UFC Matchmaking Quickhits

Some awesome fights have been booked or confirmed to be made in the works this week.

Most recently Angela Hill vs Amanda Ribas (Reported by Guilherme Cruz)

In terms of both career trajectories and fight styles this is a great fight. Hill is coming off a levels to this game performance over Ashley Yoder, after a frustratingly close crack at the old guard atop the Strawweight Rankings. She needs to generate more momentum, while bringing her game to a level where she can win decisively over such fighters and challenge the top ones by continuing to improve the grappling defence and increasing the strike differentials per round. A replication of the Yoder fight against a better version of a similar grappler would show another step in that direction.Ribas needs to improve her striking if she wants to make a serious run at the top 10 after being KOed in her last fight. Against Hill she gets a skilled striker who isn't too dangerous in terms of KO power, a chance to test deep water while being sure there aren't sharks down there.

Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson vs Gilbert Burns is another one that I love. (Reported by Brett Okamoto)

Burns earned a title shot off of performances against Maia and Woodley that saw him use a big advantage in striking against the two fighters in the very late stages of their career. It's not too shocking in hindsight that Burns got outstruck and TKO'd in his title matchup against Usman a fighter in their athletic prime with a worldclass striking coach in Trevor Wittman. Wonderboy though closer in age to Maia and Woodley, will bring a standup threat that Burns hasn't beaten yet in the Welterweight division. And he needs to show he can do so, as the crop of Welterweights threatening the top all bring excellent striking in Neal, Muhammad, and Luque, not to mention guys already there like Masvidal and Edwards. Wonderboy offers an intriguing stylistic matchup against Usman, could he have the footwork to keep his back way out from the cage and force Usman to fight him in the middle? Doing so against Burns would be enough proof to warrant the chance to try. Having beaten 3 of the 5 aforementioned fighters since his losses to Woodley, the momentum is there and a win against Burns should seal the case.

Volkov vs Gane (Reported by Brett Okamoto)

This one has to be for the next Heavyweight Title shot. Gane on a 5 fight winstreak that's seen him unchallenged in serious manner has strolled his way to the top of a division typically cruel to up and comers (think Harris, Tuivasa, Sakai). Volkov once one of those up and comers has been almost perfect when striking in the UFC. His reach poses an intriguing test for the defensive prowess of Gane. Whichever triumphs deserves the ultimate test for a technical striker in Ngannou with the biggest accolade in combat sports as a reward.