LAS VEGAS — A middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero at UFC 248 failed to produce fireworks, but perhaps that’s because Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk set them all off in their five-round co-main event.
In the end, both defending champions left T-Mobile Arena with their belts intact: Adesanya and Zhang. After a two-year hiatus Sean O’Malley also left T-Mobile with a win and made a statement in his return to the Octagon with a first-round TKO.
What’s next for the top names at UFC 248?
Israel Adesanya (defeated Yoel Romero by unanimous decision)
Who should be next: Paulo Costa
Costa was the original plan for Adesanya’s first title defense, before he injured his bicep and required time off. Adesanya and Costa have been staring across the yard at one another for more than a year. Adesanya has accused him of performance-enhancing drug use and questioned his intelligence as a fighter. Costa has, in turn, promised to do nothing short of cause Adesanya serious physical harm. Both are undefeated and there is a real personal heat between them.
This matchup is basically already in the works, as long as Costa’s recovery from injury stays on track. This is a fun stylistic fight, not to mention a marketable one. I’d expect it this summer.
Dark horse: Jared Cannonier
If for whatever reason Costa is unavailable, I like Cannonier to get his shot. Cannonier is on a three-fight win steak, in which he’s finished all three of his opponents. He’s a good story, dropping down in weight as a former heavyweight. Darren Till is also out there as an option, and I believe Adesanya will face him at some point, but if the UFC needed a title challenger now whose name is not Paulo Costa, it’d be Cannonier at the moment.
Yoel Romero (lost to Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision)
Who should be next: Corey Anderson at light heavyweight
What’s the point of 42 (soon-to-be 43-year-old) Romero staying at middleweight? For the life of me, I can’t come up with one. He struggles to make this weight, and he is now 1-4 in his last five. He dose not have the look of a man who needs to retire at all, nor does he have the look of a man who needs to start facing lesser competition. But he needs to move to light heavyweight. It’s a fresh start, with fresh matchups. And Anderson, who is coming off a devastating loss to Jan Blachowicz, but is still eager to return to title competition, would be the right opponent.
Dark horse: Alexander Gustafsson
There’s been chatter in recent years regarding this potential matchup, but it never came to fruition. Gustafsson says he’s retired, but we all know retirements in MMA don’t always last. If Gustafsson is open to coming back and simply waiting for the right opponent, Romero could be it.
Zhang Weili (defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk by split decision)
Who should be next: Winner of Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade on April 18
Obviously, the more exciting matchup would be Namajunas. Zhang just fought Andrade for the belt last August, and beat her in 42 seconds. Namajunas, when she’s on, is one of the trickiest matchups in the entire division. Watching Namajunas’ flow and movement against Zhang’s pressure and power punching would be a thing of beauty. But if Andrade beats Namajunas at UFC 249 (she’s already beaten her once before), I’m down for Zhang-Andrade II. It’s early, but there’s nothing wrong with it. Andrade never had a chance to get going in the first one.
Dark Horse: Tatiana Suarez.
It’s not likely, and honestly, I wouldn’t even necessarily want to see it because I’d like to see Suarez get some more reps before fighting for a belt, but one can’t help but dream about a fight between Zhang and Suarez. Look, Suarez is going to get a shot at this title eventually. It’s inevitable. If there is one woman the sport is looking towards as the potential future of strawweight, other than Zhang, it’s Suarez (or, the female Khabib Nurmagomedov, as she’s occasionally referred to). I don’t see this fight happening next, but it’s always there because of Suarez’ potential.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (lost to Zhang Weili by split decision)
Who should be next: Loser of Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade on April 18
Jedrzejczyk and Namajunas have already fought twice, and Namajunas was victorious in both. So, why see it again? Well, there’s a good story here. Jedrzejczyk was on the top of the world, and considered one of, if not the, best pound-for-pound female on the planet when Namajunas knocked her out at UFC 217 in 2017. Nothing has been the same for her since. Perhaps, to regain her old magic, she has to take it from the woman who beat her. And by the way, the second fight, which Namajunas won via decision, was very close.
And if it’s Andrade, it would be the second time these two fought. There was a time when I would have advocated for Jedrzejczyk to move up to flyweight rather than take a bunch of rematches, but she seemed to make weight with no problems for UFC 248 and prefers this division. Even though she’s 0-4 in her last four title fights, she’s clearly still an elite strawweight. She came one round from dethroning Zhang. Stay at strawweight, get back on the horse, maybe work your way back to Zhang. And that starts with either Namajunas or Andrade.
Dark Horse: Angela Hill
Hill has been looking to be the most active fighter in UFC history lately, and it’s earned her some well-deserved attention and respect from the fanbase. Since March 2019, Hill has fought a whopping six times, compiling a 4-2 record. That might not sound like it’s worthy of a Jedrzejczyk fight, and honestly, it’s not. That’s why she’s a dark horse candidate. But she has won her last three and Jedrzejczyk has some work to do before she gets back to a title shot. Pairing her with someone who has generated some press with the frequency of her fights in Hill wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Sean O’Malley (defeated Jose Quinonez by first-round TKO)
Who should be next: Montel Jackson
I’ll admit that it might be too early for this fight. Along with O’Malley, Jackson is one of the most impressive prospects in this division, even though he’s flown much further under the radar than O’Malley. And to be honest, that’s kind of why I like it.
Here you have two great, young prospects — O’Malley is 25, Jackson is 27. Both have exciting styles. If O’Malley wins, his ascent continues. If Jackson beats him, he steals some of that shine. I think these two offer each other incentives. And again, selfishly, it’s just a fight I would really, really like to see.
Dark horse: Song Yadong
I guess I want to see O’Malley fight another young prospect, because here’s another one in Yadong. Fighting out of China, Yadong already has four wins on his UFC record despite only being 22. He just fought the very solid Cody Stamann to a draw in December. He trains out of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. Let’s see the young talent square off.
Jackson is my first choice, but Yadong would be a fun one as well.