Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night 170

Kevin Lee drifted into a tractor beam from which there was no escape.

Charles Oliveira extended his Ultimate Fighting Championship record for submission wins to 14, as he dispatched “The Motown Phenom” with a guillotine choke in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 170 headliner on Saturday in Brasilia, Brazil. Lee, who missed weight for the match by more than two pounds, conceded defeat 28 seconds into Round 3 in what was his fourth setback in six appearances.

Oliveira throughout the first five minutes set the tone with a hyperactive submission game, alternating between leg locks and triangle chokes while his counterpart attempted to navigate his venomous guard. Lee bounced back in a far more competitive second round, only to be undone by a brief moment of carelessness in the third. He ducked into the choke, found himself hopelessly entangled in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s clutches and became the fifth man to tap to an Oliveira guillotine inside the Octagon, joining Jonathan Brookins, Nik Lentz, Myles Jury and Clay Guida.

In the aftermath of UFC Fight Night “Lee vs. Oliveira,” here are five matches that ought to be made:

Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev-Alexander Hernandez winner: Stock in Oliveira has soared to an all-time high. He has rattled off seven consecutive victories, all of them finishes, since his December 2017 loss to Paul Felder. Though Oliveira fancies himself a title contender, he is stuck in a veritable traffic jam at 155 pounds—a weight class where Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker and a host of others are all trying to keep pace with undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. That reality clouds his immediate future. With that said, “Do Bronx” figures to draw another high-stakes assignment the next time he steps in the cage. Makhachev will lock horns with Hernandez at UFC 249 on April 18.

Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson: Burns has made it impossible to ignore him in the welterweight division. The ascendant Hard Knocks 365 representative bolstered his resume in stunning fashion, as he wiped out 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Demian Maia with punches in the first round of their co-main event. Burns drew the curtain 2:34 into Round 1, becoming the first fighter to stop Maia with strikes since Nate Marquardt did the honors more than a decade ago. “Durinho” has won five fights in a row and appears poised to make waves at 170 pounds. Thompson last appeared at UFC 244, where he took a unanimous decision from Vicente Luque on Nov. 2.

Nikita Krylov vs. Volkan Oezdemir: Despite his well-chronicled faults, Krylov has enjoyed a surprising amount of success in his two stints with the UFC. The 28-year-old Ukrainian rebounded from his contentious Sept. 14 defeat to Glover Teixeira and improved to 8-5 inside the Octagon, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Johnny Walker in their three-round light heavyweight showcase. Krylov raced out to a lead, then held off the hard-charging Brazilian across the final five minutes to win on points for the first time in his 34-fight career. Oezdemir last competed at UFC Fight Night 165 in December, when he eked out a split verdict over Aleksandar Rakic and continued to reestablish himself as a factor at 205 pounds.

Brandon Moreno vs. Askar Askarov: Moreno crept ever closer to title contention at 125 pounds with his unanimous decision over Jussier Formiga in the featured flyweight prelim. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, all for the 26-year-old Entram Gym upstart. Moreno outstruck Formiga in all three rounds and managed to steer clear of his lethal ground game, as he denied eight of his nine attempted takedowns. While “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 24 graduate continues to trend in the right direction, he still has work to do if he wants to achieve his goal of becoming a UFC champion. A 2018 loss to Alexandre Pantoja looms large, as does his Sept. 19 split draw with the Askarov—an unbeaten Russian prospect who has since gone on to defeat Tim Elliott.

Renato Carneiro vs. Michael Johnson-Evan Dunham winner: Carneiro bounced back from consecutive losses to Jose Aldo and Chan Sung Jung at 145 pounds, as the Brazilian made a rousing return to the lightweight division with quick submission of Damir Hadzovic on the main card. Hadzovic, who had never before been submitted, succumbed to a rear-naked choke 44 seconds into Round 1. Operating out of the star-studded American Top Team camp in Coconut Creek, Florida, the 30-year-old Carneiro becomes an immediate person of interest at 155 pounds following his first sub-minute finish as a professional. Johnson and Dunham are scheduled to collide at UFC Fight Night 173 on April 25.