Fights to Make After UFC 317: Topuria, Pantoja & More

What fights should happen next after UFC 317?

We matchmake for Ilia Topuria, Charles Oliveira, Alexandre Pantoja, and more.

#UFC #UFC317 #Matchmaking #FightsToMake #mma

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Transcript

00:00What should be next? A couple of major stars were made out of UFC 317, so how should the promotion

00:07build on this? What should be next for some of the breakthrough fighters at UFC 317? Well,

00:13luckily, I'm here to tell the promotion what they need to do. These are the fights to make

00:17coming out of UFC 317. So UFC 317 was able to captivate the audience and really draw in the

00:32attention. Now it's time to take advantage of that. Now it's time to pivot and see what is next for

00:37these fighters who got all this attention. Let's start at the top. Ilya Tepuria. This isn't the

00:42biggest name. And there is obviously a big name fight out there for him. And if they wanted to go

00:49the Paddy Pimblet route, okay. I could see it. If you just want to keep building a star, that is a

00:55very compelling way of doing that. And I would have a tough time arguing, quite frankly. If we are going

01:01on merit, and I still think that there are questions to be answered for Tepuria, I think he answers a

01:06lot of them if it is Armin Sarukyan going into it. And I think this one makes sense for a few

01:11different ways. One, like on the challenger side, Sarukyan never got his title opportunity after

01:15winning a number one contenders fight. Now Dana White suggesting that it was a weight cutting issue,

01:19not an illness slash injury problem. But I still think he earned his championship fight, so he

01:25deserves that title opportunity. Plus, I think he presents a style challenge for Tepuria that would

01:31answer a lot of questions for him at 155 pounds. I think that, like you could go the Pimblet fight

01:36for Tepuria next, and he could go out and just absolutely blast that dude, and we keep doing

01:41with the big thing, but then eventually he fights someone like Sarukyan, and the wheels kind of come

01:46off a little bit. Maybe. I'm not saying they do. But I think this way you see really and truly what

01:52you have in Tepuria at 155 pounds, and I think that that is a good way to see, like, okay, is this guy

02:02for really for real against someone who is not going to fight the style that he needs them to fight?

02:07This is a puzzle he's going to have to figure out. Can he do that now? And look, if he does, then you

02:14obviously can just go full bore in building up this guy as your next GOAT. You can also have a very

02:22compelling conversation, if you want to turn this guy into a star, about, look, we never gave Conor

02:26matchups this tough on his rise, and he's passing us with flying colors. Like, I think there are a lot of

02:30different promotional ways that this would actually benefit the UFC in the long run. So what would be

02:35next for Paddy Pimblett? Well, why not the guy Tepuria beat? It's not the championship, but it's

02:41close. I think that, like, a lot of people wanted Paddy maybe to get that title shot, and a lot of

02:48people assume that's what's next after that whole stare down thing. It's not like the UFC hasn't

02:52pivoted from that type of a situation before, and I think sober second thoughts will come in on this.

02:58Now, this is a little bit of hypocrisy for me, because I have been saying I want a real challenge

03:05for Paddy Pimblett, and not just another aging veteran. And this looks more like an aging veteran.

03:10But I do still think that Oliveira is of a level that, like, if Ilya Tepuria just decided, you know

03:16what, I actually like cheesecake, so 205 pounds for me. I think Oliveira is still at, like, that-ish

03:23level of the mountaintop, and is at least someone that you need to beat to prove that you can compete

03:30for a championship at 155 pounds. So I think it gets Pimblett another big-name fight, it gets him

03:36another opportunity to show what he can do, and a win in this one would all but certainly lock him up

03:41for a championship bout. And for Oliveira, we just said, I don't think he's a title challenger anymore,

03:45and I think his days of being a relevant player in the UFC's 155-pound division are done.

03:49Um, prove me wrong, and go out and beat the next hotness at 155 pounds. This next one is the

03:57easiest one we've ever done in this segment. It's Pantoja against Van. There's no question about it.

04:02Pantoja coming off of a dominant performance, Van coming off of a star-making month, where he fought

04:08twice in 21 days, including a fight-of-the-year contender. You just, you do this. Even if Van loses,

04:14he is still going to get people viewing him as a title contender, and it is a, um, shoot for the moon,

04:19and you might end up in the stars sort of a thing. Like, even, even if he loses, he's still 24. He can

04:25figure out why he lost and still be a great challenger. We have passed the too-much-too-soon

04:29part of the development for Van. Let's go right into going for a championship now, and just see where

04:36he is at. Uh, don't forget to, if you're watching on YouTube, uh, hit that subscribe button, and also,

04:43if you want to know when we got videos coming up for Couch Potato Diary, hit the notification bell

04:48as well. All that stuff really does help this podcast grow. For the two guys who were in the

04:54fights against the dudes who we have going for the title next, now why not? Let's just do full

04:58tournament style. This is the bronze medal fight of, uh, UFC 317. As Kaikara France, I have him next

05:04against Brandon Royval. Um, if this is boxing, you probably want to give, obviously, or honestly,

05:09you want to give both of these guys probably, like, tune up, stay busy fights. For KKF, you would want

05:15it to be a, uh, let's just get this guy back on track sort of a thing. Um, I think that that would

05:20be a, like, that would be the way boxing would do it. It would be against a guy with a decent record,

05:25but not, like, a real whatever, just to get him back on track, and let's build this challenger

05:29back up again. And for Royval, he's coming off of an epic fight of the night, um, or fight of the

05:33year, potentially. Let's give him a fight that just, uh, keeps the ball rolling a little bit, keeps his

05:37name out there, and then we'll see how the championship fight goes. But this isn't boxing. This is

05:42the UFC. And I think that these guys, they're on the same timeline, and the winner at least stays

05:47within striking distance of Josh Vann if he were to win the championship. I don't think either of

05:52them's getting a, uh, a hope of getting the belt if Pantoja wins, although Pantoja could be moving up

05:57if he gets that, because at that point we've kind of cleared things out. So either way, these guys stay

06:01hovering distance of a championship in the UFC, um, whoever picks up a win in that fight. Last couple

06:08here, uh, Benil Dariush, I have him against, uh, Rafael Fazeev. Fazeev coming off of a win last

06:13month as well, so they're both basically on the same timeline. He had lost three in a row at one

06:19point, Fazeev, and so this is a good chance for him to work his way back up and see where he really

06:23stands, because it's a couple of losses against Gaethje and one against, um, Gamrod. The one last week

06:31against Bahamondes doesn't, I think, really establish anything, but this is a test, and it is one that

06:37Moicano did not pass, but this is a test to see, like, okay, yes, you've lost to a couple high-level

06:41fighters, but where are you really at? And Bahamondes, okay, we've at least passed that level, now can

06:47you pass the, the Benil Dariush one? So I think it makes sense. And then again, we're kind of doing

06:51winners against winners, losers against losers. I have Moicano against Ignacio Bahamondes. Back-to-back

06:56losses for Moicano after becoming number one contender, that is not great. So I think that he has kind of

07:04moved to the back of the pack in terms of public interest, and in terms of the UFC rankings right

07:09now. Bahamondes isn't in the rankings, but he's also coming off of a loss, and again, on the same

07:15timeline, I think it gives Moicano a chance to see, like, okay, how far has this fallen? Let's try to

07:19get you back on track here, get a win, and see where you're actually at in this division, and for

07:24Bahamondes, it's a chance to fight a guy who is challenged for a championship and really test

07:28yourself in that way. So I think it's an interesting bout, and would be one that would make sense

07:32for both sides. A reminder that Couch Potato Diary, we're trying to grow here, so if you could help

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07:46that you like, get in on the fight conversation, because we really want to grow Couch Potato Diary.

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Fights to Make After UFC 317: Topuria, Pantoja & More

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