Stepping into the Octagon for the first time in 2024, Serghei Spivac submitted the veteran Marcin Tybura with a highlight reel armbar to put himself back on the board in dazzling fashion. It had been nearly a year since the Moldovan had last competed, losing to former two-time title challenger Ciryl Gane last September by third-round knockout. With the win, Spivac also avenged his previous loss to Tybura when they fought over four years ago, where the Pole came out on top by unanimous decision.
Elsewhere on the card, two scrappy featherweights, Damon Jackson and Chepe Mariscal produced a thrilling co-main event, the undefeated Danny Barlow crossed paths with Nikolay Vertennikov, and 135-lb. standout Chris Gutierrez duked it out with Minnesota’s Quang Le.
Now, let’s take a look at who this past show’s main card winners should fight next.
Toshiomi Kazama
After earning a contract on the Road to UFC, Toshiomi Kazama (11-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) came into the promotion as a highly-touted Japanese MMA prospect. However, following two back-to-back knockout losses to Rinya Nakamura and Garrett Armfield, the “Silent Finisher” found himself teetering on the edge of eviction from the company. That was until Kazama delivered a sensational finish against Charalampos Grigoriou last weekend, submitting him in the second round after surviving a heavy storm of blows from the Cypriot.
Fight to Make: Ricky Turcios
While Kazama emphatically retained his position within the UFC with an exciting (and profitable) stoppage win, he still has more to do if he wants to prove himself amongst the best bantamweights on the planet. For his next outing to the cage, a victory over a veteran scrapper such as Ricky Turcios should provide him with the perfect chance to climb the incredibly stacked 135-lb. ladder.
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Yana Santos
Although her opponent, Chelsea Chandler, missed weight by an exorbitant five pounds, Yana Santos (15-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) still accepted the bout and managed to come out with her hand raised. Utilizing her superior kickboxing, the former Invicta Strawweight Champion pummeled her larger foe with a series of punishing kicks to capture the unanimous decision while also snapping a three-fight losing streak she had been on.
Fight to Make: Holly Holm
Finally back in the win column, Santos will be looking to claw her way back to title contention since challenging for UFC gold back in 2018 when she faced then-UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg. To that end, a bout versus a former titleholder in Holly Holm would be the right opportunity to see if Santos can continue to push for another shot at the top of the women’s 135-lb. heap.
Chris Gutierrez
Logging a solid outing in his latest trip to the UFC Octagon, Chris Gutierrez (21-5-2 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) out-struck late-notice replacement Quang Le with a staggering 78% to 36% of total strikes landed. Making himself an extremely elusive target, “El Guapo” demonstrated his masterful footwork to make Le chase him for the majority of the match, eventually earning the unanimous decision win.
Fight to Make: Javid Basharat
Originally, Gutierrez was meant to face off with Xtreme Couture’s Javid Basharat. Unfortunately, the fight wound up falling through due to Basharat pulling out because of an injury. For both men, this fight still makes sense to put together once more. Basharat needs a win over an established name to give himself some momentum after suffering his first loss against Aiemann Zahabi back in March. Gutierrez needs to rack up another dominant performance over another young killer to propel himself back into the bantamweight rankings.
Danny Barlow
It may not have been the most entertaining fight on the card, and he also missed weight for it, but welterweight prospect Danny Barlow (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) got the job done opposite Nikolay Vertennikov to retain his undefeated record via unanimous decision. The victory moved him to 2-0 inside the UFC cage, it was also his first decision win since 2022 after winning his past four fights by knockout.
Fight to Make: Trey Waters
To put it bluntly, Barlow’s latest fight wasn’t the most memorable, with him appearing to be surprisingly gun shy in comparison to the last few times we’ve seen him compete. Whether this was due to nerves or the first weight miss of his career, no one can really say, but it is clear that “LeftHand2God” is a burgeoning force in the 170-lb. class. For his next dance partner, why not pair him up against another equally skilled future contender in Trey Waters? Both men have nine pro wins apiece, are both 29 years old, and are known for being electrifying finishers.
Chepe Mariscal
Picking up the biggest win of his MMA career, Chepe Mariscal (17-6-1NC MMA, 4-0 UFC) defeated Damon Jackson in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 61, absolutely bloodying the gritty featherweight standout. Landing over 200 strikes, “Machine Gun” announced himself as a bona-fide contender at 145 lbs. Sadly, his performance was also marred by the fact that he missed weight by three and half pounds, something that Mariscal lamented heavily in his post-fight interview.
Fight to Make: Dan Ige
Although he did fumble on the scales for his fight with Jackson, Mariscal nonetheless proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in the division, and with a perfect 4-0 UFC record, the time has come for “Machine Gun” to contend with his first ranked opponent. While Mariscal noted in his post-fight interview that he has “no specific opponent” in mind for his next bout, should the UFC opt to give him a ranked name, there can be no better fight to make then having him take on Dan Ige. The pair was previously scheduled to fight last month, but Ige was pulled from the contest to fill in on four hours’ notice against Diego Lopes at UFC 303. With both men likely wanting to get in one last outing to the Octagon before the year is over, a rebooking between these two gutsy fighters would only produce fireworks that could light up the entire Featherweight division.
Serghei Spivac
Exacting his revenge from their first encounter four years ago, Serghei Spivac (17-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) took out Marcin Tybura handedly with an incredibly slick armbar in the very first round in their main event clash last weekend. The win was his first since also submitting the hard-hitting Derrick Lewis back in 2023.
Fight to Make: Jailton Almeida
Not long after his triumph over Tybura, Spivac received a call out from another prominent heavyweight finisher in Jailton Almeida. Residing right next to each other in the 265-lb. rankings, a bout between these two can make for an interesting stylistic matchup. Throughout his entire career, Spivac has never been submitted, which makes a potential meeting with unquestionably the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner in the division that much more appealing.
