title picture.
Unfortunately, Khizriev vs. Muradov ended up as a no contest as the
fight was stopped just 11 seconds after it began due to a nasty
accidental eye poke. Muradov (26-8, 1 NC) was unable to continue as
he couldn't recover within five minutes. As a result, it makes
sense for a rematch to be booked and give "Mach" a chance for
revenge against the undefeated Khizriev (12-0, 1 NC).