In the co-main, a potential new star was born in Brandon Moreno, who submitted Deiveson Figueiredo in the third round.
Vettori and Till were supposed to fight earlier this year, but Till withdrew with a broken collarbone.
Not the most exciting name to move on to, coming off such a high profile bout — but there’s a storyline here.
I think Moreno can be a very popular champ, even if he’s fighting a lesser known opponent.
If you don’t do the last man Moreno fought to a draw, do the last man to beat him.
Garbrandt was actually supposed to fight Figueiredo for the title in November, but had to pull out due to medical issues.
He is right there in the rankings, coming off a win over Joseph Benavidez in March.
The UFC has a great problem on its hands, in that it has two very good, very legitimate options for the defending champion, Kamaru Usman.
Now that’s fine, and I understand why he didn’t have any interest in Edwards, but if you turn down that fight you run the risk of Edwards passing you in the queue if he’s active and putting on good performances.
Usman wants to be very active — and I imagine Covington wouldn’t mind fighting more frequently on a champion’s salary, if he were to pull the upset.
But regardless, in the event Edwards’ next fight is not for a championship, I think Chiesa as an opponent makes a lot of sense.
If McGregor loses to Dustin Poirier on July 10, isn’t this the fight to make? In fact, it’s the one to close out the year.
I want to at least mention Jorge Masvidal as another option, but to me that’s not the way to go.
A fight between Diaz and Ferguson has made so much sense for such a long time.
Neither of them really wants to cut to 155 pounds.
Diaz has never really been interested in fighting Ferguson, but perhaps now is the time.