Reinier de Ridder
Although the former ONE Championship double champ had a hard fight on his hands for two rounds in UFC Vegas 100’s co-main event, the third round saw the Dutchman manage to secure a submission over Gerald Meerschaert.
After being one of the foremost gatekeepers in the UFC middleweight division, de Ridder could get a top-15 opponent next, or RDR could still be one fight away.
There is one notable candidate for a ranked fighter who has to give an unranked fighter a chance. Number 15 middleweight Michel Pereira lost his last fight against the wrestling of ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez. He may get a chance to defend his ranking and prove any wrestling improvements he has made by fighting ‘The Dutch Knight,’ a stellar grappler.
De Ridder’s Next Fight: vs #15 Michel Pereira
Gaston Bolanos
Peru’s kickboxing specialist Gaston Bolanos upset Cortavious Romious in a chaotic bantamweight featured bout on Saturday evening. Bolanos’ anti-grappling woes led to him being an underdog, but significant improvements got him the win in a back-and-forth brawl.
Gaston improves to 2-1 in the UFC and could be on the rise again in a stacked bantamweight division. Now may be the perfect time to test him against someone with a veteran status who is down on their luck.
Kyung Ho Kang, aka ‘Mr. Perfect,’ lost his last two to fall to 8-5 (1NC) with the UFC. Kang is known for exciting fights, just like Bolanos, and would test the Peruvian more than any foes have before.
Bolanos’ Next Fight: vs Kyung Ho Kang
Gillian Robertson
The only ranked undercard fighter of UFC Vegas 100 – fourteenth-ranked strawweight, and UFC women’s submission record holder – Gillian Robertson defeated the fighter just ahead of her in the top-15 on Saturday.
Luana Pinheiro could not withstand the wrestling attack, giving up over eight minutes of control time for the Canadian.
Now on a three-fight winning streak against talented foes, Robertson will be at least #13 in the rankings come Tuesday, and will look to continue to climb the ladder with her next outing.
Her opponent could be someone like Marina Rodriguez, who has lost two straight and needs to prove herself against a lower-ranked foe. Loopy Godinez and Angela Hill are also candidates.
Robertson Next Fight: vs #9 Marina Rodriguez
Mansur Abdul-Malik
Many young, undefeated offensive dynamos who earn contracts from the Contender Series enter the UFC only to find they are not as good as they thought. Thus far that is not the case for Abdul-Malik, who still holds a perfect finishing record after his UFC debut against Dusko Todorovic.
Mansur could fight almost anyone next but someone like Cody Brundage makes sense. Brundage is a former collegiate wrestler with ten UFC bouts under his belt who will test Abdul-Malik’s takedown defense in a way Todorovic did not.
Abdul-Malik’s Next Fight: vs Cody Brundage
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