UFC Vegas 122 is in the books, as Saturday’s headliner saw Brendan Allen submit Christian Leroy Duncan after nearly five rounds of back and forth action. Meanwhile, Jai Herbert prevailed over Matheus Camilo in the co-main, whie Lupita Godinez retained her ranking against former Invicta champion Ketlen Souza.
In the aftermath of the event, here are three lessons learned.
In the second fight of the night, Alice Pereira hit Darya Zheleznyakova with so hard an elbow that the Russian straight-up quit between rounds. Pereira then followed it up with a fiery message directed towards detractors of women’s bantamweight, which she is honestly perfectly qualified to do given her youth and potential.
It is no secret that women’s 135 is the weakest of the UFC’s weight classes, having only 24 active fighters after Miesha Tate’s recent removal from the rankings. That is a stunningly small pool for what was once the premier women’s division. Pereira’s advocative message should serve as a wake-up call for the matchmakers – scout and sign more fighters.
There are already encouraging signs of a divisional revival. Luana Santos and Bia Mesquita, two of Pereira’s compatriots, have crucial bouts over the coming weeks. Former Oktagon two-weight champion Lucia Szabova makes her Octagon debut on the same card as Santos. Finally, Smilla Sundell is a lock to secure a contract at the Dana White’s Contender Series finale this coming Thuesday. Now, the UFC just needs to heed “The Golden Girl”‘s words.
Gerald Meerschaert has had quite the career. Since joining the UFC in 2017, he has give fans multiple highlight-reel finishes, many of them bonus-winning, despite never fully emerging as a title contender.
Alas, the magic of “GM3″‘s glory days (if they can be called that), has been absent of late. Saturday’s pounding at the hands of Julius Walker marked his sixth straight loss, dangerously putting him near Tony Ferguson and Tai Tuivasa levels of futility.
At 39 years of age, Meerschaert is no closer to finding that career resurgence anymore. The UFC needs to have a brutally honest talk with him, and he needs to accept that it is over and save himself before it all gets worse.
Nearly a year ago, Allen had his breakout moment when he broke Reiner de Ridder within three rounds in a main-event clash in Vancouver. That win should have put Allen in a position to climb the rankings in his next fight, but instead he bizarrely drew Edmen Shahbazyan, who was ranked below him.
Well, Allen passed the test, so that should have meant an upgrade, right? Wrong; he was instead given another lower-ranked fighter in Duncan. Allen passed the test again, so now he needs upward mobility.
Former champion Dricus Du Plessis is coming off a win over Kamaru Usman and is ranked above Allen. That potential banger screams “arena headliner” – one that could produce the next challenger or even champion, depending on what the UFC does with an unhappy Sean Strickland.
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Next up for the UFC is Edmonton. The main event sees local up-and-comer Mike Malott try to make inroads into the welterweight top 10 against Joaquin Buckley. Canada has been starved of a top contender at that division since Georges St-Pierre reigned as champion until 2013, and “Proper” represents its best bet yet.
No other fight has as mush stakes as the co-main, however, as flyweight contenders Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius clash. An emphatic performance by either woman should put them past Alexa Grasso at the queue for a shot at new champion Natalia Silva.
The highlight of the prelims is the return of former flyweight challenger Katlyn Cerminara (nee Chookagian). She will be welcomed back to the Octagon after two years away by Mackenzie Stiller, who makes her promotional debut 10 lbs. north. The rest of the card features a smattering of Canadians looking for a home win.
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