What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 234 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
5
Nice to have UFC back
This card wasn’t anything special or a can’t-miss for casual fight fans on paper, but you have to admit, it was nice to have UFC action back after a 28-day hiatus.
The card largely delivered with seven finishes out of 11 fights, and the uptick of excitement from the broadcast crew and the social media community reflected enjoyment in seeing the sport’s top promotion put on events again.
That feeling might ware off during some of the natural dips in the quality of the product over the course of the year, but we’re months away from any of that. The UFC’s schedule for the first quarter of 2024 has some serious and significant fights, and Saturday was just the jumping off point for what could be a special year.
4
Joshua Van a flyweight prospect to watch
Given it’s been largely the same crop of fighters who have occupied the top of the flyweight division for the past several years, it’s exciting to see a new prospect making waves and showing the traits of someone who could eventually be in the championship picture.
Joshua Van looks to be more and more like that guy after the 22-year-old added to his perfect octagon start with a second-round TKO of Felipe Bunes in the opening fight of 2024.
There’s been a bit of a troubling trend with Van (9-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) starting slow in all three of his UFC fights, but he’s managed to work through that and ensure his hand was raised in the end. When Van turns it on, he does it in furious fashion and is relentless. Bunes couldn’t handle that pressure and eventually crumbled, and the result should earn Van a step up in competition.
Van expressed post-fight that it’s dream to be the first UFC champion from Myanmar. He’s got some work to do in order to smooth over some of the rockier parts of his game, but that should all come with time and more gradually difficult opponents. If he does everything the right way, there seems to be realistic title potential.
3
Mario Bautista gets attention at 135 pounds
We always talk about how stacked the UFC bantamweight division is, and how difficult it is for fighters to truly gain some traction.
The perfect example of that is Mario Bautista, who wasn’t even ranked prior to a stellar unanimous decision victory over Ricky Simon. He’s won his past six fights overall, and only now is he truly in position to fight more of the established names.
Bautista (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) seems to be a humble man with a heck of a skillset. Is he good enough to rise to the top of this absolute shark tank? That’s what we ultimately need to find out.
It might take some time, however, because given the backlog of potential title contenders already waiting at 135 pounds, and a champion in Sean O’Malley who is already talking about moving up in weight despite no registered title defenses, Bautista might find himself walking the same path of some others in UFC history to needed double digit wins, or close to it, to get a shot at gold.
2
Jim Miller historic win sets up UFC 300 options
For someone who has never fought for or held UFC gold, it’s remarkable the footprint that Jim Miller has etched out for himself in this sport. Every time he competes it almost feels like an event unto itself, mainly because there’s always so much history attached.
Not only did Miller (37-17 MMA, 26-16 UFC) add to his all-time record for most octagon appearances with his 43rd walk, he added to his historic wins total, and added to his standing in plethora of other key UFC categories such as finishes, submissions and bonuses following his third-round face crank of Gabriel Benitez.
It’s pretty damn cool to see what Miller is doing at this stage of his career. He’s 4-1 in his past five fights, with all of his wins coming by stoppage. Is he fighting the absolute top tier of the lightweight division? No. But Miller is not getting set up with slouches, either, and he’s going in there and performing as well as he ever has.
Now the next chapter is clear. After Miller fought at UFC 100 in July 2009, and UFC 200 in July 2016, it’s been discussed for years that he should occupy a spot at UFC 300, too. With the monumental event set for April 13 in Las Vegas, all signs point to Miller getting on that card, it’s just a matter of who he will be sharing the octagon with.
Welcoming Paul Felder back from retirement seems to be among the primary options, as does a potential move up to welterweight to fight Matt Brown, who owns many of the same divisional records as Miller but in a different weight class. Honestly, it’s hard to say what the better choice is.
In this scenario, the UFC should defer to Miller for what he wants. He indicated immediately after the event that Brown is the more compelling matchup, so UFC matchmakers should pursue that. If it doesn’t work out, Felder appears ready and willing to end his retirement to come back for a UFC 300 swan song vs. Miller.
1
Should Magomed Ankalaev get UFC 300 title shot vs. Alex Pereira?
If I’d told you six months ago that Magomed Ankalaev would be a serious candidate to headline the promotion’s landmark UFC 300 card, you would’ve wondered what series of events went horribly wrong to lead to that situation.
That’s no disrespect to Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC), who once again showed he’s an incredibly talented fighter with a second-round knockout of Johnny Walker in their main event rematch, but the Russian just doesn’t have the profile for that magnitude of a spot.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, though, and right now, UFC 300 still does not have an announced main event, and it’s slim pickings when it comes to realistic options in terms of who is not booked and available.
UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is one of the current titleholders who could seemingly fill that role, and Ankalaev would have to be the top candidate as his opponent, especially with Jamahal Hill still on the sidelines recovering from his Achilles injury.
Ankalaev has put together a 12-fight unbeaten streak and deserves another chance to challenge for gold. He’s already baiting Pereira in claiming he wouldn’t shoot for any takedowns in a potential matchup between them, and if he’s true to his word, it could be an electric contest.
As I said off the top, this is not what we dreamed of for UFC 300. Two non-English speakers squaring off in the main event of such a significant card would force UFC to use all of its promotional muscle to rake in viewers, but the fight itself is tremendous, and at this point, booking it seems like UFC’s best and only move.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.
