In spite of losing its original main event in Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez, the UFC’s July 17, 2021 card still proved to be an enjoyable watch. It featured the return of Miesha Tate after a four-plus year hiatus, as well as the return of Russian lightweight prodigy Islam Makhachev from a short layoff. After another entertaining weekend of fighting, here are some prospective bouts that might catch fans’ eyes.

Islam Makhachev vs Rafael dos Anjos- This is the matchup that has been on fight fans’ minds since its original booking in late 2020. Unable to make the November fight due to a staph infection, Makhachev was replaced by fan favorite Paul Felder. Now, after a strong main event victory, the current No. 9 lightweight looks to take his place among the immediate title contenders in a stacked division. What better way to do it than by taking on the No. 6 contender who is also the former champion? A second matching of this pair could also be a main event, and Makhachev says he wants to ‘help’ dos Anjos retire.

Miesha Tate vs Yana Kunitskaya- The aforementioned return of Tate was an impressive one, as the former women’s bantamweight champion was excellent over the better part of three rounds and scored a stoppage victory over a ranked veteran. With the opening test passed for Tate 2.0, she can now turn her attention once again to serious contention. Kunitskaya, who suffered a setback at UFC 264, is still a formidable top 10 competitor in the women’s bantamweight division and a fight between these two would be Fight of the Night material.

Mateusz Gamrot vs Gregor Gillespie- This could be seen as some aggressive matchmaking here, but Gamrot’s domination of Jeremy Stephens has firmly entrenched him as one of the 155-pound division’s top prospects. He won the fight he wanted, and now he can turn his attention to the high-level matchup of someone like Gillespie, as the wrestling in such a fight would be unbelievable. Gamrot wants a top 15 opponent, and it looks like he is ready for one after back-to-back strong Octagon appearances.

Donald Cerrone vs Jeremy Stephens 2- With his loss to Gamrot, Stephens is now in a position where his UFC roster spot is anything but on lock. The veteran may need to think about a farewell booking against Cerrone, whose next fight, which will be contested at lightweight, is his last. There’s still plenty of fan appeal to this matchup, and there’s really no reason the UFC shouldn’t make it after Dana White confirmed in May that Cerrone would be allowed to move back down from welterweight and take a sendoff bout at 155. These two popular fighters would put on a great show in their final Octagon appearances if they stand across from one another for a second time.

Billy Quarantillo vs Charles Rosa- Quarantillo called out Massachusetts’s Rosa after an epic stoppage victory against Gabriel Benitez. This fight could be entertaining on a similar level, with both combatants looking to make their names as prospects in the featherweight division. Put simply, this has fireworks all over it. Nonstop action isn’t something fight fans might say no to, and this pairing would bring that in a huge way.