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Brandon Royval

(Def. Matheus Nicolau via Rd. 1 TKO) 

Brandon Royval vs Winner of Brandon Moreno vs Alexandre Pantoja (UFC 290) 

Brandon Royval wanted to make a statement and did just that with his stunning first round knockout of Matheus Nicolau. Dana White had declared the fight a title eliminator, which Royval made reference to in his post fight press conference along with offering to be a backup fighter for the title fight at UFC 290 in July. 

This finish from @BrandonRoyval was BRUTAL #UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/Mh09lpSdAC

— UFC (@ufc) April 16, 2023

Pedro Munhoz 

(Def. Chris Gutierrez via Decision) 

Pedro Munhoz vs Winner of Song Yadong vs Ricky Simon (4/22/23) 

After defending his spot in the top 10 against a surging young contender, Munhoz deserves to fight up in rank or at least someone ranked with him in that top 10. Unfortunately there isn’t a ton of new blood for him up in ranking, having already fought the likes of Dominick Cruz and Rob Font. Song Yadong will be defending his #8 ranking in the bantamweight division and the timing will work out perfectly for the winner of that fight to match up with Munhoz.

Edson Barboza

(Def. Billy Quarantillo via Rd. 1 KO) 

Edson Barboza vs Sodiq Yusuff

In a similar spot to Pedro Munhoz, Edson Barboza defended his ranking against a younger prospect lower in ranking, and Barboza did his in spectacular fashion with a standing knee that knocked Billy Q out cold in the first round. For this, he is deserving of fighting someone up in ranking. 12th ranked Sodiq Yusuff is the perfect matchup for Barboza to prove he can still compete with ranked contenders in the featherweight division. 

#UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/dIEhLDNuxO

— Neo Vale Tudo (@NeoValeTudo) April 16, 2023

Max Holloway 

(Def. Arnold Allen via Decision)

Max Holloway vs Winner of Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria (6/17/23) 

Following his victory in Saturday’s Main Event, fans, media, and even Max Holloway discussed the possibility of Max fighting Chan Sung Jung in his next fight. However, I believe if Max really wants another shot at the title, beating the 36 year old Korean Zombie that Volkanovski just absolutely butchered doesn’t get you any closer to the title. Meanwhile, Josh Emmett just challenged for an interim championship and Ilia Topuria is a young undefeated contender. Beating the winner of that fight would effectively deter anyone else from being worthy of a title shot, and give the blessed one another shot at getting his belt back.