5 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night 216

UFC Fight Night 216, the company's final event of 2022, went down on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Whether you feel the promotion closed out the year with a bang or a whimper is a matter of opinion. The card featured a ton of exciting action but, like most Fight Night events, was pretty sparse in terms of big names.

The top spot on the bill was filled by a clash of middleweight contenders, as No. 3 Jared Cannonier took on No. 7 Sean Strickland. It was a razor-close contest over five rounds, but Cannonier ultimately defeated his fellow American by split decision.

The co-headlining attraction was also a clash of Top 15 contenders, as No. 9-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan from Armenia took on Kazakhstan's Damir Ismagulov, ranked No. 12. Tsarukyan won the fight by unanimous decision.

Earlier on the card, No. 8 flyweight contender Amir Albazi, from Iraq, further cemented himself as one of the division's top contenders, stopping Alessandro Costa in Round 3 to improve to 4-0 in the Octagon.

Drew Dober was also among the big winners of the night, recovering from some early adversity to flatten Bobby Green with a left hook in the second round of a main card lightweight fight.

Keep scrolling for the fights we're hoping to see when the stars of the card are ready to get back to action in 2023.

Jared Cannonier's split-decision victory over Sean Strickland in the UFC Fight Night 216 main event was a source of immediate controversy, with many viewers—and Strickland himself—scoring the fight the other way.

But a win is a win, and after losing a decision to Israel Adesanya in a failed middleweight title bid last time out, Cannonier definitely needed one.

Now that he's back in the win column, Cannonier has options. The best of the bunch would probably be a fight with Brazil's Paulo Costa, who is one of the few Top 10 middleweights he has yet to fight and one of the few who can match him in terms of stopping power.

Unfortunately, Costa seems to be in a bit of a contract dispute with the UFC, which has raised questions about his planned fight with Robert Whittaker, so now's probably not the time to be booking him for fights.

So instead, we suggest Cannonier is matched up with South Africa's Dricus Du Plessis. Du Plessis is ranked No. 10 in the division, quite a distance below Cannonier, but after a submission win over Darren Till at UFC 282 earlier this month, he's ready for a big step up in competition.

Cannonier would be just that, and given the ridiculous power both men possess, it seems unlikely this one would go the distance.

With his controversial split-decision loss to Jared Cannonier on Saturday night, Sean Strickland is now on a two-fight skid, having been knocked out by current champ Alex Pereira in his next most recent fight.

It's the first time in his professional career he has ever lost back-to-back fights, and we're guessing he'll be keen to put this streak behind him as quickly as possible.

Our pick for his next opponent is Derek Brunson.

Brunson has long been one of the middleweight division's top contenders, but he has never fought for the title. And after a stoppage loss to Cannonier in his last appearance at UFC 271 in February, he will need a big win to put himself back in position for one.

A fight with Strickland, who remains one of the division's top fighters even after two losses, would give him that opportunity.

Arman Tsarukyan's unanimous-decision win in the UFC Fight Night 216 co-main event put him back in the win column after a loss to Mateusz Gamrot, and it set him up for more big opportunities in the jam-packed lightweight division.

Unfortunately for the No. 9-ranked contender, things are a bit murky at lightweight right now. The division's champion Islam Makhachev is set to defend his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February, and it's unclear what Top 5 contenders like Beneil Dariush, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje are planning to do in the meantime—it certainly seems unlikely any of them would take a high-risk, low-reward fight with an up-and-comer like Tsarukyan.

Rafael Fiziev, meanwhile, is due for a bigger opportunity than Tsarukyan after six straight wins, while Michael Chandler and Rafael dos Anjos both seem set on fighting Conor McGregor.

All that to say, for a ranked contender in one of the UFC's best divisions, Tsarukyan may find himself a bit short on options for his next fight.

Of the options available, our pick is a clash with Jalin Turner. Turner is ranked one spot behind Tsarukyan at No. 10, but after five straight stoppage wins, he's due for a big fight and is also short on viable options.

Pit these two against each other on an upcoming pay-per-view and hopefully the lightweight pecking order is a little clearer by the time their fight is over.

At this point, there's no refuting that Iraq's Amir Albazi is one of the best flyweights in the world. After stopping Alessandro Costa on the UFC Fight Night 216 main card, he is 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the UFC.

He was already ranked No. 9 at flyweight heading into the fight, and after the fact, he is ready for a fight with one of the division's top dogs. Our pick is a showdown with fifth-ranked Matheus Nicolau.

Like Albazi, Brazil's Nicolau is riding four straight wins in the Octagon, the latest being a stunning KO of Matt Schnell. With many of the flyweight division's top fighters either booked for other fights or injured, he's a bit short on options.

A scrap with Albazi makes perfect sense. They are on identical streaks in the UFC, have similar records, are positioned close to each other in the flyweight rankings, and best of all, are two of the best finishers in the weight class.

Throw it on a pay-per-view main card, and give the winner a crack at the winner of Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno's upcoming title fight, slated for UFC 283 in Brazil next month.

Drew Dober posted a pretty epic win at UFC Fight Night 216, overcoming some early adversity to knock Bobby Green out cold in the second round of a Fight of the Night-winning lightweight scrap.

With that result, he's now on a three-fight streak—all finishes. It's probably still a bit early for a fight with a ranked opponent, but he's definitely due for a step up in competition.

Our pick is either Georgia's Guram Kutateladze or Brazil's Thiago Moises. The two lightweights are set to meet at UFC 283 next month in Brazil. While both are currently coming off losses, the winner of their fight will be right on the cusp of the lightweight Top 15. A fight with Dober, who is in a similar position himself, would be a perfect next step for either man.