Saturday night’s UFC London card was topped by a pair of key welterweight contender bouts. In the main event, Englishman Darren Till was taking on Jorge Masvidal who was returning after over 400 days away from the cage. Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Englishman Leon Edwards was taking on longtime Icelandic contender Gunnar Nelson.
Ultimately, Masvidal knocked out Till out cold in the second round while Edwards beat Nelson by split-decision.
Here is what we think should be next for those four fighters.
Jorge Masvidal
During fight week, most assumed the winner of Jorge Masvidal vs Darren Till would fight Ben Askren next. Well, there’s now an even more intriguing matchup available for Masvidal: Leon Edwards.
The two have not liked each other for a little while now, and post-fight, Masvidal confronted Edwards and even landed a few punches on the Brit. The storyline is now there for a huge welterweight grudge match where the winner could very well get the next title shot.
Darren Till
Darren Till is now on a two-fight losing streak and the question remains of if he should stay at welterweight. Ultimately, the best move for Till is to take serious time off and come back in the fall and return at middleweight.
Till is a massive welterweight and questions linger of how much the weight cut impacts him. Well, at middleweight, he would no doubt have more power and not have to drain himself nearly as much.
For now, there is no opponent that should be next as the rankings can change a lot between now and then. Till just needs a top-15 opponent coming off of a loss in his middleweight debut.
Leon Edwards
Leon Edwards is riding a seven-fight winning streak and deserves a top-five opponent and will get that if he fights Masvidal next. The two have serious bad blood and it is a fight that makes a ton of sense after yesterday’s confrontation.
Gunnar Nelson
Gunnar Nelson was looking to snap Edwards win streak and extend his to two. Ultimately, Nelson had his moments in the fight but will now look to get another win before getting another shot at a top-10 opponent.
His next opponent should be Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Dos Santos is riding a seven-fight winning streak and deserves a shot at a top-15 fighter. Both Nelson and dos Santos are world-class grapplers so it would make for an interesting fight where the winner could then get a top-10 opponent.
Who do you think should be next for the four welterweight stars of UFC London?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/17/2019.