The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) went back to Chicago, IL for the fifth straight year and produced a night of entertaining scraps. The action is now behind us, so let’s take a look at a few potential match-ups featuring some of the competitors from the evening… Holly Holm vs Cat Zingano Holm came up short on the judges’ scorecards in the main event for UFC on FOX 20 this past Saturday, being outstruck over the course of five rounds for a unanimous decision loss. The defeats puts her on a two fight skid following her title loss to Miesha Tate back at UFC 196 in March. For her next outing inside the Octagon, I would like to see Holm take on Cat Zingano, who is also on a two fight losing streak, including a first round submission loss to Ronda Rouse and most recently a unanimous decision loss to Julianna Pena. I think Holm vs Zingano would be a very good match-up in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division and I wouldn’t mind seeing it booked for a future fight card. Preferably on one of the yet to be announced cards in December or January. Edson Barboza vs Rafael dos Anjos Barboza defeated former Strikeforce lightweight champion and former UFC lightweight title challenger Gilbert Melendez via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action that sat the Brazilian outstrike the Mexican-American fighter. It was another impressive outing inside the Octagon by Barboza, who is now on a two fight winning streak following a unanimous decision win over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. For his next UFC bout, I think it would make sense for Barboza to fight Rafael dos Anjos, who lost his UFC lightweight title to Barboza’s team-mate Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 90 earlier this month. I think this fight would be a great fit for the main card to November’s UFC 190 in New York City, which is now practically Barboza’s adopted backyard, as he has made New Jersey his home. Francis Ngannou vs Walt Harris Ngannou did what was expected of him and made quick work of Bojan Mihajlovic in a mismatch, defeating him via TKO early in the opening stanza. Ngannou is now 3-0 in the UFC and for his next outing inside the Octagon, I would like to see him take on Walt “Big Ticket” Harris, who is coming off an upset knockout win over Cody East. I think this fight would be a fantastic addition to the main card of October’s UFC Fight Night in Pasay. The Philippino crowd would get a kick out of watching these giants go to war. Kamaru Usman vs Gunnar Nelson Usman vs Nelson would be a pairing of two excellent grapplers in the UFC’s welterweight division, with Usman being a talented wrestler and Nelson being a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace. Both have solid striking but Nelson would hold the advantage in that department and would likely be a betting favorite heading into the potential contest. Usman is undefeated as a pro and is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Alexander Yakovlev, while Nelson is coming off a second round submission of Russian knockout artist Albert Tumenov. I think Usman vs Nelson would be a great fight and is one that make sense; I think it would be a good fit for the main card to October’s UFC Fight Night in Portland.
