Fantasy matchmaker! Who should the winners of UFC 221 fight next?

UFC 221 happened last night and in my opinion, the fights were entertaining and a delight to watch, there were, of course, a couple that stood out and impressed us more but overall I feel like the event was a success. There were some spectacular finishes, some lackluster decisions and some creative submission but no matter how you won you earned the chance to call yourself a winner and go home with a smile on your face.

But as a fan I am curious and like to be a "fantasy matchmaker" so these are the fights I think should be made for the winners of UFC 221:

Luke Jumeau vs Muslim Salikhov Last night Luke Jumeau went back into the win column after beating previously undefeated Daichi Abe, after a tough first round he rallied to win the remaining two rounds against a tired, fading Abe and earned himself another victory in the UFC.

Muslim Salikhov would be a step up in competition for Jumeau and a good test for a 29 year old New Zealand fighter. Salikhov made his UFC debut against Alex Garcia in November of last year and lost a unanimous decision, his record is 12-2 and is definitely eager to get back into the octagon. Making that fight seems like a reasonable step in the right direction.

Jose Alberto Quinonez vs Tom Duquesnoy After his latest win, Jose Alberto Quinonez is on a 4 fight winning streak in the UFC which is really impressive, that means he needs a step up in the competition and I feel like Tom Duqesnoy is the perfect name for him. He is 15-2 and a young fighter with a lot of talent. If he beats him he will surely find himself with a number next to his name.

Ross Pearson vs Frank Camacho A sigh of relief was seen on the face of Ross Pearson after the fight decision was read by Bruce Buffer. He finally won a fight after being on a 4 fight losing streak and suffering one of the worst career losses in his last fight by getting viciously knocked out by Dan Hooker. He redeemed himself with a win against Mizuto Hirota and quite possibly avoided getting cut by the UFC.

His next fight should be against Frank Camacho because he is a person who has a similar style to him and is a person who likes to stand and bang, giving the fans what they want. I feel like Camacho will bring out the best out of Ross and they would give us an entertaining fight.

#4 Jussier Formiga vs #5 Sergio Pettis Being ranked #4 Jussier Formiga doesn't have many opponents he could face and after beating #8 Ben Nguyen he has to move forward and fight somebody that is ranked even better than that. With Demetrius Johnson probably facing TJ Dillashaw the next logical choice would be Sergio Pettis.

If he wins that he could very well be the next man to challenge for the UFC flyweight championship.

Alexander Volkanovski vs #14 Myles Jury You cannot deny this man a ranked opponent anymore, he has 4 wins in the UFC and an overall record of 16 wins and 1 loss. He absolutely demolished a legit prospect, Jeremy Kennedy, last night and has proven that he is ready for the next level.

Myles Jury is definitely the next level and a man who would push him to the limits, it would be interesting to see if he would be able to deal with the reach of Jury and the intense ground game he possesses.

Israel Adesanya vs Anthony Smith I have waited for quite awhile to see Israel Adesanya in the UFC. When they announced it I made sure to tell people to watch him fight because he is a human highlight reel. He fought Rob Wilkinson last night and stopped him in the second round with precise and calculated damaging strikes. Rob attempted 16 takedowns in those 2 rounds because he knew how dangerous Israel is. I fully believe he is one of the best, if not the best prospect UFC currently has and he holds the potential to do great things.

Anthony Smith should be his next opponent because their styles are practically the same, they are stand up guys who like to throw and knock their opponent out. It has a FOTN potential written all over it.

Dong Hyun Kim vs Scott Holtzman Quietly Dong Hyun Kim has formed a 3 fight winning streak and is ready to take his level of competition to the next stage. Since getting knocked out by Polo Reyes in an insanely crazy fight, he has made a more intelligent, technical approach in his fights and has had much success with it, thus ending up with a 3 fight winning streak.

Scott Holtzman is currently on a 2 fight winning streak having won against Michael McBride and Darrel Horcher via unanimous decision. Holtzman vs Kim makes absolute sense as they are both having momentum at the moment and need to progress to the next level by getting a win over one another.

#13 Tyson Pedro vs #14 Gian Villante Another submission finish happened last night for Tyson Pedro, only this one was his most impressive one yet. He fought Saparbek Safarov and won via kimura in the first round. And an impressive win like that means that he needs to fight a ranked opponent next in order to keep himself relevant and Gian Villante is the type of opponent that would gladly accept that challenge.

Jake Matthews vs Siyar Bahadurzada With a very impressive victory against Li Jingliang, Jake Matthews has improved to 2-0 as a welterweight in the UFC. He needs to keep building his resume in one of the toughest divisions in the UFC and in order to do that he needs to beat people who are also on a winning streak trying to do the same.

Siyar Bahadurzada is currently on a 2 fight winning streak as well with 2 finishes and is the perfect opponent for Jake Matthews. Late in the Summer would be a great time for these two to get it on.

Tai Tuivasa vs Shamil Abdurakhimov One of the most impressive fighters last night, Tai Tuivasa is a destroyer whose fights end exclusively in the first round by a knockout. He is undefeated, young and charismatic which is perfect for the UFC because those kind of fighters are easy to build and promote.

He has already had 2 fights in the UFC and it is time to fight somebody who is a bit more durable and experienced. Shamil Abdurakhimov is coming off a first round knockout win over Chase Sherman and is a challenge for Tai Tuivasa as he presents more threats to the young man. Would love to see this fight happen.

#9 Curtis Blaydes vs #2 Alistair Overeem When the next rankings get updated Curtis Blaydes will probably be in the top #5 of the Heavyweight rankings because last night he beat #5 ranked Mark Hunt. While the fight was not a spectacle, he won it and deserves a higher ranked opponent next.

Alistair Overeem is that next step, he is a highly decorated MMA fighter and a win over him could potentially get him a crack at the championship.

#1 Yoel Romero vs Champion Robert Whittaker No surprises here, the winner of last night main event was bound to fight the champion next. Even though Yoel missed weight and is not the official Interim champion, the fashion in which he finished his last fight cannot deny him a rematch with the champion Robert Whittaker.

Having a rematch with these two fighters so soon is not ideal but is the right thing to do and I am happy to watch it!

#UFC221 #Matchmaker #YoelRomero #CurtisBlaydes #TaiTuivasa