u/DavidSeries

· Navajo Stirling: An undefeated teammate of the LHW champion Carlos Ulberg who's been looking great with 4 straight unranked wins. He's fighting Ion Cutelaba soon and I think after that he deserves a ranked fight.

· Iwo Baraniewski: Another undefeated fighter who's had two super entertaining and quick back-to-back KOs over Ibo Aslan and Austen Lane (granted, this last win is not really impressive). He's now scheduled to fight Billy Elekana and I think, considering he's a very entertaining prospect, they might give him a ranked fight after that.

· Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev: Another undefeated prospect who's also never left the first round in the UFC, with two submission wins over Raffael Cerqueira and Brendson Ribeiro. He's now scheduled to fight Julius Walker.

Flyweight:

· Van (C) vs. Pantoja (#1): It's a no-brainer that Van and Pantoja should go for the rematch. It's a banger fight and the winner can fight the winner of Kape/Horiguchi.

· Taira (#3) vs. Almabayev (#8)/Johnson (#14) (Winner): Now I know this matchmaking sounds weird but hear me out. Almabayev and Johnson are confirmed to be fighting in Baku, I think the winner of this should get a top 5 fight (Almabayev was going to fight Moreno regardless before the fight was cancelled, when Moreno was ranked number 4, so it makes sense for the winner of that fight to get a top 5 fight). Taira vs. Almabayev would be a sick grappling-heavy fight, and I just know the UFC will want to push Charles Johnson if he wins, considering he KOed the champion and number 6 ranked contender Lone'er Kavanagh.

· Royval (#4) vs. Kavanagh (#6): I'm almost certain this fight will happen, it makes sense for both guys, Royval coming off 2 brutal losses, and Kavanagh coming off an extraordinary win over the former 2-time champion. I think this fight is begging to be made, would be a banger, and if Lone'er wins he should get a title elimination bout.

· Albazi (#7) vs. Erceg (#10): Erceg is coming off that spectacular win over Elliott, and Albazi should be fighting down. I think this would be a fun matchup, and it screams "APEX co-main event": the winner could/should get a top 5 fight, maybe against the loser of Royval/Kavanagh.

· Moreno (#9) vs. Nascimento/Raposo (Winner): It's obvious Moreno is not the same as before, I think he should, again, fight outside the rankings. I think the winner of Nascimento (a big prospect in the FLW division) versus Raposo is a good fight for him.

· Elliott (#12) vs. Silva (#15)/Chairez (Winner): Elliott is on his way out, honestly, I think him vs. the winner of Bruno Silva and Edgar Chairez would be a good fight and I think, win or lose, he should consider retiring after that. Don't see him beating anybody in the top 15 anymore.

· Ulanbekov (#13) vs. Morales: Tagir is coming off a devastating submission loss to Horiguchi (to be fair, no shame in that, Kyoji is a great fighter), and should fight outside of the rankings. Joseph Morales, TUF 33's winner who was in the UFC in the past and got cut after losing to Figuereido and Shelton, has been looking good with a win over Idiris and Schnell, and I think he should get a ranked fight. Also, Joseph Morales is a great submission artist and Ulanbekov a dagestani grappler from Abdulmanap's gym, so I figure it could be interesting.

Bantamweight:

· Yan (C) vs. Dvalishvili (#1): Merab clearly deserves the trilogy with Yan, there should be no debate regarding this.

· Nurmagomedov (#2) vs. Martinez (#9): Umar said he has a fight booked, and the only fighter in the top 10 coming off a win who's not booked is David Martinez. Does Martinez deserve such a big step up? No. But it's an interesting fight between Umar and a guy who's been looking very good in his last few fights. It's also pretty much a title elimination bout.

· Vera (#10) vs. Jourdain: Doesn't take a genius to understand that Vera should not be fighting inside the rankings anymore. Charles Jourdain has been looking good and deserves a ranked fight, and I think these two could make it very entertaining.

· Talbott (#11) vs. O'Malley (#2)/Zahabi (#6) (Loser): Talbott said on X he won't fight until the second half of the year. The only thing that makes sense in that case is him maybe fighting the winner or loser of a specific fight. Considering the love the UFC has for his guy, him fighting the loser of O'Malley and Zahabi could be a possibility; in the unlikely scenario that Sean loses, they could set up a great fight between him and Talbott.

· Rosas Jr. (#13) vs. Barcelos (#14): I think this would be a good fight between two interesting contenders in the division. The winner can get a top 10 fight.

· Basharat (#15) vs. Ewing: This fight is pretty much confirmed to be happening and is an absolute banger: an undefeated contender in Basharat versus an amazing prospect in Ewing who's beat two undefeated prospects already in Wellmaker and Estevam. Absolutely sick fight.

Featherweight:

· Volkanovski (C) vs. Evloev (#1): Anybody other than Evloev fighting for the belt right now would be a travesty. Both him and Volkanovski are very known fighters in the UFC (Evloev especially in the Muslim fanbase), so it would attract viewers, and could very well be Volkanovski's retirement fight.

· Murphy (#3) vs. Silva (#6): This is the fight Jean Silva should be getting. A reasonable step up in the top 5 against Lerone, who was 1 win away from fighting Volkanovski. I think it's a great fight for both guys, and it could also be a title eliminator: if Lerone is able to shut down Silva the way Lopes did, he might get a title shot, too.

· Sterling (#4) vs. Lopes (#2)/Garcia (#9) (Winner): Considering Evloev and Silva are both in the title contention conversations, Sterling can't just get a title shot, and same goes for Lopes and Garcia, the winner of that fight would be in a weird spot, with Lopes just having fought Volk twice and Garcia not being too much of a star to skip the line. I think Aljo vs. Lopes/Garcia is the perfect fight and would be THE title eliminator in this division.

· Rodriguez (#5) vs. Vallejos (#10): Yair, who's 1-2 in his last 3 fights, fights once a year, and has only beat Patricio Pitbull recently, has no business being in the top 5 in the current FW division (if anything Jean deserves the #5 spot more than him). I think Yair vs. Vallejos, who's been looking great, is a perfect fight, and screams "Noche UFC main event".

· Zalal (#8) vs. Pico (#13): I think this would be a very entertaining fight. Zalal gets a step down against a great up-and-coming contender, and Pico fights a top 10 guy that won't knock him out and who could make it very interesting.

· Onama (#14) vs. Wood: About time Wood got his deserved top 15 fight. Onama should also fight outside the rankings after getting merked by Steve Garcia.

· Pitbull (#15) vs. Choi/Santos (Winner): Pitbull should, again, fight out of the rankings, and both Doo Hoo Choi and Daniel Santos are interesting prospects in the division. I personally think Sabatini should be getting this ranked fight, but his last fight was very lackluster.

Lightweight:

· Tsarukyan (#2) vs. Oliveira (#3): THE title eliminator in the Lightweight division. Can Arman sit on his ass and wait for a title shot? Absolutely. But I doubt he'd get the title shot that way, considering the treatment he's been getting from the company. I'm not a huge fan of rematches for fights that recently happened, but in this case, there really is no other option for both Arman and Charles.

· Holloway (#4) vs. Ruffy (#10)/Chandler (#13) (Winner): I won't believe Holloway is fighting McGregor until they're both inside the octagon. I think Holloway versus Ruffy would be an absolutely amazing striking matchup, and Holloway vs. Chandler, if Michael manages to shut down Ruffy, would also be entertaining. High level? Not from Chandler's end, but entertaining for sure.

· Gamrot (#7) vs. Salkilld (#12): I'm tired of these prospects getting layup fights. No, Salkilld should not fight Hooker: give him the real gatekeeper of the division and test him.

· Hooker (#7) vs. Moicano (#9): Granted, it's a bit of an unc vs. unc fight, but I think they could make it entertaining.

· Dariush (#15) vs. Retirement: I think Benny should just retire from the sport. He gets chinned by everyone and everything, just no point in him sticking around anymore. Just unnecessary damage, really.

Welterweight:

· Makhachev (C) vs. Machado Garry (#1): Ian Garry 100% deserves the title shot and there should not be any debate. He's beat the #2 ranked guy in Carlos Prates and the former champion in Belal.

· Prates (#2) vs. Makhachev (C)/Machado Garry (#1) (Winner): I think Prates can just wait for the winner of that fight and get a title shot. He, intelligently, doesn't want to risk losing his spot when he can fight for a title already.

· Morales (#3) vs. Usman (#8): The UFC will put Usman in a title eliminator whether we like it or not and whether he deserves it or not. The only person not booked in the top 5 is Morales, and considering Ian Garry and Prates are ahead of him in the title picture, it makes sense for Morales to get another win over a former champion (which both Ian Garry and Carlos Prates have, with Belal and JDM respectively)

· Della Maddalena (#4) vs. Malott (#12)/Medic (#14) (Winner): Malott vs. Medic is not confirmed but it's a matchup I would love and I think the winner could and should get a top 5 fight. JDM's had two devastating losses back to back and should obviously have a reasonable step down. You could match him up against Brady but I think a matchup against Malott or Medic would make for a way more entertaining fight.

· Brady (#6) vs. Amosov (#10): Now I know it's weird for Brady to, again, fight down after 30-25ing the number 9 ranked Welterweight in Buckley. I think this matchup would be a grappling delicacy, and I think if they promise the winner a number 1 contender fight, Brady will accept.

· Edwards (#7) vs. Rodriguez (#15): I don't agree with this matchup but D-Rod said he's probably going to fight Leon.

· Buckley (#9) vs. Page (#13): Great matchup for two guys in a weird spot in the division and with great striking but zero grappling. I think Buckley could get an entertaining fight out of MVP.

· Malott (#12) vs. Medic (#14): I'm tired of this argument that putting two up-and-coming, exciting contenders/prospects against each other is "killing off one of them": this argument doesn't work in a division like Welterweight that is stacked from top to bottom. Malott and Medic would be a sick fight for the main event of UFC Serbia, and the winner, as I mentioned, should get a top 5 fight  against Jack Della Maddalena.

Middleweight:

· Strickland (C) vs. Imavov (#3): I think this rematch for the belt makes a lot of sense. Imavov is riding a great winning streak, and it's a more requested fight than Strickland vs. Du Plessis 3.

· Du Plessis (#2) vs. Pyfer (#6): Considering Dricus told Borralho on Instagram that he's not going to fight him, I think the other matchup that makes sense is him against Pyfer, a guy riding a lot of momentum in the division at the moment, unlike Borralho who, as impressive as the win against RDR was, didn't get a finish and is on a 1 fight win streak. If Pyfer manages to beat DDP, he's for sure going to fight for the belt.

· Borralho (#4) vs. Allen (#4)/Shahbazyan (Winner): A matchup that does make sense for Borralho is the winner of Allen (who is on a weird spot in the division himself, too) and Shahbazyan (who, honestly, I don't know why is fighting Brendan Allen). The winner of this fight could get a title elimination bout or even a title shot if Strickland (or whoever's the champion) is active.

· Hernandez (#6) vs. Rodrigues (#12): I think it's time for Robocop to get the big step up he deserves. Anthony Hernandez was looking great until the loss to Strickland and should, obviously, fight down, and who better to fight after a loss than one of the hottest contenders in the top 10-15 of the middleweight division? I personally think this screams "APEX main event", and I think in a 5-rounder it could be a very entertaining scrap.

· Adesanya (#9) vs. Belgaroui: Belgaroui, even though he beat two very good prospects in Bekoev and Abdul-Malik, doesn't particularly deserve a ranked fight just yet. But, considering his history with Adesanya, having fought and lost to him in Glory, and the fact that he also fought Pereira and is now his teammate, I think a potential retirement main event for Adesanya versus Yousri would be a poetic ending to a legendary career, and it builds up a hot prospect in Belgaroui.

· Cannonier (#10) vs. Duncan (#12): This is an entertaining fight, and it definitely screams "APEX main event" to me.

· Dolidze (#15) vs. Gautier: I think a good way to get Ateba's feet wet inside the top 15 is Dolidze. The UFC clearly doesn't want Gautier to get fraud checked just yet, and I think a fight against Dolidze is good enough for Gautier to not get fraud checked, but Dolidze is still good enough (and is a ranked fighter) for a win over him to matter. We're not talking about a can, like the ones they've been feeding to Ateba.

Light Heavyweight:

· Ankalaev (#1) vs. Costa (#7): I think this fight, regardless of it being for the interim belt or not (personally I think it should be) makes the most sense in the division. Everybody until the #8 spot in the rankings is coming off a loss or draw except Costa and Pereira (but he's moving to HW so it doesn't count), and Ankalaev is the only guy in there who isn't coming off a loss to another guy in the top 8 (again, not counting Pereira): Jiri lost to Ulberg, Jan had a draw with Guskov, Khalil lost to Jiri, Hill lost to Khalil, Azamat lost to Costa..., you get my point? Could Chimaev fight Costa at 205? Absolutely, but considering Khamzat hasn't been active, took damage against Strickland, and is moving a division, I think Costa can't afford to wait for him when he could fight Ankalaev for the interim belt and then face the champion. We should probably save Costa vs. Chimaev for when one of them gets the 205 belt.

· Prochazka (#3) vs. Chimaev: I think the best matchup for a guy like Chimaev who won't fight until next year is another guy who is probably taking some time off after getting flatlined by Ulberg and who just had a child. Jiri vs. Chimaev as a numbered event co-main event is a banger of a fight if I've ever seen one.

· Rountree Jr. (#5) vs. Oezdemir (#9): Rountree should not fight inside the top 5 and Oezdemir is coming off a great win over Menifield. I think this would be a very entertaining matchup.

· Hill (#6) vs. De Ridder: RDR is definitely moving to Light Heavyweight and Hill, who is coming off 3 straight losses (granted, to 3 very high level fighters, but still losses), doesn't have much matchups in the division that make sense. It's a good step down for Hill (fighting a guy unranked in the division, but obviously ranked in MW) and a good first fight for RDR in LHW to get his feet wet in the division.

· Murzakanov (#8) vs. Reyes (#11): Azamat who just lost pretty brutally to Costa should fight down and I think Reyes who's coming off that lackluster win over Walker is a reasonable step down for him.

· Krylov (#13) vs. Whittaker: This fight is rumored to be happening and it makes a lot of sense for Whittaker's first fight in the division. As a small fighter for LHW standards, chucking him against a highly skilled fighter in this division would probably be unfair.

Heavyweight:

· Aspinall (C) vs. Pereira/Gane (#1) (Winner): Aspinall should obviously fight the Interim Champion.

· Volkov (#2) vs. Pereira/Gane (#1) (Loser): Honestly Volkov already deserves the title shot but I still think he needs to fight somebody while Aspinall fights the interim champion. The UFC might just skip him considering the kinda disappointing performance he had against Waldo and against Jailton. As much as I consider he won the rematch against Gane, it's still a loss on paper. A win over either Pereira or Gane the third time around would be the best statement possible.

· Cortes Acosta (#4) vs. Pericic (#14): This would 100% be fireworks and should be put in some sort of aussie card. Pericic has been looking great, granted, not against the best opponents, but he's a breath of fresh air in the division and the UFC will and should push him the same way they did with Hokit.

· Spivac (#6) vs. Walker (#13): Walker said he has a fight booked and him against Spivac makes a lot of sense and is a winnable fight for Walker while still being a great win over the number 6 ranked contender. I originally said he should fight Blaydes but if Walker is now ranked it's absolutely impossible he's fighting Blaydes who just had a war with Hokit.

· Blaydes (#7) vs. Petrino: Petrino's been looking great and deserves a ranked fight. The UFC is clearly putting the HW prospects in these big fights in hopes of saving a division, which they're having success in, as far as I'm aware.

· Delija (#11) vs. Walker: This fight is rumored to be happening and I think it makes sense for Walker to move to HW, adding another contender and layer of goofiness to a division that's slowly becoming pretty good.

· Tybura (#12) vs. Rakic: Rakic is apparently moving to Heavyweight and I think ranking wise a fight against Tybura, pretty much the HW gatekeeper, makes a lot of sense.

Khamzat should move to 205 honestly. The weight cut is too much for him and he’s better off looking to get a second belt: it’s like if Pereira tried to go for the trilogy (not counting the Glory fights) with Izzy instead of moving up.