Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night 219

UFC Fight 219 was headlined by an important showdown in the women's flyweight division, even if it was cobbled together at the last moment. On the one hand there was the immensely talented Erin Blanchfield, who at only 23 years old, was 4-0 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, including submissions of Molly McCann and J.J. Aldrich, and a dominant decision victory over highly-skilled Miranda Maverick.

Still, she had never faced an opponent as good as Jessica Andrade, who, having obliterated Lauren Murphy at UFC 283 less than a month earlier, filled in for Taila Santos on very short notice. Andrade was the former UFC strawweight champion and also challenged for the UFC flyweight crown against the superlative Valentina Shevchenko. While that attempt was unsuccessful, Andrade looked better than ever afterwards, winning three straight, including a first-round knockout of Cynthia Calvillo and the ruthless beating of Murphy at 125 pounds, while also submitting top contender Amanda Lemos at 115.

Thus, despite the short notice, Andrade was a small favorite. However, Blanchfield proved that she is the real deal and a very serious threat to Shevchenko's throne. After a very close first round, Blanchfield tapped out Andrade with a rear-naked choke early in the second stanza.

Besides the notable, impressive performance in the main event, this was a very weak card indeed. The less said about the co-main event, the better. The only other fight featuring either a contender or prospect of any note was in the prelims, where 14th ranked women's bantamweight Mayra Bueno Silva scored another slick submission when she kneebarred 12th ranked Lina Lansberg, encouraging the Swede, who turns 41 in less than a month, to announce her retirement.

Here are three interesting matchups that present themselves:

Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot

With the exception of last year, 2022, Valentina Shevchenko has consistently fought twice a year since 2015. Thus, with Shevchenko's next title defense in March against Alex Grasso, the earliest she would fight Blanchfield is in late 2023, and it would likely be similar if Grasso were to win. That's a long time to be inactive, especially considering that Taila Santos and Fiorot, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2, (Andrade was No. 3) are both very much in the mix. With that in mind, why not a title eliminator of sorts between Blanchfield and Fiorot? It would be a tremendous clash between arguably the best grappler and potentially the best striker in the division. A loss wouldn't hurt the 23 year-old Blanchfield much, and while Fiorot is 33, it would only take another win or two for her to challenge for the throne in case of defeat, especially if Blanchfield is the champion. Meanwhile, the winner of this would be the best, most dangerous challenger for Shevchenko's title since she first won it against Joanna Jedrezjczyk in December of 2018.

Jessica Andrade vs. Carla Esparza

While she has been fighting in the UFC for almost a decade now, Andrade is only 31 and still showing improvement in her recent fights. However, after devastating losses to Shevchenko and now Blanchfield, she might not have what it takes to win a title at flyweight. But why not go back to 115 pounds, where she is a former champion? A fight against another former champ and current No. 1 ranked Esparza makes a lot of sense. It's a very winnable fight for Andrade, and, coupled with her submission of Amanda Lemos, would be a strong argument for rematching Zhang for the 115-pound crown, with Zhang having shockingly knocked out Andrade in 42 seconds for her first title reign. Additionally, this should be action-packed, as Andrade has the grappling skills to keep the fight standing against Esparza and may well garner a knockout.

Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson

Silva is now 3-0 at bantamweight, and deserves to fight someone in the Top 10 to see if she can become a serious contender. No. 8 ranked Chiasson fits the bill and would make for a fun fight. Chiasson was stopped by Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana, but recorded a split decision over Norma Dumont between. She has solid striking and some grappling in the clinch. Would Silva's grappling be good enough to prevail? How would Silva's striking fare against the much taller and longer Chiasson? It's a fight of well-matched contenders that has a high likelihood of being entertaining and decisive.