Fights to Make After Fight Night Medic v Rodriguez

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen

Sportz Nation - 8/2/2026

Photo Credits to Ed Mulholland via Zuffa LLC

Uros Medic

vs Leon Edwards

Matt Hylen -

I really liked the call out Uros Medic made after his dominant TKO win over Daniel Rodriguez. With the run he has been on, he deserves a major step up in competition, which I believe Leon Edwards qualifies as.

Medic could be a star in the making. He is beloved by not only his country but also the world. He gives fans what they want every single time and comes exactly as advertised. Matching him up against a guy like Leon Edwards, who is another striker but is on a losing skid, would not only add a notable name to his resume but progress Medic's career at the right pace.

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Daniel Rodriguez

vs Jacobe Smith

Zak Drapeau -

The tricky part when planning for D-Rod's future is going to be weighing how his time in the Mexican penitentiary system affected him. Rodriguez is a good fighter who deserves to stay around the rankings but will no doubt lose his number after being knocked out by Medic in 30 seconds.

I think this fight with Jacobe Smith would make a lot of sense. Smith is 12-0 (3-0 in the UFC) and has had rumors and canceled fights around the Top-15 for a few months now. Rodriguez is in a good spot for a guy like Smith who needs a higher-level fight for his next go-around, and D-Rod will get a fight with someone below him to assess where his career could be moving forward after his... "turbulent" 2025 and 2026.

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Navajo Stirling

vs Khalil Rountree Jr.

Matt Hylen -

With Navajo Stirling having beaten one of the top Light Heavyweights in the world (#4 in the media rankings), Stirling deserves a top-end fight that could possibly get him in the title picture with a win.

I want to see Stirling fight a guy whose style is very similar to his. Khalil Rountree Jr. is that guy; he is extremely powerful with his punches and kicks, but also has nasty ground and pound if the fight gets to the ground. Both of these guys are extremely dangerous strikers who find themselves in a similar position. Rountree could be a much-needed addition to the resume of Stirling, who is fighting on the precipice of the title conversation now. This would be a minor step down for Rountree Jr., especially considering he was supposed to fight Magomed Ankalaev last week, but I feel this makes more sense than what he was getting before.

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Aleksandr Rakic

vs Ante Delija

Zak Drapeau -

I mean, this fight went just about exactly as I expected. Rakic wasn't exactly impressive, but he definitely wasn't unimpressive either in his win over Tybura. He showed good boxing, toughness, and an ability to control in the clinch, but maybe most importantly, he showed that he can carry 240 pounds very well and that he's much stronger at heavyweight.

Now, I know technically Tybura was #13 for their fight, but he's been overrated in the division for a while now, so I don't expect much of a jump up in Rakic's next fight. Ante Delija would be a good matchup for Rakic because stylistically they're very similar. It would also give Rakic a glimpse at the real heavy hitters toward the top of the division and a potential path for him to get there.

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Robert Valentin

vs Rodolfo Veira

Matt Hylen -

After another convincing win via submission, Robert Valentin is starting to turn his UFC career around in a major way. He has looked like a different fighter in his past couple of fights, which excites me when thinking about what is next for him.

Considering how balanced of a fighter he is becoming, I would like to see him against a guy like Rodolfo Vieira. Both are big for the division with very solid Jiu-Jitsu, making a potential matchup an interesting prospect. It would be a grapple-heavy affair, but one I could see ending in a finish. A win over someone like Vieira could get Valentin a ranked-eliminator fight next.

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Noah Gugnon

vs Mateusz Rebecki

Zak Drapeau -

Noah Gugnon is a fascinating case study because if you go back to his ARES days and his now-UFC debut, it seems like the guys he's fighting are just scrubs and go down so easily. But when you realize that it's now seemed like that for every one of his 6-fight win streak, you realize, "hey maybe this guy is good." Six straight wins stopped on the ground by TKO or submission and only one making it into the second round is impressive no matter how you slice it.

The key for Gugnon will be to not shoot up the ladder too quickly, and a guy like Rebecki will be good for that. Having finally broken his 3-fight losing streak this weekend against Prepolec, Rebecki will be happy that he gets anyone next, and Gugnon should relish a chance to go against an experienced UFC fighter that is still in the light of a not-so-great one. And hey, their timelines will match up, so that's something, I guess.

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Tofiq Musayev

Rafa Garcia

Matt Hylen -

I had a feeling Tofiq Musayev was going to showcase his talent to the world in this fight. Musayev is officially here as a prospect now, which I think warrants a ranked eliminator at the very least.

With Musayev now ranked at #14 in the META rankings, one could absolutely argue that he deserves a fight in the rankings next. With that said, I just am not sure if there is a matchup that fits his trajectory at the moment. Tom Nolan would make some sense to me, however, the UFC rarely matches up two guys who have been newly ranked. So, I think matching up a guy like Rafa Garcia, who is knocking on the door of the rankings, could solidify Musayev's spot among the top-15 and make a fight up the ranks much more justified.

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Michael Oliveira

vs Chidi Njokuani

Zak Drapeau -

Called it. Oliveira was impressive in the 100 or so seconds we saw him this weekend. His technical striking and power didn't get too much time to shine but did the most with what time was available. This kid has got "IT"

I'm ready to give him someone I feel is around Top-30 at 170 and Njokuani has experience in bigger fights and should be able to take a few punches from Oliveira and at least give us a better idea of what the Brazilian will look like when tested.

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Bogdan Grad

vs Jordan Leavitt

Matt Hylen -

Bogdan Grad looked pretty good in this fight. It wasn't anything I think the UFC is going to rave about, but he got the job done and likely saved his spot in the UFC for the time being. I think another mid-tier fight is in the cards for Grad in order to really see if he can put a string of wins together.

With a guy like Jordan Leavitt on a win-loss streak at the moment, this could be a huge chance for Grad to make a name for himself in the UFC and really start that trend upwards in his career.

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Nina Milosevic

vs Sam Hughes

Zak Drapeau -

In a card full of finishes one of the most impressive TKOs went to Nina Milosevic who stopped Hailey Cowan in the first round. Milosevic made her UFC debut this weekend after an extremely successful 2 years in other promotions and could very well be a meteor coming for the Bantamweight division.

The Bantamweight division in the UFC has gotten very deep over the last year and is easily the deepest female division so I don't know if Milosevic will get a ranked fighter next even though I would be all for it if she did. Sam Hughes makes sense though as a Top-20 fighter on a losing streak but also someone Milosevic will get a test from and yet, still probably walk all over.

Other Fights to Make

Marcin Tybura vs WINNER of Walker/Parkin

Gilbert Urbina vs Dusko Todovoric

Vlasto Cepo vs Azamat Bekoev

Milos Janicic vs Kyle Prepolec

Ludvoit Klein vs Drew Dober

Oban Elliot vs Abubakar Vagaev

Borislav Nikolic vs Cameron Saaiman

Mark Vologdin vs Cody Durden

Dennis Buzukja vs Alberto Montes

Hailey Cowan vs Tainara Lisboa

Jovan Leka vs Jhonata Diniz

Alexander Poppeck vs Sean Sharaf

Stephanie Luciano vs Jessica Andrade

Marina Spasic vs Polyana Viana