This past Saturday at UFC Vegas 16, there was some movement in the middleweight division. Fourth ranked Jack Hermansson (21-6) took on thirteenth ranked, Marvin Vettori (16-4-1) in the main event.
Vettori was the third opponent that was scheduled to face Hermansson, but The Joker was ready no matter who he fought. However, it was evident from the opening bell that he might have bit off more than he could chew.
Vettori was incredibly impressive at UFC Vegas 16. He dropped and nearly finished Hermansson in the first round of their fight. The rest of the fight, outside of the third round, Vettori controlled the action. He seemed to take the third round off for rest.
In his first UFC main event, Vettori shined. After the win over the fourth ranked fighter in the division, you should expect to see Vettori jump into the top five when the rankings come out this week.
In other middleweight news, the fifth ranked middleweight in the UFC, Yoel Romero, was recently cut by the promotion. The four-time title challenger is just one of many big cuts coming from the UFC according to Dana White.
UFC Middleweight Division Outlook
The middleweight division is in an interesting spot right now. There is a clear number one contender and that’s Robert Whittaker. The former UFC middleweight champion has only lost one fight in the last six years.
That fight was to the current UFC champion, Israel Adesanya. A rematch between the two will happen eventually considering Whittaker is 2-0 since the lost and defeated both men Adesanya was interested in fighting.
However, Adesanya is moving up to light heavyweight for his next fight to challenge Jan Blachowicz. We don’t know when Adesanya will return to middleweight, but the UFC champion insists he’ll be back to 185 eventually.
After Whittaker, there are a couple of matchups which could really make an impact on the division. Vettori is likely going to face Derek Brunson or Paulo Costa next. Whoever wins those fights might be right behind Robert Whittaker.
Jack Hermansson is still in the mix, but he needs to bounce back. A potential matchup for him could be the winner of the Chris Weidman – Uriah Hall fight in February. Or he could potentially fight Darren Till. Lots of moving parts, but exciting times in the UFC‘s middleweight division.