The AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas played host to the 44th installment of the UFC’s traditional ‘Fight Night’ series, delivering a solid fight card from top-to-bottom.
Decisions seemed to be the theme for the main card throughout the evening, with all six bouts going the distance.
The main event saw an important match-up in the UFC’s 145-lbs fold, as Cub Swanson locked horns with Jeremy Stephens. After 25 minutes of incessant back-and-forth action, it was Swanson who picked up his sixth straight win in the promotion with a Unanimous Decision victory.
The co-main event, meanwhile, featured a pair of 170-lbs starlets in Kelvin Gastelum and Nico Musuoke. The latter fighter gained an early edge, scoring takedowns on his counterpart and seemingly looked well ahead on the scorecards by the end of the first round. Gastelum, though, rallied on heavily in the last ten minutes, getting the better of his fatigued opponent in the stand-up exchanges for a come-from-behind decision triumph.
Joe Ellenberger, Clint Hester, Ricardo Lamas and Cezar Ferreira were also big winners on Saturday night as each picked up a victory over their respective opponents on the main card.
So with that, it’s that time again where we at MMASucka.com play “matchmaker” and derive match-ups that could materialize for the main card winners. Sitting on the matchmaker’s armchair is no easy task by any standards so if your solutions differ from ours, state them in the comments section below.
Let’s get started!
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- Name: Joe Ellenberger (15-1)
- Who he should face next: Jason Saggo (10-1)
Jason Saggo picked up a TKO victory at UFC 174 in his home country of Canada just a fortnight ago and a future match-up between him and Ellenberger would be an interesting clash of styles. Both fighters are still very young in their UFC careers with unblemished 1-0 records, so while it wouldn’t be wise to build them up by slotting them against promotional veterans, it would, however, make sense to have them paired up against one another. After all, only time will tell if they are indeed prospects in the division, or not.
- Name: Clint Hester (11-3)
- Who he should face next: Cezar Ferreira (8-3)
Clint Hester has quietly amassed an impressive 4-0 record in the Middleweight division, but it wouldn’t be sensible to throw the 27-year-old to the pack of wolves just yet. Instead, it would be fair to have the TUF transplant slated against another mid-tier opponent. In my humble opinion, Cezar Ferreira, also a winner on Saturday’s main card in San Antonio, fits that bill perfectly. Hester’s trademark Boxing approach would certainly give Ferreira lengthy frame and extensive grappling game a good test, making this more than just a bout to look out for on paper.
- Name: Ricardo Lamas (14-3)
- Who he should face next: Dustin Poirier (16-3)
This match-up is pretty much a no-brainer. Lamas and Poirier currently sit comfortably in the pit of contenders for Jose Aldo’s 145-lbs crown. With a title shot likely not materializing for Lamas anytime soon, it only makes sense to put the 32-year-old in a fight that would move him an inch closer towards the belt. The only candidate befitting of facing him at this point in time is Dustin Poirier. Poirier and Lamas are both experienced, all-round fighters with the ability to put on exciting fights. This is a bout that has all the ingredients to be a classic.
- Name: Kelvin Gastelum (9-0)
- Who he should face next: Ryan LaFlare (11-0)
Even though UFC matchmakers are often wary about pitting two prospects against each other, the fact that both men are unbeaten, sells itself. First and foremost, having missed weight twice, it would be logical to assume that the UFC won’t hand Gastelum a top ten opponent just yet despite his perfect 4-0 record under the promotion’s banner. But at the same time, it should be in the 22-year-old’s best interests to fight a fellow prospect just so he maintains his place in the upper echelon of the pecking order. More so than Gastelum, LaFlare brings a well-rounded skill set to the table, so it would be interesting to see which fighter will be sent home with the first blemish of his career.
- Name: Cub Swanson (21-5)
- Who he should face next: Winner of Chad Mendes (16-1) vs. Jose Aldo (24-1)
With a six fight winning streak in his pocket, Cub Swanson has done more than enough to secure himself a shot at the strap following Saturday night’s performance. Swanson fell victim to Jose Aldo seconds within the first round years ago under the WEC banner, but has since evolved rapidly and been on a tear. Aldo will be defending his throne in a rematch with Chad Mendes at UFC 176 in August, so one would expect Swanson to sit patiently on the sidelines as he remains the odds-on favorite to challenge the winner of that showdown.
For full UFC Fight Night 44 results, click here.
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