5 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night 200

As the lone event sandwiched between the gargantuan UFC 270 and 271 pay-per-views, Saturday night's UFC Fight Night 200 card in Las Vegas never stood a chance. It was always going to get lost in the shuffle.

However, those who decided to tune into the event rather than save their appetites for UFC 271 were rewarded. It featured several breakthrough performances and highlight-reel finishes.

Chief among the breakthrough performances was Sean Strickland's workmanlike decision win over fellow middleweight contender Jack Hermansson in the evening's headliner. The outspoken American is now on a six-fight streak and might just have earned a title shot with his latest triumph.

Other highlights of the broadcast included a stunning victory from Kazakh super-prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov, who made short work of Carlston Harris on the main card.

Meanwhile, Bellator veteran Chidi Njokuani made his long-awaited UFC debut with a lightning-quick win over Canadian middleweight Marc-Andre Barriault.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the card's biggest winners, but here are the fights we're hoping to see when the dust settles.

Sean Strickland's methodical decision victory over Jack Hermansson in the UFC Fight Night 200 main event didn't line up with the guy who has had fantasies about killing people.

Still, the win was extremely impressive. It might have even earned him a crack at the winner of the Israel Adesanya-Robert Whittaker UFC 271 title fight—though Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier, who fight earlier on the same card, could also get that opportunity.

Unless Brunson vs. Cannonier is a total stinker, we're guessing Strickland will need one more win before he fights for the title. Marvin Vettori, who is riding an impressive win over ferocious knockout artist Paulo Costa, seems like a great choice. 

Unfortunately, Strickland and Vettori train together and consider each other friends. Speaking at the UFC Fight Night 200 post-fight press conference, Strickland expressed disinterest in the matchup, noting that he'd prefer to fight somebody he doesn't consider "a good buddy."

Ordinarily, that's totally fair, but in this case, we're talking about a guy who infamously stated he would "love nothing more than to kill somebody in the ring." Now he doesn't want to compete against people he's trained with? Does not compute.

This would be an excellent battle between two hard-nosed middleweights with a penchant for fun fights, and despite their relationship, it makes more sense than anything else for either man right now. And if Strickland wins it, his claim to a title shot would be undeniable. So here's hoping he comes around.

From the sounds of it, he might be willing to if the UFC offers him enough money.

"They actually asked me whenever Costa drank too much wine and cookies—they offered me a lot of money to take this fight [with Vettori] on a day notice," he said post-fight. "I called Marvin, I was like, 'Marvin, they're offering me a lot of f--king money. Like, I have to say yes.' Marvin, being a good friend, he was like, 'Dude, yes. I can't blame you for saying yes.' So, that situation, I said yes, but if it's just for what I'm making, I would rather bow my head, and I'll let Marvin get a title shot before I fight him."

Hopefully, the UFC can pony up enough cash to make Strickland reconsider.

It's starting to seem like it's Jack Hermansson's destiny to hover perpetually somewhere between No. 5 and No. 10 in the UFC middleweight rankings. He's clearly very good, but he's not quite on par with the division's best fighters—at least, not currently.

We're not ready to rule out Hermansson as a future title challenger just yet, but it seems like a good idea to match the No. 6-ranked contender up with lower-level opposition for a while.

We're not suggesting he match with somebody outside the rankings, but somebody on the fringes of the list would be great—somebody like Brad Tavares, who is perched at No. 11.

Hawai'i's Tavares has struggled with consistency the same way Hermansson has, generally beating anyone outside the top 10 but falling to anybody he fights inside it. And despite sharing space on the middleweight roster since 2016 and partaking in a combined 22 fights in that timeframe, the pair have yet to meet in this cage.

Since Hermansson is due for a temporary step down and Tavares is due for a step up after back-to-back wins, the timing is perfect.

Kazakh welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov is one of the best prospects in MMA. He reaffirmed that status at UFC Fight Night 200 when he leveled Carlston Harris with a first-round wheel kick and finished him off with a storm of ground strikes. The win pushed his record to 15-0, recording eight knockouts and seven submissions.

The hype associated with this guy is justified. It might even be insufficient.  

After Rakhmonov's latest masterpiece, it's tempting to suggest he be matched up with fellow super-prospect welterweight Khamzat Chimaev. Then again, Chimaev, who is already ranked No. 11 at welterweight, is a few steps ahead of Rakhmonov.

It also feels inevitable that these two will fight for No. 1 contender status or even the belt sometime down the road. So why rush?

In the meantime, let's match up Rakhmonov with Brazil's Michel Pereira. Pereira is a little inconsistent but is considered one of the most exciting fighters in the sport. And after four straight wins, he's right on the cusp of the welterweight rankings himself, so the fight makes plenty of sense. 

Now is probably a good time to mention that we can't take credit for this one. Rakhmonov requested this matchup at the UFC Fight Night 200 post-fight press conference, and we're here for it.

Two exciting featherweights picked up statement-making wins on the UFC Fight Night 200 undercard.
First up, Canada's Hakeem Dawodu defeated Mike Trizano with a unanimous decision.

Two fights later, Julian Erosa defeated Steven Peterson by split decision in one of the most entertaining fights in recent history—we're talking about a cartoonish level of violence.

After their big wins over Trizano and Peterson, respectively, it makes sense for Dawodu and Erosa to fight each other, though the former will need some time to recover.

Both guys are 4-1 in their past five fights. That's evidence that, despite stumbling here and there in the past, they are both finally hitting their strides and ready for an upgrade in competition.

Lock these two featherweights in the cage on an upcoming Fight Night card and see which man proves he's ready to take it to the next level.

It took Chidi Njokuani 27 fights to make it into the UFC's Octagon, and he had to go through Dana White's Contender Series to make it happen.

For many fans, his UFC Fight Night 200 debut against Canada's Marc-Andre Barriault was long overdue.
His 16-second knockout victory over Barriault, who had never been finished in 17 pro fights, was not surprising. Anyone who had been paying attention knew what he could do.

Now that he's finally in the UFC, there's no sense in forcing Njokuani to wait around. He's already 33 and probably only has a few good years left.

We're hoping to see him matched up with Brazil's Alex Pereira, who famously holds multiple kickboxing wins over middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Pereira made his highly anticipated UFC debut in November, knocking out Andreas Michailidis with a vicious flying knee in the second round. He's slated to fight Bruno Silva on March 12.

Victory against Silva is by no means a certainty, but if he comes out on top, a fight with Njokuani would be a thriller.

Hopefully, the UFC can make it happen.