UFC Fight Night 214 went down inside the APEX facility on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and it was pretty much par for the course for cards of its kind: mostly devoid of relevant fighters, but chock-full of rising prospects and fan-friendly veterans.
Headlining honors for the event went to a clash of Brazilian strawweight contenders, as No. 4-ranked Marina Rodriguez risked her spot in the weight class against No. 7-ranked Amanda Lemos. Rodriguez was a slight favorite heading into the fight, but she was ultimately stopped by a series of third-round hooks.
Beyond the main event, the only ranked fighters on the card were in the co-headlining slot, where 13th-ranked welterweight contender Neil Magny took on fellow American Daniel Rodriguez, who was ranked one spot behind him at No. 14. Magny won the fight with a third-round D’Arce choke, setting the record for most victories in UFC welterweight history in the process.
Other big winners of the night included flyweight prospect Miranda Maverick, who dominated Shanna Young to a lopsided unanimous-decision loss on the main card, and Brazilian strawweight Polyana Viana, who locked up a $50,000 post-fight bonus with a stunning, 47-second knockout of Jinh Yu Frey on the undercard.
Keep scrolling to see who we’re hoping to see the stars of this card fight next.
Amanda Lemos vs. Esparza-Zhang winner
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
After her impressive knockout victory over Marina Rodriguez in the UFC Fight Night 214 main event, Lemos is now on a two-fight win streak. Since Rodriguez was ranked No. 4 at strawweight heading into the matchup, the victorious puncher can be just about guaranteed a spot in the Top 5 when the rankings are updated on Tuesday.
At this point, she has as strong a case for a title shot as anybody in her weight class. Given that she’s already 35 years old, we say the UFC should give her that opportunity.
The strawweight title will next be on the line when champion Carla Esparza defends her belt against former champ Zhang Weili in the co-main event of UFC 281 on November 12 in New York City.
Lemos should be next for the belt no matter which woman leaves the Octagon victorious in The Big Apple. The only other option would be giving a title shot to former champ Rose Namajunas, but she has fought both Esparza and Zhang twice before.
Let’s go with the fresh fight—at least for now.
Marina Rodriguez vs. Rose Namajunas
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC.
Marina Rodriguez experienced the toughest moment of her competitive career in the UFC Fight Night 214 main event, suffering a third-round knockout loss at the hands of Lemos.
Luckily for Rodriguez, she is unlikely to fall too far in defeat. It was the first stoppage loss of her career and just her second setback overall. It was also a bit of a sketchy stoppage—some fans felt the referee intervened too early—which should also soften the sting of defeat.
Presuming Lemos gets the next crack at the winner of Esparza and Zhang’s UFC 281 title fight next weekend, we’d like to see Marina Rodriguez make her return against former champ Rose Namajunas.
Namajunas has not fought since she lost the title with a totally forgettable split-decision defeat to Esparza earlier this year. It’s possible she will be granted a title shot in her next fight, particularly if Zhang wins the title next weekend, but we’d prefer to see her work her way back into contention.
A fight with Rodriguez, who should be able to engage the former champ in a fun fight on the feet, seems like the perfect choice.
Neil Magny vs. Gilbert Burns
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Magny once again proved himself as a world-class welterweight in the UFC Fight Night 214 co-main event, submitting 14th-ranked contender Daniel Rodriguez with a third-round D’Arce choke. The win also cemented him as the winningest fighter in the history of the UFC welterweight division, as he surpassed the great Georges St-Pierre with his 20th victory in the weight class.
There’s no two ways around it: it was a great night for Magny. One of the best of his career. For that reason, we’re inclined to support his post-fight call-out of former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, specifically for a fight at the UFC’s January return to Brazil.
“Today is just a glimpse of what I’ve been working on,” he said in his post-fight interview with commentator Daniel Cormier. “Gilbert Burns, let’s do it in Brazil.”
On paper, Burns looks like a nightmare matchup for Magny. In fact, the Brazilian bares some similarities to fighters that have totally whooped Magny in the past—namely Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos. Still, Magny deserves some kind of reward for his impressive and historic win over Rodriguez. If it’s a fight with Burns he wants, we say give it to him.
Burns, for his part, seems to be interested in the idea, though he claims he’s been offered a different matchup for the UFC’s January stop in Brazil, so we may need to get that out of the way first.
Miranda Maverick vs. Cynthia Calvillo
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Maverick was the picture of dominance in her UFC Fight Night 214 main card flyweight fight with Shanna Young, completing five takedowns and racking up 9:14 of control time en route to a unanimous-decision win.
After the win, she called for a fight with England’s Molly McCann, who has developed a cult following over the past year thanks to a pair of stoppage wins over Luana Carolina and Hannah Goldy and her association with increasingly popular featherweight contender Paddy Pimblett.
It was a good call-out, but it ignored the fact that McCann is currently slated for a UFC 281 fight with Erin Blanchfield, the division’s No. 12 contender. If the Brit wins that fight, she’ll be a few rungs above Maverick on the flyweight ladder, so let’s try something else.
Our pick is a fight with 14th-ranked flyweight contender Cynthia Calvillo. Calvillo was once viewed by many as a future title challenger, but after suffering her fourth straight loss with a split-decision defeat to Nina Nunes in August, she’s in dire need of a win.
Pit her against Maverick to see who really belongs in the flyweight Top 15.
Polyana Viana vs. Jessica Penne
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC.
On a night of big winners, Viana was one of the biggest winners of all. The 30-year-old Brazilian strawweight posted a stunning TKO win over Jinh Yu Frey on the UFC Fight Night 214 undercard, and she needed only 47 seconds to make it happen.
The win, which came with a $50,000 post-fight bonus, should set the popular strawweight prospect up for a big test. Our pick is a fight with 15th-ranked strawweight contender Jessica Penne.
Viana is still just one win removed from a decision loss to Tabatha Ricci, so you could argue it’s still a little early to be giving her a ranked opponent. Then again, it’s not like Penne, a 39-year-old former title challenger, is a world-beater at this stage in her career. It’s also not every day we see strawweights deliver stoppage wins like Viana’s at UFC Fight Night 214, so this is a bit of a special case.
It looks like a fun fight on paper, and it would give us a great sense of where the two women stand at this stage of their careers. Why not?
Source: Bleacher Report
