As is often the case immediately after a major Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view, the promotion’s next offering seemed to represent a bit of a lull, at least on paper. Nonetheless, UFC on ESPN 16, also known as UFC Fight Island 4, featured several promising newcomers and a quartet of ranked bantamweight women in fights that figure to help plot the course of their division for the next year. As always, some fighters’ stocks rose on Saturday while others took a hit.
Germaine de Randamie: 36-year-old fighters aren’t supposed to add new dimensions to their game—especially 36-year-olds who came to MMA as world-class competitors from another combat sport and have made it explicit that they are part-time fighters.