What’s next for the stars of UFC 267?

The UFC was back on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi for a stacked UFC 267 card on Saturday. The event saw two titles on the line as Jan Blachowicz was looking to defend his light heavyweight strap against Glover Teixeira while Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen were fighting for the interim bantamweight title.

UFC 267 ended up being a good one as in the main event Texeira finally became a UFC champion as he submitted Blachowicz in the second round. Yan, meanwhile, edged out Sandhagen by decision in a phenomenal scrap. Now, after the event, here is what I think should be next for the four fighters involved in the title fights.

Glover Teixeira

Glover Teixeira is finally a UFC champion at 42-years-old.

Teixeira has been hyped up for years as the main training partner of Chuck Liddell, but visa issues kept him from competing inside the Octagon. He then fought for the title back in 2014 but lost to Jon Jones. It then looked like he would never fight for the belt again but he worked his way back and made the most of it.

After the win, it is clear Teixeira’s first title defense will be against Jiri Prochazka. Prochazka was the backup fighter and the fight will likely happen in April or May of next year and will likely headline a pay-per-view.

Jan Blachowicz

Jan Blachowicz has been on an incredible run including beating Israel Adesanya last time out, but as he says, he left the Polish power at home.

The loss will no doubt sting for quite some time, but Blachowicz has shown he is a great fighter and could very well get back to a title fight very soon. He’ll have options for his next fight but a logical one is to face Aleksandar Rakic sometime in early 2022 if he doesn’t end up facing Smith. If Rakic is booked against Smith, a rematch against Thiago Santos could happen in early 2022 in a Fight Night main event.

Petr Yan

Petr Yan said before UFC 267 there would be nothing interim about this belt and he’ll show he’s the real champion. To many, he did just that as he and Sandhagen put on a classic of a fight with Yan showing just how good he is winning four rounds.

Although Yan is the interim bantamweight champion, his next fight might not be against Aljamain Sterling. Yan has made it clear he doubts Sterling will rematch him and he won’t want to wait on him, so don’t be surprised if he fights someone else. But, as of right now, the rematch between Yan and Sterling is the fight to make.

Cory Sandhagen

Cory Sandhagen is an elite bantamweight but he’s in a weird spot. His three losses in the UFC have come to the top fighters in Yan, Sterling, and TJ Dillashaw. He still could very well fight for an undisputed title or become a champ one day, but the path is a long one now.

Sandhagen will likely return in the first quarter of 2022 and when he does taking on the winner of Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz makes sense. Sandhagen will need a step down in competition but whoever wins that fight, stylistically it will be a fun fight for Sandhagen and a winnable one in that.

Who do you think should be next for the fighters involved in the title fights at UFC 267?