Picture by Esther Lin.
A crazy turn of events hours before the card was due to start, saw reigning middleweight king Robert Whittaker require emergency surgery, leading to his fight with contender Kelvin Gastelum being removed from the card; which saw original co-main event “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya face the former middleweight champ and one of the greatest fighters of all time, Anderson Silva, take the main event slot, with ‘Groovy’ Lando Vannata facing debutant Marcos Mariano in the new co main event.
We saw a bunch of finishes and a plethora of great performances at UFC 234; in this article I will take UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby’s job and choose which fights I believe will make sense in the future for both the winners and the losers.
Main Card:
Israel Adesanya def. Anderson Silva via Unanimous Decision-
Israel Adesanya vs Jacare Souza
Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz (if he returns)
Lando Vannata def. Marcos Mariano via Submission (Kimura)-
Lando Vannata vs Jim Miller
Marcos Mariano vs John Gunther
Ricky Simon def. Rani Yahya via Unanimous Decision-
Ricky Simon vs Cody Stamann
Rani Yahya vs Louis Smolka
Montana De La Rosa def. Nadia Kassem via Submission (Armbar)
Montana De La Rosa vs Mara Romero Borella
Nadia Kassem vs Rachael Ostovich
Jimmy Crute def. Sam Alvey via TKO
Jimmy Crute vs Nikita Krylov
Sam Alvey vs Adam Milstead
Prelims:
Devonte Smith def. Dong Hyun Ma via TKO
Devonte Smith vs Vinc Pichel
Dong Hyun Ma vs Nick Hein
Shane Young def. Austin Arnett via Unanimous Decision
Shane Young vs Geraldo de Freitas
Austin Arnett vs Tyler Diamond
Kai Kara-France def Raulian Paiva via Unanimous Decision
Kai Kara-France vs Rogério Bontorin
Raulian Paiva vs Ashkan Mokhtarian
Kyung Ho Kang def. Teruto Ishihara via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Kyung Ho Kang vs Brad Katona
Teruto Ishihara vs Davey Grant
Fight Pass Prelims:
Jalin Turner def. Callan Potter via KO
Jalin Turner vs Matt Frevola
Callan Potter vs Devin Powell
Jonathan Martinez def. Wuliji Buren via Unanimous Decision
Jonathan Martinez vs Andre Soukhamthath
Wuliji Buren vs Augusto Mendes
*Let me know what you think of my choices on Twitter!*
