{"id":441081,"date":"2026-08-23T07:54:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T07:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441081\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T07:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T07:54:25","slug":"matches-to-make-after-ufc-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441081\/","title":{"rendered":"Matches to make after UFC Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans attending the latest
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> event at Golden 1 Center in
\nSacramento, California, were treated to an action-packed card.<\/p>\n

The
\nUFC Sacramento<\/a> headliner featured a middleweight clash between
\nAnthony
\nHernandez<\/a> and Gregory
\nRodrigues<\/a>. The two delivered an entertaining fight, but
\nRodrigues ultimately had his hand raised. In the co-main event,
\nVitor
\nPetrino<\/a> defeated Serghei
\nSpivac<\/a> in a heavyweight bout. Although the co-feature did not
\nlive up to expectations, the event produced 10 finishes in 13
\nfights.<\/p>\n

Gregory Rodrigues, Reinier de Ridder and Carli Judice face
\nintriguing possibilities after UFC Sacramento
\n
\nLet\u2019s examine what could be next for the main-card winners.Good \u201cRobocop,\u201d bad \u201cRobocop\u201d
\nThanks to sharper striking and punishing leg kicks, Rodrigues
\n(20-6, 11-3 UFC) outstruck fellow former
\nLegacy Fighting Alliance<\/a> titleholder Hernandez (15-4, 1 NC; 9-4
\nUFC) in the UFC Sacramento main event. Hernandez rallied in Rounds
\n3 and 4, but \u201cRobocop\u201d did enough to earn a unanimous decision.
\nRodrigues has won seven of his past eight Octagon appearances.<\/p>\n

The next logical step for Rodrigues could be a clash with Nassourdine
\nImavov<\/a>. Both fighters consistently pursue finishes, making this
\nan appealing matchup. Although Imavov has called for a title shot,
\nhe might have to wait with Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a> and Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> also pursuing the championship currently held by
\nSean
\nStrickland<\/a>. A victory over Imavov could move Rodrigues close to
\nhis own shot at the middleweight crown.<\/p>\n

In the heavyweight co-main event, Petrino (15-2, 8-2 UFC) grappled
\nhis way to a unanimous decision over former World Warriors Fighting
\nChampionship titleholder Spivac (18-7, 9-7 UFC) in a lackluster
\naffair. It was not Petrino\u2019s best performance, but the victory
\nextended his winning streak to four.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian continues to climb the rankings in a heavyweight
\ndivision badly in need of new contenders. A matchup with noted
\nfinisher Brando
\nPericic<\/a>, who is building momentum of his own, could offer an
\ninteresting test. The pairing would give both men an opportunity to
\nestablish themselves as emerging threats in the division.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dutch Knight\u201d rises
\nFormer two-division One
\nChampionship<\/a> titleholder Reinier
\nde Ridder<\/a> (22-4, 5-2 UFC) made a successful UFC light
\nheavyweight debut by defeating Roman
\nDolidze<\/a> (15-6, 9-6 UFC). De Ridder capitalized on Dolidze\u2019s
\ndecision to pull guard early, overwhelming his opponent on the
\ncanvas by continually advancing position and landing punches.<\/p>\n

The end came 4:01 into the first round, when Dolidze
\n
\ncould no longer intelligently defend himself as de Ridder poured on
\nstrikes from back control<\/a>. Although \u201cThe Dutch Knight\u201d
\nrebounded from consecutive defeats, the victory came against a
\nfellow middleweight competing outside his usual weight class.<\/p>\n

To secure a spot in the light heavyweight rankings, de Ridder
\nshould next face an established 205-pounder such as Bogdan
\nGuskov<\/a>. Although Guskov lost his most recent assignment, he
\nremains a dangerous opponent who could provide a meaningful
\ntest.<\/p>\n

Dana
\nWhite\u2019s Contender Series<\/a> graduate Mederos (12-1-1, 4-0-1 UFC)
\nestablished himself as a lightweight to watch by stopping former
\ntwo-division
\nCage Warriors<\/a> titleholder Mason Jones<\/a>
\n(18-3, 1 NC; 4-3, 1 NC UFC). Mederos overcame adversity in the
\nopening round before finishing Jones
\nwith a barrage of elbows and punches 2:07 into Round
\n2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mederos\u2019 former opponent, Chris
\nPadilla<\/a>, also prevailed at UFC Sacramento, rendering Nasrat
\nHaqparast<\/a> unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in a potential
\n\u201cSubmission of the Year\u201d contender on the preliminary card. Because
\nthe first meeting between Mederos and Padilla ended in an
\nanticlimactic majority draw, a rematch would provide both men with
\nan opportunity to settle the score.<\/p>\n

As \u201cCrispy\u201d as it gets
\nIn a women\u2019s flyweight clash, Carli
\nJudice<\/a> (7-2, 4-1 UFC) earned her fourth straight victory by
\nstopping Jeisla
\nChaves<\/a> (8-1, 1-1 UFC) in the opening round. Judice applied
\npressure from the outset, hurting Chaves
\nwith a body kick before finishing her with punches 99 seconds into
\nthe fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The time has come for \u201cCrispy\u201d to step up in competition and face a
\nranked opponent. Former strawweight champion Rose
\nNamajunas<\/a> could provide a suitable test. Although Namajunas
\nappears to be in the latter stages of her career, she remains a
\ndifficult stylistic matchup for anyone at 125 pounds. A victory
\nover Namajunas could propel Judice into the top 10.<\/p>\n

Former NFL linebacker Anthony
\nWint<\/a> (8-0, 1-0 UFC) impressed in his promotional debut by
\ndefeating fellow Fury Fighting Championship alum and UFC newcomer
\nTerrance
\nChatman<\/a> (5-2, 0-1 UFC) at heavyweight. \u201cBow Down\u201d moved the
\naction to the canvas and
\nrendered Chatman unconscious with an arm-triangle choke 4:29 into
\nRound 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those who watched Wint compete on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series
\nearlier in the month were already familiar with his potential. He
\nhas now earned two victories in 11 days. Although both performances
\nwere impressive, the Kill Cliff FC representative also showed that
\nhe needs to better control his aggression.<\/p>\n

Steven
\nAsplund<\/a> could provide an appropriate next test. \u201cConcrete\u201d is a
\nwell-rounded heavyweight capable of holding his own in striking and
\ngrappling exchanges, making a fight between the two a useful
\nmeasuring stick. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans attending the latest Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, were treated to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[847,174794,100,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-441081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-article","tag-https-www-sherdog-com-news-articles-ufc","tag-news","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}