On To the Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 119

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**Mike Heck** (1:32)
Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of On To The Next One. The Matchmaking Crowns are back following UFC Vegas 119 What a six-day stretch for the UFC. You go to the White House, you have one of the greatest events of all time, and then you head to the world's most famous Apex for an event that will be Forgotten by Tuesday. And I'm not saying it was like a super bad event. It just was, again, one of those like no staying power type of cards. And obviously the main event was great and it was a big matchup and the stakes were very high. And hardcore fans watched the first Manel Kape versus Kyoji Horiguchi fight. So we were very much excited for this. Throwing that fight at the Apex is an abomination, really, if we're being honest. But all in all it wasn't like a horrendous watch, but it was just one of those like, eh, yeah, just another mixed martial arts event coming off of the White House card. But we're here and I am Mike Heck and joining me this week to do some matchmaking, nobody. Nope, all by myself. Well, at least you guys, a lot of you have chimed in with your matchmaking suggestions, so we'll get to those. But AK, well-deserved day off. He's sitting this one out, but he'll be back next week for the UFC Baku edition of On To The Next One. But let's get into this and let's talk about what came out of UFC Vegas 119 We'll start the main event and Revenge from Manel Kape goes out there. He is...
There's a notion coming out of this fight that Manel Kape just got dusted up for two rounds. I don't think that's true at all. I actually thought Manel Kape won the first round.
I just don't think Kyoji did very much. Like, yeah, he was landing some low kicks and he did get a takedown, but Kape stung him a few times on the feet in that first round. And so I thought it was at least competitive enough to give Manel Kape that first round. Obviously, the second round was all Kyoji, so I felt like he had all the momentum, but then Kape just got him in the third and big win. And this is a no-brainer, he's going to fight for the belt next. When that's going to happen, I have no clue, but he's done enough. He's done more than enough to fight for the belt, but the division is a mess up the top. Joshua Van is the champion. We're waiting for Alexandre Pantoja to return so they can run that one back and Kops is going to go ahead and fight the winner of that fight. How long is Kops going to wait is a big question for me. Is this going to be something where he's waiting like five, six months? Or is he waiting a year or more for this fight to happen? I truly do not know. But yeah, Kops is going to fight for the belt and it's going to be fun either way. I will say, and I will double down what I said on the post fight show, Kops and Joshua Van is a super interesting fight because most of it's going to take place in the feed. And people sleep on Joshua Van being a well-rounded mixed martial artist because there is a clear path to victory for Joshua Van. Just put Manel Kape on the mat and he can go out there and just win. I know that's really not Joshua Van's style to just go out there and workman like a five round decision, but that'd be a super fun fight. I don't think honestly, I think if Kape fought Pantoja 20 times, Kape might win one. It's just a horrible matchup for him. It's so bad because Pantoja will just tackle him a whole bunch of times. And that is going to be a horrible night for Kape. And Pantoja is also incredibly durable. Plus he can crack a little bit on the feet as well. So we'll see what happens. But I think if you're Manel Kape and if you're... I know there's a part of Kape's pride that would love to get one back against Pantoja. But if you're looking at this from a business sense, and you're looking at this from how do we maximize this? How do we boost our profile? What's our... I'm not going to say easiest way to the belt. What's the path of least resistance to a title? And making all that extra money as champion? It's 100% Joshua Van. 100% Joshua Van. So I think if you're Manel Kape, you are the biggest Joshua Van fan on planet Earth. And I'm not saying Kape could not beat Pantoja because he is the sort of Alex Pereira of the flyweight division. He's never out of a fight until that final horn rings. But yeah, great win from Manel Kape. Dude's real good. There's a reason why Casey and I were on the Manel Kape train before anybody else. When the UFC signed him, we tried to tell you that this is the guy. I know it took a while to get there, but we told you, this is the dude. This is the guy at 125 who is super fun and hits really, really hard. Let's go to the Cullmate event. Navajo Stirling remains undefeated. He finishes Ion Cutelaba in round two. In a fight he was clearly losing. Seemed to be a theme for these last two fights. But Stirling goes out there. I think he lands a knee to the body. At least that's what he said on Instagram to kind of just collapse Cutelaba who gassed himself out trying to get a finish. And Stirling just kind of landed a bunch of punches and elbows at the end and gets the win. And I, I, I am so confused by this, by this guy Navajo Stirling. I have no idea what we have here. I don't know if he's, I don't know if he's good or great or not that great. I truly have no read on him. It's a, it's a weird situation. He's obviously like got some talents. He's a young guy in a division that's terrible overall. And you can obviously there's something there, but this is a guy who, at least to me, he's gonna have to lose at some point. Like he's gonna lose. He's not becoming a champion with an undefeated record. There's just, there's just no way. There's too many holds in this game. And I really like this matchmaking because I thought we were gonna get tested. I thought Cutelaba was gonna win the fight, honestly. And you know, credit to Stirling for getting out of a tough spot and getting the win. But I have no read on him at all.