4 Fights We Need to See After UFC on ABC 7

The UFC took its act across the Atlantic and made its way to Abu Dhabi for Saturday's 13-bout card that went head-to-head against the Summer Olympics and delivered intermittent intrigue and suspense in the form of nine submissions, three KOs and a submission.

Dagestani ace Umar Nurmagomedov staked his claim to elite bantamweight status in the main event, earning a clear unanimous nod over Cory Sandhagen in a matchup of the second and 10th-ranked fighters behind champion Sean O'Malley.

Many of the 13 winners were cajoled into call-outs of specific opponents in the aftermath of their victories, and the B/R combat team took those into account while also considering other factors to come up with a list of fights we need to see after UFC on ABC 7.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Look at the rankings and it makes perfect sense.

Bantamweight champ O'Malley is booked to face No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili next month in Las Vegas. Nos. 2 and 4, Sandhagen and Marlon Vera, were beaten on Saturday night. And Nos. 3 and 5, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo, are in some level of competitive limbo after recent losses to top contenders and or then-champions in the division.

That leaves Nurmagomedov, who essentially reverses roles with Sandhagen following his victory at Etihad Arena, and No. 6 Deiveson Figueiredo, who continued a career renaissance by defeating Vera to win his third straight fight since rising from flyweight.

They both want title shots. They both, it can be argued given the rest of the guys near the top, deserve one. So why not put them together in an eliminator to determine who gets to O'Malley, or Dvalishvili if things go awry in September, first?

A couple of guys who can handle themselves on their feet and are not averse to chasing finishes on the ground? Sign us up.

No, we're not trying to be wise guys or disrespectful.

Tony Ferguson, given his long-term run in the UFC and the passion he's generated from fans and fellow fighters along the way, deserves better than that.

But, likely, we can all agree that enough is enough.

A 40-year-old "El Cucuy" dropped his eighth straight fight, by first-round submission to Michael Chiesa, on Saturday's show, following a heavy dose of pre-fight suggestion from the broadcast crew that yet another change in his training process—this time incorporating more sparring in his preparation—would be the tonic to end what had been a seven-fight skid.

Chiesa hadn't won a fight since 2021.

It was a mantra similar to others offered as the streak stretched from its origin in 2020 through gradually tougher-to-watch losses to the likes of Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz, and the artist formerly known as Bobby Green, none of whom would have stood a chance with Ferguson during a 10-fight winning run that covered 2013 to 2019.

Ferguson laid one glove down after Saturday's loss, offering a half-hearted commitment to wrap it up via the sport's usual in-cage display. But his refusal to drop the other one leaves room for a chance he again can be talked into the idea he's got one good one left.

He doesn't. He shouldn't. Please don't.

Chiesa gave up his post-fight interview time to allow for Ferguson's maybe I will/maybe I won't retirement announcement, but he wasn't shy about the future once he got backstage.

The 36-year-old "Maverick" had multi-time failed title challenger Colby Covington on his mind when he chatted with UFC.com's McKenzie Pavacich, suggesting the two of them could get together to determine "the best welterweight in the Pacific Northwest."

The microphone-friendly Covington identifies these days as a Miami resident, but he was born in California and attended high school in Oregon. Chiesa, meanwhile, has lived in Washington since he was a kid and his defeat of Ferguson was, in his words, redemptive.

The victory was his first since 2021 and ended a three-fight skid in which he'd been finished twice and lost a decision. Covington has been absent from the octagon since a desultory one-sided loss to then-champ Leon Edwards in his third welterweight title try in December.

He has just two wins in five years but is still ranked fourth at 170 pounds.

"Are you going to idly sit around and do nothing, or are you going to come back and fight?" Chiesa said. "Keep your ranking. I don't give a sh-t. I just want to find out who's the best in the northwest."

Once you've seen Shara Magomedov, you don't soon forget him.

The Russian-born middleweight stands 6'2", has shocking red hair and an equally eye-catching beard, and resembles what might result from a tryst involving a lumberjack and a leprechaun.

And after meh performances in his first two UFC appearances, the 30-year-old raised his game on Saturday with a main-card decision over Michał Oleksiejczuk in a scrap that netted its principals a Fight of the Night bonus.

He called out veteran Nick Diaz to provide a popularity spike after the win, but because Diaz isn't a lock to return at all before 2025, we're on the hunt for bigger game.

In UFC terms these days they don't come bigger than Bo Nickal, the decorated collegiate wrestler who arrived at Dana White's Contender Series in 2022 and cruised through his first three octagonal bouts in a combined 7 minutes, 10 seconds.

The 28-year-old hasn't cracked the company's rankings at 185 pounds just yet, but he did react to Magomedov's defeat of Antonio Trócoli in June with a simple but menacing social media post that referenced the Dagestani's one-word nickname.

"Give me bullet," he tweeted.

We approve.