UFC Vegas 47 is in the books. Sean Strickland boosted his standing in the middleweight decision (Sal D’Amato notwithstanding). We also saw some beautiful finishes along the way. Some young stars made their mark as potential future contenders. Other fighters bolstered the arguments for their release from the UFC roster.

Through the thirteen fights on the UFC Vegas 47 card, the Cage Calculus forecast favorites went 8-5, bringing the forecast’s overall record since its inception to 124-68-2. All forecast projections are based on a fighter’s CC rating. You can find out how those ratings are generated HERE. You can view the projections for last week’s fights HERE, HERE, and HERE. The CC Editor’s Picks were 9-4 and the odd-on favorites according to Vegas were 8-5.

2022 Overall Standings

• Cage Calculus Forecast: 21-13
• Cage Calculus Editor Picks: 24-10
• Las Vegas Oddsmakers: 22-12

Without further ado, here’s what we learned from UFC Vegas 47:

Sean Strickland Should Get a Title Look, But Won’t

Strickland (#2 CC, #6 UFC) turned in another dominant win Saturday night. His boost in CC rating was mitigated by Sal D’Amato’s inexcusable 48-47 scorecard in favor of Hermansson (#4 CC, #7 UFC). However, most everyone watching was able to see Strickland’s dominance inside the cage. He was just as calm and composed in round one as he was in round five. Hermansson could barely land a clean shot all night.

This is Strickland’s advantage in the cage. He is the least hit middleweight ever in terms of the percentage of punches thrown by his opponent that land on him. This makes him a tough out for anyone and would make a matchup with the precision striking of the champion, Israel Adesanya, an interesting fight to watch. From a promotional standpoint, the UFC wants finishes and want the highlight reel KOs. As such, Strickland will likely have to get in line behind the winner of next week’s bout between Derek Brunson (#3 CC, #4 UFC) and Jared Cannonier (#13 CC, #3 UFC).

Shavkat Rakhmonov is Special

This isn’t necessarily something we learned Saturday night. Most decent MMA fans already knew this, but once again got to see it on full display. Rakhmonov (#8 CC, #15 UFC) delivered yet another knockout win to improve his professional record to a perfect 15-0. All 15 wins have been finishes (8 KOs, 7 submissions). Rakhmonov could certainly afford to work on his promotional skills, however. He called out Michel Pereira after the fight. This would be an exciting matchup to be sure, but one far beneath Rakhmonov’s current standing. He should be a title contender in a couple years’ time (if not sooner).

A Couple of Cut Candidates Present Themselves

Sam Alvey is now 0-7-1 in his last eight fights. Prior to that streak, he had a 1752.9 CC Rating, making him one of the higher ranked fighters at the time. Now, he sits at 1547.3, roughly 100 points below the UFC average. Few fighters survive a three-fight winless streak, let alone an eight-fight winless streak. Alvey’s standing in the promotion is tenuous, especially considering this most recent loss was to a fighter who had all of four days’ notice before taking the fight.

Speaking of losing streaks, Julija Stoliarenko delivered her third consecutive defeat in the UFC. The Lithuanian is known for her submission ability. She nearly had Alexis Davis (#13 CC, NR UFC) in a number of armbars, but to no avail. With this most recent loss, her CC Rating sunk below Hannah Cifers, making Stoliarenko the lowest ranked female fighter in all the UFC (according to the CC Ratings). She has to be on the chopping block and, at the very least, faces a must-win fight if she gets another.

Debuts Aren’t Always Tough

Chidi Njokuani and Jailton Almeida (#15 CC, NR UFC) put on absolute stunners in their respective UFC debuts. Almeida dominated Danilo Marques for the better part of three minutes before the ref mercifully stepped in. He has impressive mastery of both striking and grappling and will be dangerous in the division if he can keep it up. Njokuani, for his part, delivered a a 16 second KO, the second fastest for a debut fighter ever (second only to Terrance McKinney). Both men aren’t the youngest either, so expect to see them fight increasingly better competition in short order and make their runs.

Photo Credit: MMA Fighting