Santos establishes himself as a title contender

Following 14 matchups in the middleweight division, Thiago Santos decided to move up to the light heavyweight division late last year and it is already paying dividends.

After winning his first two bouts in the division against Eryk Anders and Jimi Manuwa, Santos was thrust into the main event of UFC Fight Night in Prague, Czech Republic against fourth-ranked Jan Blachowicz. After two back and forth rounds, Santos caught Blachowicz with one of his trademark power strikes, which dropped his opponent, and Santos followed it up with roughly 25 ground strikes before referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight in the third round.

Smith’s last loss came to Santos in the middleweight division, while Jones has defeated everyone ranked in the top-3 outside of Smith. Santos will likely be ranked fourth next week following the win.

Following the victory, Santos said in his pre-fight interview that he’ll beat Smith again or defeat Jones if he were to face either of them.

European prospects shine in Prague

Two established prospects continued to shine while a promotional newcomer put himself on the map with wins at UFC Fight Night.

Top bantamweight prospect Petr Yan continued his impressive run with his fourth victory in his seven-month UFC tenure with a unanimous decision victory over John Dodson.

The 26-year-old Yan continued to move his way up the bantamweight ladder in spectacular fashion and called for a matchup with Jimmie Rivera following his victory.

Another 26-year-old prospect that continues to show off his skills is Magomed Ankalaev, who lost his UFC debut last March following a hail mary submission loss at 4:59 of the third round to Paul Craig, a fight that he dominated to that point, has now won two in a row following a win over promotional newcomer Klidson Abreu by unanimous decision.

Ismael Naurdiev, a lesser known prospect who was the biggest underdog on the card, surprised many with a unanimous decision win of his own over Michel Prazeres, who was riding an impressive eight-fight win streak. The 22-year-old Naurdiev, known as “The Austrian Wonderboy,” showcased a well-rounded arsenal with dynamic striking and solid grappling that helped him overcome the veteran Prazeres.

Attendance and Bonuses

UFC Fight Night in Prague at the O2 Arena drew 16,583 attendees for a $1,606,176 (USD) gate.

The UFC awarded Performance of the Night bonuses to Santos, heavyweight Stefan Struve, who announced his retirement following his come from behind victory over Marcos Rogério de Lima, Dwight Grant, who scored a highlight reel knockout over Carlo Pedersoli Jr and Michal Oleksiejczuk, who scored a body kick knockout of veteran Gian Villante.

All four athletes earned an additional $50,000.

UFC 236 headlined by two interim title bouts

There has never been a UFC event that had two interim championship matchups on the same card, that is until now. UFC 236, which takes place on April 13 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, will be headlined by an interim lightweight title matchup between featherweight champion Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier and co-headlined by an interim middleweight title matchup between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya.

Holloway lost his UFC debut to Poirier more than seven years ago, but since then, Holloway has gone on to win the undisputed featherweight championship and is currently on a 13 fight win streak.

This will be Holloway’s lightweight debut, which was supposed to happen last April when he filled in for Tony Ferguson as a late notice opponent for current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. That matchup would not come to fruition as the New York State Athletic Commission deemed it unsafe for Holloway to continue cutting weight.

Gastelum was expected to face Robert Whittaker for the middleweight championship earlier this month at UFC 234. However, a medical emergency on the day of the matchup caused Whittaker’s withdrawal from the main event because he needed immediate surgery.

As a result of Whittaker’s withdrawal, Adesanya’s bout against Anderson Silva was promoted to the main event. Before the card took place, UFC President Dana White said that the winner of the fight between Adesanya and Silva would be next in line for a title shot.

Adesanya won a unanimous decision and will face Gastelum for the interim title as a result of what is expected to be a recovery timetable of several months for Whittaker.

Flyweight division continues

In somewhat surprising news, a flyweight bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Wilson Reis was announced for the UFC 236 card. 

The flyweight division continues to move forward despite months of rumours that it would be dissolved.

The expectation of late is that Henry Cejudo would move up to the bantamweight division for the next shot at TJ Dillashaw following Cejudo’s first-round dismantling of Dillashaw in a flyweight championship bout in January.

With the promotion continuing to announce flyweight bouts, perhaps there is still hope that the division remains afloat.