Benoit Saint Denis ran his winning streak to four while mauling Dan Hooker, maintaining his 100 percent finishing rate in the process. In his post-fight interview, he called for a shot at either the undisputed title or the BMF belt, both of which are appetizing, even if the former is unlikely at the moment. One fight earlier, Mauricio Ruffy punched his ticket to the Top 10 with a second-round stoppage win of his own over Rafael Fiziev, and in the opener, Quilan Salkilld kicked off his sophomore campaign with a first-round submission win over fellow Aussie Jamie Mullarkey; much more on him below.
UFC 325 Post-Fight Press Conference
If you set Topuria and Gaethje aside, the rest of the top 15 profiles as a devilish collection of all-action talents where there are no wrong answers when it comes to how to pair them up next, with a bunch of additional fun options hovering in the Second 15, waiting for a shot to prove themselves. And with the title picture pretty well mapped out for the year — Gaethje first, and then the winner of that probably faces the winner of Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira, right? — now is the perfect time to start pairing everyone else off and seeing how things shake out over the rest of the year.
Fighters like Saint Denis, Ruffy, Manuel Torres, and Fares Ziam all have positive momentum and should be tapped for bigger opportunities next time out, while some of the veteran names in the upper echelon are going to have to defend their spots or simply get swept under by the wave of talent pushing forward right now.
This could be a year where the landscape in the lightweight division is completely reshaped — it has already started — and it would be crazy not to take full advantage of the opportunity at hand.
Quite the Start for Quillan Salkilld
How do you follow up a rookie campaign where you win Debut of the Year at UFC Honors and Newcomer of the Year in our staff awards while going 3-0 with a pair of finishes and landing on every list of fighters to watch heading into the new year? If you’re Quillan Salkilld, you stride into the Octagon, toss Jamie Mullarkey to the canvas like a sack of potatoes, take his back and choke him out, all in three minutes and a couple ticks.