7 Fights We Need to See After UFC 274

UFC 274 went down on Saturday night in Phoenix, Arizona, and it opened the door to a bunch of exciting matchup possibilities—including one involving Conor McGregor. 

The card was headlined by a lightweight fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Brazil's Oliveira arrived in Phoenix as the champ but, after being stripped of the title for missing weight, became the No. 1 lightweight contender when he submitted Gaethje in Round 1. 

UFC 274 was co-headlined by a strawweight title fight between champion Rose Namajunas and challenger Carla Esparza. It was not a great fight, but Esparza ultimately did enough to win a split decision and begin her second reign as the division's queen—just a week before her wedding. 

Perhaps the biggest winner of the night was Michael Chandler, who added to an already extensive highlight reel by snuffing Tony Ferguson with a front kick to the face in Round 2. The win separated him from a pair of losses to Gaethje and Oliveira and reasserted him as a top lightweight contender. 

Here's who we're hoping to see Oliveira, Esparza, Chandler and the other big stars of the card fight now that the dust has settled. 

Charles Oliveira may not have the lightweight belt at the moment, but make no mistake: He's still the king of the division. He reaffirmed his kingship with a thrilling first-round submission win over Justin Gaethje in the UFC 274 main event.

Now, the big question is who he fights next. It seemingly comes down to three men: Islam Makhachev, Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler.

We're going to rule Chandler out right away because, as good as he looked at UFC 274, he's still 1-2 in his last three fights. That leaves Makhachev and Dariush.

In terms of accomplishments, Dariush definitely deserves the opportunity more. He's beaten more ranked foes than his Russian rival, whose only Top 15 win was over a skidding Dan Hooker under short-notice circumstances.

But why ignore the obvious? Makhachev is the star protege of former UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, and the idea of an Oliveira vs. Nurmagomedov proxy fight will look too lucrative for the UFC to ignore.

Dariush should be up next, but Makhachev will be.

Justin Gaethje has some work to do if ever hopes to become the UFC lightweight champion. After his submission loss to Charles Oliveira in the UFC 274 main event, he's now 0-2 in bids for the lightweight title, having also been submitted by the former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020.

Gaethje may as well begin his march back to title contention by taking on Beneil Dariush. As we covered above, Dariush deserves the next title shot but will probably be left out in the cold when the opportunity is likely given to Islam Makhachev.

Gaethje would make a great consolation prize. A win over the two-time title challenger would cement Dariush as the No. 1 contender, while the fight would give Gaethje the opportunity to launch back into the title conversation with one big win.

Perhaps the best thing about this fight is how the pair match up on paper. Gaethje might be the most exciting fighter in the UFC, but let's not sleep on Dariush. Remember his fights with Drakkar Klose and Diego Ferreira?
This would be a wild one for as long as it lasted.

If Carla Esparza's strawweight title-winning defeat of Rose Namajunas was a little more exciting, we might be talking about an immediate rematch between the two stars. But the forgettable nature of the fight rules out that possibility.

Instead, Esparza will most likely defend her new belt against the winner of the upcoming rematch between former champions Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which goes down at UFC 275 on June 11 in Singapore.

Both matchup looks phenomenal on paper, and Esparza would probably enter either fight as an underdog.

From her vantage point, a fight with Jedrzejczyk is probably the more appealing option. She suffered a championship loss to the Polish star back in 2015 and would surely love the opportunity for revenge.

Then again, it was easily the most brutal loss of Esparza's career, so maybe she would prefer the Zhang fight.
Either way, the winner of that one has got next.

Rose Namajunas will probably be kicking herself for her UFC 274 performance for a long time. If she had kicked Carla Esparza even a few more times, she might have won the fight. Instead, after doing almost nothing for five rounds, she lost the title by decision.

It was one of the worst showings of Namajunas' career, but she also won't lose much ground because it's not like Esparza did anything to her either. It should only take another win or two for her to be right back in title contention.

From here, she should be matched up with Marina Rodriguez—who, much like Beneil Dariush, deserves the next title shot—but will be deprived of the opportunity when the opportunity goes to a bigger name like Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Zhang Weili.

The winner of a Namajunas vs. Rodriguez fight would be almost undeniable for the next title shot, and it looks like a fun fight on paper, as the pair are two of the best strikers in the division.

After his highlight reel knockout of Tony Ferguson on the UFC 274 main card, Michael Chandler called for a lightweight title shot. He cut a great promo, but unfortunately, he's still a bit behind the likes of Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush in the title shot queue. Luckily, he also suggested a back-up plan: a fight with Conor McGregor at welterweight. 

It was a perfect suggestion.

McGregor has been packing on the muscle with a return to the welterweight division in mind. Of course, he is significantly undersized for the weight class and really has no business competing there, which is why a fight with another beefed-up lightweight like Chandler makes sense. Call it a lightweight fight without the weight cut. 

The build-up to the fight would be a lot of fun, as Chandler is good on the mic and McGregor is obviously in a league of his own in that department. The fight itself would be unbelievably tense, as the pair both possess blink-and-miss-it finishing prowess.

And while Chandler definitely has more ways to win, his habit of getting hurt by punches would make a McGregor win an ever-present possibility. 

Former World Series of Fighting champ Blagoy Ivanov's decision win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the UFC 274 undercard was anything but entertaining. However, it should help him protect his No. 15 spot in the promotion's heavyweight rankings for the time being.

From here, the Bulgarian could definitely look to take a step up the rankings by fighting somebody like the No. 12-ranked Shamil Abdurakhimov, but we humbly suggest he serve as the next dance partner for ageless wonder Andrei Arlovski.

Despite being the oldest fighter on the UFC roster, the 43-year-old former UFC heavyweight champion is riding four-straight wins and has earned an opportunity to make a late-career jump into the rankings.

That means fighting somebody in the Top 15, and he's much less likely to sustain any serious damage against a guy like Ivanov, who is not much of a finisher than most other ranked big men.

Put these two former champs on a Fight Night main card, and see who can justify a spot in the rankings.

Former World Series of Fighting champ Blagoy Ivanov's decision win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the UFC 274 undercard was anything but entertaining. However, it should help him protect his No. 15 spot in the promotion's heavyweight rankings for the time being.

From here, the Bulgarian could definitely look to take a step up the rankings by fighting somebody like the No. 12-ranked Shamil Abdurakhimov, but we humbly suggest he serve as the next dance partner for ageless wonder Andrei Arlovski.

Despite being the oldest fighter on the UFC roster, the 43-year-old former UFC heavyweight champion is riding four-straight wins and has earned an opportunity to make a late-career jump into the rankings.

That means fighting somebody in the Top 15, and he's much less likely to sustain any serious damage against a guy like Ivanov, who is not much of a finisher than most other ranked big men.

Put these two former champs on a Fight Night main card, and see who can justify a spot in the rankings.