Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 71

UFC Vegas 71 went down last night (Sat., April 22, 2023) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Heavyweight fight that saw Sergei Pavlovich score a vicious first round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes (highlights), putting him front and center of the title picture. In further action, Bruno Silva snapped his two-fight losing streak by stopping Brad Tavares in the opening round.

Winner: Sergei Pavlovich

Who He Should Face Next: Jones vs. Miocic winner

The key word here is “should.” Because if we are talking about putting in work and staking claim to a championship fight, Pavlovich has been doing it for some time now and should be up for a title shot, first. Stipe Miocic is in line to get the next title fight against “Bones” for the simple fact that the new division king asked for it. Miocic hasn’t competed since getting knocked into the shadow realm by Francis Ngannou two years ago, and during that time Pavlovich has racked up four consecutive first-round knockout wins. And they’ve come against top-level competition, including Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and now Blaydes. But this is where business takes over and a Jones vs. Miocic title fight is more appealing to the promotion. That said, Pavlovich is willing to wait to face the winner.

Winner: Bruno Silva

Who He Should Face Next: Chidi Njokuani

Silva snapped his two-fight losing streak by stopping Brad Tavares in the very first round. As for Njokuani, he is coming off a tough, split-decision loss to Albert Duraev, his second straight defeat. Njokuani started off his UFC career with two straight knockout wins but has been a downward trajectory since. Silva just got back on track himself after a tough skid, so while taking a fight against someone on a two-fight losing streak may not be ideal but it’s still a good matchup for him.

Winner: Iasmin Lucindo

Who She Should Face Next: Veronica Hardy

Lucindo picked up her first UFC win under the UFC banner by earning a unanimous decision over Brogan Walker. Now that the first one is out of the way, it’s time to start trying to build up some momentum, and a fight against Hardy next is what I’d like for Lucindo. Hardy is coming off a win over Julianna Miller last month at UFC 286, but the Venezuelan bomber has a pretty rough stretch inside the Octagon, at one point losing three in a row. She is 2-1 in her last three fights so she seems to be finding her groove.

Winner: Jeremiah Wells

Who He Should Face Next: Trevin Giles

Wells has been flying under the radar, but he has quietly won four straight fights inside the Octagon to extend his win streak to six in a row. He had to work to get the split-decision win over Matthew Semelsberger, but he did enough to get the nod to keep on rolling. Giles, meanwhile, has won two straight himself and is also coming off a tough-fought split-decision win over Preston Parsons. This is a great matchup for both men and the winner will take a huge leap toward Top 15 consideration.

For complete UFC Vegas 71 results and coverage click here.