Matches to Make after UFC Fight Night 211

As Sherdog's own Shillan & Duffy made clear—and I certainly agree with them—UFC Fight Night 211 was an absolutely dreadful card in terms of quality.

The main event was a relative bright spot, featuring two skilled Top 10 strawweights, though neither appears to be a serious challenger for the throne at present. On one hand you have Xiaonan Yan who possesses an effective and unique karate-based striking style predicated on constant movement and consistently scoring with her jab and side kicks. She has shown tremendous improvement in her time in the UFC, starting in the promotion a perfect 6-0, highlighted by a close decision over Angela Hill, a domination of former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and a clear triumph over multiple-time title challenger Claudia Gadelha. Unfortunately, she has stumbled in her two most recent outings, being outgrappled and finished with ground-and-pound by current divisional queen Carla Esparza, then being defeated in a close striking contest by Marina Rodriguez.

Dern, meanwhile, is perhaps the best BJJ practitioner that WMMA has ever seen, but struggles to get the fight down there due to her subpar wrestling. She has developed some striking skills, but also clearly lost to Marina Rodriguez, and then won a controversial split decision over Tecia Torres that most had scored for Torres. As expected, Yan dominated on the feet while Dern tried to lure her to the ground, but couldn't do so purely through her wrestling. Dern had numerous opportunities in Round 2, when she engineered a sweep from the bottom, and Round 5, when she got an early takedown, but couldn't convert on any of them. Thus, Yan won three rounds and the well-deserved majority decision.

The co-main featured Randy Brown against 44 year-old Francisco Trinaldo. Despite his age, Trinaldo had won five of his last six outings, and if not for a shameful robbery against Alexander Hernandez, one that even the crowd in Hernandez’s hometown of San Antonio booed, it would have been seven of his last eight, dating all the way back to 2018. It's unfortunate that Trinaldo got into MMA as late as he did—he was 27 when he debuted, and nearly 34 by the time he joined the UFC out of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil”—otherwise, we might be talking about him as one of the greatest fighters ever. Brown, meanwhile, appears to be in the prime of his career at 32, enjoying a three-fight winning streak since suffering a brutal knockout loss to Vicente Luque, having defeated Alex Oliveira, Jared Gooden, and Kalinn Williams. Brown won a well-deserved decision over the always game and tough Trinaldo, extending his streak to four.

Stuck inexplicably on the prelims, highly talented middleweight Brendan Allen scored an impressive first-round submission over tough veteran Krzysztof Jotko.

Let's see what potentially interesting fights we can book after the event:

Xiaonan Yan vs. Rose Namajunas

With champion Carla Esparza defending against Weili Zhang and top contender Marina Rodriguez facing Amanda Lemos, both Yan and Namajunas are left without an obvious next opponent. Why not have the two top strawweight contenders face one another? The winner would of course be a natural choice for challenging for the title next. Additionally, it would be a fun contest, pitting the best striker in the division, Namajunas, against Yan, who is also one of the best in that regard, but offers an interesting riddle with her unique style. It would be a far more exciting fight than Namajunas vs. Esparza, that's for certain.

Mackenzie Dern vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez

Dern was close in each of her last three fights, but could easily be 0-3 in that stretch. It might be a good idea to step back and face a slightly lesser foe, albeit one with a bigger name in Waterson. There will be a lot of interest due to the popularity of both fighters, and it will be an interesting tactical contest, as “The Karate Hottie” is a very good grappler herself. On the feet, Dern's boxing-based striking will be an interesting foil for Waterson-Gomez's more karate-based style. This will be a fun treat for the fans and hopefully give Dern a nice bounce-back win over a big name.

Randy Brown vs. Michael Chiesa

Brown is a well-rounded fighter who is in his prime at the age of 32 and has now won four in a row. Why not give him a shot at a ranked opponent? Chiesa, an outstanding grappler, looks like a good dance partner. It will be a fascinating case of whether Chiesa's submission wrestling can surpass Brown's defensive grappling and kickboxing and answer questions about whether Brown has what it takes to be a contender.

Brendan Allen vs. Andre Muniz

Allen's talent has never been in doubt, but he doesn't always seem focused and fighting to his full potential. There is certainly hope he can fix this, as he is only 26 years old, and has still won five of six, with the sole defeat being a shocking knockout to Chris Curtis, and 8-2 overall in the UFC. Perhaps a fight against a ranked contender is what he needs to fight at his best, and 10th-ranked Muniz would be a fine fight to boot. The clash would pit two outstanding grapplers who are constantly scrambling and attempting submissions against one another. The striking battle should also be fun, as both are improving in this area and have shown enthusiasm at trading heavy blows. It's a good fight for advancing a rising contender as well as for the fans.