After another strong UFC event, the question on everyone’s mind is “Who should the Quillan Salkilld fight next”?
The main event of UFC Vegas 120 saw Salkilld win the biggest fight of his career as he submitted Mateusz Gamrot 4:25 into the first round. This win extends his record to 13-1 and pushes his first-round finish streak to 4. He is undefeated in the UFC through six fights.
With this victory against Gamrot, Salkilld becomes only the second fighter to finish Mateusz and puts him among the elite of the lightweight division. As the win is still fresh in the UFC’s busiest weight class, here are two fights to make for Salkilld next.
After his win against 8th-ranked Gamrot, Salkilld should jump from his 12th ranking and be ranked just outside the top five of the lightweight division. This would put him in a prime spot to fight the 6th-ranked BenoƮt Saint Denis.
Denis recently received an opportunity to fight towards the top end of the division but suffered a first-round loss to 5th-ranked Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329. By losing in that manner, Denis will most likely have to fight a rising fighter to fend off his position in the rankings.
This is a logical matchup for both fighters, as Salkilld needs another fight before fighting in the top five, and Denis needs a bounce-back win. Most fighters in the top five either have a scheduled bout or will be looking to fight upwards and get closer to the current champion, Justin Gaethje.
On paper, Salkilld will have the advantage over Denis, as he just displayed his grappling prowess against Gamrot. After getting stunned with a left hook, Gamrot attempted to lock in a leg submission, but Salkilld got out of it. He then took Gamrot’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke to earn the first-round submission win.
Meanwhile, in Denis’ last fight, he was submitted in 52 seconds after attempting to take Pimblett down.
This could be an interesting fight, as both competitors have strong finishing ability. If these two were to matchup, it would surely be a Fight of the Night candidate and unlikely to make it out of the first round.
The UFC has recently announced that Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy will fight at UFC 331 on September 19th. This fight could move one of them into title contention at 155, as Tsarukyan is currently ranked #2 and Ruffy is ranked #7 in the lightweight division. It was also reported that this fight was supposed to be Arman rematching Charles Oliveira, but that fight fell through.
With the winner of this fight most likely entering title contention, the loser will have to fight a surging lightweight to keep their top ranking in the division. This would put Salkilld as the top option for the loser’s next bout.
Since Ruffy has struggled with wrestlers in the past, most recently against Denis, he is unfavored to defeat Tsarukyan. Arman is one of, if not the best, wrestlers in the lightweight division and could use his skill set to neutralize Ruffy on the ground as his pathway to victory.
If Ruffy loses, that will place Salkilld potentially matching up against him in the future. This would see two of the more impressive finishers in the division facing each other, which would be intriguing.
In his last two fights, Ruffy has knocked out Michael Chandler and Rafael Fiziev. Salkilld is also no stranger to KOs, as he finished Beneil Dariush and Nasrat Haqparast.
If Arman loses, a fight with Salkilld will be a bigger fight. Both are viewed as legitimate future title contenders and could match each other’s skills in striking and grappling.
Salkilld’s victory against Gamrot at UFC Vegas 120 shows that he’s not just a prospect. He’s a legit contender. After the fight, he explained how he wanted to fight someone around the top five in November.
For a fight later this year, Denis would be a great option as he stays very active, and the fight could be a co-main event of a numbered card. If that doesn’t align well, the loser of Tsarukyan and Ruffy could be another choice to keep one of the UFC’s hottest divisions going.
Either way, the question of “Who should Quillan Salkilld fight next?” could be answered fairly soon.
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