Saturday afternoon, UFC Fight Night 69 emanated live on UFC Fight Pass from the O2 World in Berlin, Germany. The main event saw UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk make her first successful title defense with a third round finish of Jessica Penne. Below, LWOS books the fights for the main card winners and losers of UFC Fight Night 69:
Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Jedrzejczyk looked absolutely phenomenal against Penne, dominating every moment of the fight before getting the stoppage victory just inside of three rounds. It’s clear who Jedrzejczyk’s next opponent should be: the winner of Claudia Gadelha vs Jessica Aguilar. Gadelha and Aguilar go one-on-one at UFC 190 in August. Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha met once before, last December, with Jedrzejczyk winning the contest by split decision. Many people scored the fight in favor of Gadelha, and a rematch between the two for the belt would be awesome.
As for Aguilar, she has long been thought of as the best female strawweight in the world. In January of last year, she won the World Series of Fighting Women’s Strawweight Championship and defended it twice. Last month, she announced WSOF had granted her her release, and she signed with the UFC. Jedrzejczyk vs Aguilar would be a great fight, and a chance for Aguilar to prove once and for all that she’s the top strawweight in the world.
Jessica Penne: While Penne produced little offense against Jedrzejczyk, we learned that the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion has heart for days. Penne has a great grappling game, and if she can improve her takedowns just a little bit, she’s going to be a real force at strawweight, and she could have a real shot at defeating Jedrzejczyk in a future rematch. Up next, Penne should take on the woman who Jedrzejczyk took the title from, Carla Esparza. Penne and Esparza were both on TUF 20, but their paths never crossed on the show. Esparza has a strong wrestling game, but it would be interesting to see the TUF 20 winner’s strategy with someone as strong off their back like Penne is.
Tatsuya Kawajiri: Kawajiri got off to a slow start on Saturday, but he finished strong, grinding out a decision over Dennis Siver. Kawajiri is 37-years-old now, and he probably won’t ever be challenging for the UFC championship, so he should be used to test young, up-and-coming featherweights. In that case, the first name that comes to mind for Kawajiri’s next opponent is Godofredo “Pepey” Castro. After starting his UFC career off with a disappointing 1-3 record, Pepey has won three straight fights, all by finish, and all winning him a Performance of the Night bonus. It’s time for the flashy Brazilian to take a step up in competition, and Kawajiri is the perfect foe to test him.
Dennis Siver: Siver started strong versus Kawajiri, but got outwrestled as the fight went on. Siver has now lost two straight, and he has just one win in his last five bouts. Siver, a former lightweight, has been in the UFC since 2006 and he’s fought 20 times inside the octagon. Thiago Tavares, another former lightweight now at featherweight, has been in the UFC since 2007, and he has 16 fights inside the octagon. Surprisingly, these men have never met, and while they’re always flirting around the top 15, neither man will ever be a top 5 fighter. Match them up though, because this will be a fun one.
Peter Sobotta: Sobotta looked great on Saturday, steamrolling right through late replacement Steve Kennedy. After being released from the UFC in 2010, Sobotta went 5-0-1 on the regional scene to get the call back to the big time. Sobotta is now 2-0 since his return to the UFC, and up next, he should fight Chris Clements. The UFC doesn’t usually book a fighter coming off a win with a fighter coming off a loss, like Clements is, but Sobotta vs Clements sounds like all sorts of fun. Sobotta has been pushing the pace in his fights since coming back to the UFC, and Clements always is a contender to win Fight of the Night.
Steve Kennedy: Kennedy didn’t look great on Saturday, but he took the fight on very late notice. For his sophomore effort inside the octagon, he should take on Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Dos Santos lost his UFC debut last month to Nicholas Dalby.
Nick Hein: Hein’s striking looked on point on Saturday, and he’s now 2-1 in the UFC with his only loss a close decision defeat at the hands of the fast rising James Vick. Next for Hein should be fellow striker Valmir Lazaro. Lazaro is coming off an upset win over James Krause last February, and like Hein, he also has a close decision loss to Vick on his record. Match Hein and Lazaro up and watch the fireworks fly.
Lukasz Sajewski: Sajewski couldn’t get much of anything going early on in his UFC debut, and as a result, he became desperate and predictable late in the fight, leading to a pretty easy win for Hein. Next for Sajewski should be Leo Kuntz. Kuntz lost his UFC debut last month to Islam Makhachev.
