Last night the UFC returned to Florida for UFC Jacksonville with a stacked fight night card headlined by Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett. A fierce featherweight contest, on a European primetime there were lots of opportunities for star making, in particular for the Georgian Spaniard in the main event.
Title Shot for Ilia Topuria?
Headlining the card was ferocious prospect Ilia Topuria, this was his opportunity to explode into the top 5 at featherweight and announce himself on a European time zone so his nation could watch. He took the chance with both hands and produced a truly beautiful demolition of Josh Emmett for all to witness to finish an excellent card at UFC Jacksonville. With Spanish football stars at cage side Topuria is well and truly the top star in Spain and a European fight night in Madrid would be something quite special in future. Looking ahead after the dominant performance ‘El Matador’ will most definitely be in the title picture at featherweight.
Alexander Volkanovski has reigned supreme since snatching the belt from all time great Max Holloway in December 2019. The Australian will be making his 5th defence in International fight week against Yair Rodriguez. This comes after an unsuccessful attempt at earning gold at lightweight against Islam Makhachev a close fight that will be warranting a rematch in future, this may be happening later on in the year. The performance from Topuria is one that earns title shots there is no question but it may not be available for him immediately. Ideally for the Spaniard, Volkanovski defends his belt but chooses to stay at featherweight which would align with Makhachev facing Charles Oliveria in a rematch later this year. If that does not materialise then go for Brian Ortega on the Mexican independence day card on September 16th.
Maycee ‘The Future’ Barber is Now
Maycee Barber started her UFC career well with 3 finishes in a row but back to back losses to Roxanne Modafferi and now champion Alexa Grasso gave a slight reality check to the youngster. Since then Barber has been on a 4 fight win streak but without any finishes, which inevitably slows progress when rising through the ranks. Last night she faced Amanda Ribas her toughest test since Grasso in 2021 and rose to the occasion brilliantly earning a bonus and a place in the top 10 at flyweight. A bloody war was quite the spectacle in the co main slot in a fight that really caught fire. Most impressively was the striking from Barber who has clearly improved that element in her game.
Unfortunately for Barber the top of the division is all tied up with many announcements over the past month confirming the contenders fighting each other. However, Katlyn Chookagian is a perennial contender and gatekeeper to the top of the division who is without an opponent. She is the perfect next step for Maycee Barber to break into the top 5 at flyweight. Alternatively, Barber should keep her eye out for any replacement opportunities that crop up in the aforementioned contender matchups already made.
David Onama Bounces Back
The Ugandan star is back in the win column after an unbelievable uppercut earned a performance bonus and a second round KO against tough Brazilian Gabriel Santos. A man always in exciting fights Onama was 2-2 in his first four UFC fights his last result being a decision loss to Nate Landwehr in a fight of the year contender for 2022. A spot on the main card was the right call for this matchup between two promising prospects, the fight swayed either way until that violent uppercut landed. Featherweight is an incredibly rich division with great potential stars beyond the top 15 and the Ugandan is definitely one of those.
Onama most likely will be taking on another fringe top 15 guy in his next bout to try and break into the rankings, Welsh star Jack Shore is looking to return to the octagon late this year after the birth of his son and a fight with David Onama is a mouth-watering thought. Alex Caceres currently sits at 15 in the rankings and isn’t matched however like previously mentioned there are many fighters gunning down that spot and the Caceres fight may go to another contender.
Brendan Allen All in at Middleweight
The American Middleweight came into UFC Jacksonville on a four fight win streak, with back to back performance bonuses for rear naked chokes over Andre Muniz and Krzysztof Jotko. Red hot form continued as Allen put in a gutsy performance against Bruno Silva finishing with yet another rear naked choke after knocking him down with a vicious right hand. Trading heavy shots back and forth the pair put on a great display for fans until Allen dropped Silva and meticulously worked for the submission with seconds left of the first round.
After the great performance in the octagon Allen performed on the mic, a call out for current champion Israel Adesanya stating that he is the only middleweight that can threaten the champ in all areas. Then he took aim at Jared Cannonier offering a title eliminator with the ‘Killa Gorilla’, finally if that didn’t come to fruition he would love to fight Dricus Du Plessis if he loses to Robert Whittaker. A name not mentioned by Allen was Marvin Vettori who is coming off a dominant loss to Cannonier but with the huge damage he took in that fight he will be out for some time. Brendan Allen has done enough to earn his shot at an eliminator bout and there are not many other options for Cannonier.
Mateusz Rębecki Makes It 15 Straight
Polish lightweight Mateusz Rębecki made his second UFC appearance this weekend, he took on Loik Radzhabov who also was making his second appearance for the organisation in Jacksonville. Both men won their debuts via decision so faced one another to progress towards the lightweight rankings. Early on we saw a strong kicking game from Rębecki with a clear game plan involving vicious leg kicks, we saw the damage towards the end of the first round and at the end of the round Radzhabov hobbled back to his stall. It continued in the second round and it was brutal, Radzhabov could barely stand and was using the fence to keep himself up eventually it was an overhand left from Mateusz Rębecki that dropped Radzhabov onto the canvas where the referee mercifully stepped in.
Lightweight will always be one of the deepest divisions in the sport and that is the case in the elite organisation, now at 18-1 with 15 straight wins Mateusz Rębecki can really demand a step up towards the rankings. Nasrat Haqparast fought and won in Paris last year but we have not seen him since, he was meant to fight Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 284 but pulled out due to injury. With a 6-4 UFC record Haqparast is an experienced UFC pedigree fighter and a good test next for Mateusz Rębecki.
Honourable Mentions at UFC Jacksonville
Jack Jenkins
UFC Jacksonville started with five decisions but it was not lacking in violence or impressive fights. The second fight of the night involved a technical featherweight striking war between Jamall Emmers and Jack Jenkins. Known for his vicious leg kicks Jenkins implemented a heavy kicking game but Emmers was not deterred and countered well throughout the fight. Jenkins won a very close split decision and moves to 2-0 in the UFC, fellow newcomer Fernando Padilla made his UFC debut in April where he stopped veteran Julian Erosa. A fight between these two would be a good addition the Mexican Independence Day card in September.
Chepe Mariscal
Next was the hometown favourite Trevor Peek taking on replacement opponent Chepe Mariscal. Peek was 8-0 coming into the fight with all wins being KOs so the fans were promised something violent. Coming in on 10 days notice Mariscal did not back down and went toe to toe with Peek in what many have described as a bar brawl inside the octagon, it was not technically gorgeous but was the epitome of violence. Mariscal took the victory via unanimous decision and the UFC will certainly want him out soon again. Another suggestion for the Mexican Independence day card in September, an all Mexican clash with Chepe Mariscal taking on Daniel Zellhuber.
Joshua Van
Another debutant was Joshua Van, at only 21 years old he stepped up to take on Zhalgas Zhumagulov in the flyweight division. He was training for the contender series but will now have secured a contract after a brilliant performance last night. He showed great striking throughout and was able to stop any attempted take downs from Zhumagulov which was something he had struggled with in his early fights. Van won the decision and he had landed the 2nd most significant strikes in flyweight history, fans can add him to a long list of prospects at 125lbs. Charles Johnson has already fought three times this year and always provides a tough test for up and coming flyweights if he isn’t available then Alessandro Costa is 1-1 in the UFC coming off a win last week so the timelines match up well for the pair regarding future bout.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
