The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Berlin, Germany with UFC Fight Night 69 and produced a night of solid scraps, and with the action now in our rear-view, let’s take a look at a few potential match-ups for some of the competitors from fight day… FEATHERWEIGHT EDITION Alan Omer vs Niklas Backstrom Omer and Backstrom are two featherweights who competed at this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 69 in Berlin, coming out on the losing end of their contests. Omer was ahead two rounds to none on the judges’ scorecards against Arnold Allen, before getting caught and tapped with a ninja choke in the third frame. Backstrom came up short in a majority decision against Noad Lahat following three closely contested rounds of action. Both 145-pounders are now on two-fight skids inside the Octagon and in need of a win heading into their next outings. In what will likely be a “loser goes home” bout, I think these two would put on a show if paired up against each other with their backs against the wall. I think this fight would be a good fit on either the preliminary card for September’s UFC 191 in Las Vegas or October’s UFC 192 in Houston. Noad Lahat vs Brian Ortega Lahat edged a tight majority decision over Niklas Backstrom and now enjoys a two-fight winning streak inside the Octagon. Ortega earned a third round TKO over veteran Thiago Tavares atUFC Fight Night 68 in New Orleans two weeks ago and looks to build off the impressive victory. I think this would be a solid match-up between the 145-pound prospects and would like to see it on a future fight card, as I think it could be a sleeper come time for ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. I would like to see this featherweight scrap on the preliminary card for the aforementioned UFC 191 in Las Vegas this September. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Daniel Hooker Kawajiri just took a unanimous decision over fellow veteran Dennis Siver this past Saturday night in Siver’s backyard of Berlin, ultimately returning to the win column while dropping the Russian-German fighter to 0-2 in his last two. Hooker last saw action a month ago, knocking out Hatsu Hioki in come-from-behind fashion in the third round of action. After getting through one Japanese veteran, I’d like to see him take on another in Kawajiri. I think this would stylistically make for a fun fight and one I would not miss. I would like to see it booked for the main card of September’s UFC Fight Night 77 in Saitama, Japan. Dennis Siver vs Darren Elkins Siver came up short in a unanimous decision against Tatsuya Kawajiri and falls to a two-fight skid following his second round T/KO defeat against current UFC featherweight title challenger “The Notorious” Conor McGregor. The veteran now makes another trip back to the drawing board, and I think a look at “The Damage” makes sense for his next outing at 145-pounds. Elkins came up short in a unanimous decision against Hacran Dias in his last outing six months ago, and looking to get back on track, I think this is a fight he would want. A classic striker vs grappler match-up, I think this would be a solid fight, and would be interested to see in who wins this chess-match. This is another bout I would like to see added to the preliminary card of September’s UFC 191 on Pay Per View from Las Vegas.
