The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back in Gdansk, Poland for the first time in promotional history with UFC Fight Night 118: Cerrone vs Tiller. It was an entertaining night of action that saw four of 11 of bouts end inside the distance, and with the scraps now in our rear view, let’s take a look at a few potential matchups featuring some of the competitors from the evening…
Darren Till vs. Wonderboy/Masvidal Winner
Till remained unbeaten with a first round TKO of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, earning the biggest victory of his professional mixed martial arts career, and for his next outing inside the Octagon, I would like to see him take on the winner of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal, which will be taking place at UFC 217 in just two short weeks. I think Till versus Wonderboy and Till versus Masvidal would both be tremendous matchups that fight fans would be chomping at the bits for. Though it has yet to be announced, I think the Super Bowl weekend Pay-Per-View card would be ideal for either bout, preferably in the co-main event slot.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Claudia Gadelha II
Kowalkiewicz snapped a two-fight losing skid by defeating promotional newcomer Jodie Esquibel via unanimous decision following three one-sided rounds of action that saw her keep the fight standing and dominate her Jackson-Wink MMA trained counterpart on the feet. She was coming off a first round rear naked choke submission loss to Claudia Gadelha heading into this bout, and for her next outing, I would like to see her rematch Gadelha. The reason that fight makes sense is because Gadelha is coming off a loss to Jessica Andrade, not to mention the first one ended so early that it left something to be desired.
Andre Fili vs. Shane Burgos
Fili earned a dominant, one-sided unanimous decision win over Artem Lobov, and for his next UFC outing, I would like to see him take on New York’s Burgos, who will be looking to remain undefeated his next time out. Burgos is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Godoredo Pepey and this potential featherweight contest would be the stiffest test of his professional mixed martial arts career. Fili versus Burgos would be a tremendously entertaining matchup in the UFC’s 145-pound division and I would enjoy seeing it booked for a future fight card, perhaps December’s UFC 219 in Las Vegas, where Burgos’ teammate Jimmie Rivera will be competing against former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.
