Matches to Make After UFC on ESPN 49

UFC on ESPN 49 was a very thin card, though it still featured a few contenders or prospects near the top. In the main event, former women's bantamweight champion and legend Holly Holm returned to battle Brazilian Mayra Bueno Silva. Holm is a few months shy of turning 42, but has still had plenty of success since losing via head kick knockout to Amanda Nunes in a 2019 title fight. Holm had fought four times since and won three, including easy decision victories over top contenders in Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana. The lone blemish was a borderline robbery split decision to Ketlen Vieira that the vast majority of observers had for Holm.

Bueno Silva is a month shy of turning 32, but has found new life after moving up to the bantamweight division. After going an even 2-2-1 (1 draw) in the women's flyweight division, the last a one-sided trouncing by Manon Fiorot, Silva went to greener pastures at 135 pounds. Heading into the Holm fight, she was a perfect 3-0 with 2 finishes in the new division, though the level of her foes was low.

Holm showed her age against Silva, looking slow and inaccurate with her striking in the first round, spending much of her time in the clinch. This was no refuge, however, as Silva locked in a deep guillotine choke early in the second stanza, causing Holm to quickly tap.

In the co-main, highly touted prospect Jack Della Maddalena was by far the biggest favorite on the card when he took on unheralded UFC debutante Bassil Hafez. Maddalena was already 4-0 in the UFC, all stoppages in the first round, with his last three victims Randy Brown, Danny Roberts and Ramazan Emeev all being much higher caliber fighters than Hafez. However, no one bothered to inform Hafez of this. He had repeated success with his takedowns and wasn't remotely intimidated by Maddalena, clearly winning the first round and making the next two close. In the end, Maddalena barely escaped with a split decision verdict.

In other significant results, South Korean veteran Jun Yong Park made it four wins in a row in the UFC, the last three by stoppage, after he hurt Albert Duraev with strikes and then finished him off with a rear-naked choke.

Here are three worthwhile matches that the UFC can book at future shows.

Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Irene Aldana

Silva just beat the No. 3 ranked women's bantamweight, but it's her only victory against anyone of note. I would love to see her against recent title contender and No. 5 ranked Aldana. Aldana's striking should match well with Silva's, as both love to throw big power shots. The grappling should also be interesting, as Silva has dangerous submissions but not the wrestling to take Aldana down. The winner would also be a top contender against whoever the champion will be by then, if anyone.

Jack Della Maddalena vs. Neil Magny

In retrospect, Sean Brady pulling out his scheduled showdown with Maddalena may have been a blessing for the Australian, as Brady would have likely dominated with his grappling. Thus, I propose a more modest test of Maddalena's defensive wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu in long-time veteran and No. 11 ranked Magny. No. 14 ranked Maddalena will still go up the rankings if he wins and conversely, it won't be a big hit if he loses. We will also learn a lot about Maddalena, who will be 27 by the time of his next fight. Will he record another vicious, highlight knockout against a tough, well-rounded grappler in Magny, or will it end up being a close, grinding grappling affair like his match against Hafez? Or something else entirely?

Jun Yong Park vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Park has won four in a row and seven of his last eight, impressive tallies in any division. He deserves to face a ranked foe. Imavov, for his part, could use a test of his grappling abilities after a loss to Sean Strickland and no contest against Chris Curtis earlier this year. Thus, this fight will accomplish two tasks, informing us whether Park is more than a solid veteran and if Imavov's grappling game has improved. It could also be very closely contested, fun fight, as Park is willing to engage plenty in the striking and Imavov loves to punish failed clinches and takedown attempts, particularly with his vicious elbows.