Weekend Fights Wrap Up

UFC 274

UFC 274 had a little bit of everything; the good, bad, boring, shocking, and flat out strange. By the end of the night we had a new women's strawweight champion and a still vacated mens lightweight belt. Plus, the arrival of some exciting young prospects, and some fighters who frankly look past their prime and should consider hanging the gloves up.

• Charles Oliveira submitted Justin Gaethje in the first round after dropping him with a straight right hand

• Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas for the strawweight title via split decision in a low action bout that has been criticized by many

• Michael Chandler knocked Tony Ferguson out cold with a powerful front kick you need to see for yourself

• Shogun looked every bit of 40 years old in his split decision loss to OSP

*The Donald Cerrone vs Joe Lauzon fight was canceled when Cerrone fell ill the morning of the fight

New Fight Announcements

Alex Volkanovski vs Max Holloway - UFC 276 - July 2nd

Sean O'Malley vs Pedro Munhoz - UFC 276 - July 2nd

Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold - UFC 277 - July 30th

Calvin Kattar vs Josh Emmett - UFC Fight Night - June 18th

Stock Rise/Fall of the Week

Stock Up: Charles Oliveira

Charles Oliveira is now on an 11(!) fight win streak - that just does not happen in the UFC, and yet, he was still being doubted heading into last weekends match up. There are no doubts left about the quality of champion he is after his first round submission win Saturday night. With stoppage victories in his last three fights against top level competition, Charles Oliveira is becoming a household name.

Stock Down: Rose Namajunas

Going into Saturday night Rose was considered the great womens strawweight of all time. Her stock is not down just because of the loss to Carla, but more so because of the fashion of the loss. Now, not only did she lose to Carla for the second time, but she also just looked lost and disinterested out there. This fight left the fans feeling confused and upset, based on post fight comments from Rose, she shared the same feelings.

Storyline to Watch

The Conor McGregor Sweepstakes

McGregor is getting called out left and right as he recovers from his fractured leg and occasionally throws out tweets mocking the competition. After Saturday you can add two more names to the list of people hoping to get that McGregor fight pay day. Both Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira called for a fight with Conor next after their wins. McGregor seemed open to fighting Chandler but has also been saying he is going to collect his third belt moving up to 170 lbs and fighting the current welterweight champ Kamaru Usman. With still no return date set for Conors return, expect more names (and many more Conor tweets) to be added to the list before finally booking his next fight.

Interview of the Week

Not many people take advantage of the mic like Michael Chandler does in his post fight interviews. Watch his interview with Joe Rogan after knocking out Tony Ferguson last Saturday.