The UFC made its second stop in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, and we ended up getting quite a surprise in the main event, as rising middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov scored an upset knockout win over former champ Israel Adesanya.

After the win, Imavov is without a doubt one of the top contenders in the division—though it's definitely not clear what will be next for him. Adesanya, meanwhile, has now lost three straight and is likely looking at a step down in competition if he decides to keep fighting.

The co-main event was also contested at middleweight, with former Bellator star Michael "Venom" Page taking on undefeated contender Shara Magomedov in a compelling clash of strikers. Page ended up outclassing his opponent over the course of three rounds and now has exciting options at middleweight and welterweight, where he typically competes.

Two ranked heavyweights also scored important wins in Saudi Arabia, as No. 4-ranked Sergei Pavlovich rebounded from the worst skid of his career with a decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and No. 14-ranked Shamil Gaziev defended his spot with a quick knockout of Contender Series product Thomas Petersen. Both heavyweights are most likely looking at high-profile matchups next time out.

Here are the fights we'd like to see next for the card's big winners, as well as an idea for Adesanya and Magomedov's next moves.

Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho

Under slightly different circumstances, Nassourdine Imavov might be looking at a shot at the middleweight title right now. He's now riding four wins in a row over ranked contenders, and his latest, his stunning knockout of Israel Adesanya on Saturday, was far and away the most impressive of the bunch. He deserves the opportunity.

Unfortunately for him, it's not that simple.

The middleweight title will next be up for grabs at UFC 312 next week, when Dricus Du Plessis attempts to defend the title against the man he won it from, Sean Strickland. Beyond that, the next title shot will probably go to the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, who is riding a first-round submission win over former champ Robert Whittaker.

That means Imavov will either have to fight again or wait...for quite a while. It seems pretty likely he'll decide to fight again rather than sit around in hopes of getting a title shot before Chimaev. In that event, the obvious opponent for him is Caio Borralho.

While he is a relatively new face in the rankings, Borralho is riding an impressive decision win over former title challenger Jared Cannonier, which was his 16th victory in a row. With such an impressive streak behind him, he's probably only one win from a title shot himself at this point, so a fight with Imavov makes sense for him, too.

Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Magomedov

It would have been difficult to imagine a few years ago when Israel Adesanya was in the midst of the second-best title run in middleweight history, but he has now lost three fights in a row—in pretty much all the ways you can lose in MMA. First, he lost a decision to Sean Strickland. Then he was submitted by Dricus Du Plessis. Finally, this past Saturday, he was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov.

At this point, it seems nearly impossible that the 35-year-old will ever touch the title again. If that's the case, he's left with two choices: retire from MMA (and perhaps dabble in boxing), or continue competing in MMA, prioritizing fun matchups over those that will put him back in title contention.

We're hoping he goes with the second option. In that event, it would be awesome to see him matched up with the No. 14-ranked Shara Magomedov who, after a string of impressive wins, got his first taste of defeat against Michael Page in Saudi Arabia.

It's an excellent matchup on paper between two of the most interesting characters in the sport, and it would tell us a lot about where the two striking specialists belong in the middleweight pecking order.

Michael Page vs. Michel Pereira

Michael Page really had no reason to move up to middleweight. While he wasn't exactly in title contention at welterweight, he is ranked in the division and had plenty of interesting matchups available. Having said that, his impressive decision win over Shara Magomedov positioned him for some excellent matchups at middleweight, too.

Our pick is a fight with Michel Pereira. Pereira, while nowhere near as measured or refined as Page, is one of the few strikers who is as unconventional and unpredictable in the Octagon. The No. 15-ranked Brazilian recently suffered a tough loss at the hands of Anthony Hernandez and is currently booked for an April 26 fight with Abus Nurmagomedov, but if picks up an impressive win in that matchup, he would make the perfect opponent for a middleweight "MVP."

It could easily headline a Fight Night card and would make a great addition to any upcoming pay-per-view.

Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jailton Almeida

Pretty much everybody wants to see UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones defend his belt against Tom Aspinall next. Most of us want to see that fight badly enough that we're willing to wait while the UFC negotiates to make it happen. The problem with that is that there is a growing number of contenders in reach of title shots of their own—whether they get the opportunity against Jones or Aspinall.

That includes the No. 4-ranked Sergei Pavlovich, who got back to winning ways with a decision defeat of Jairzinho Rozenstruik in Saudi Arabia, as well sixth-ranked Jailton Almeida, third-ranked Alexander Volkov, and the No. 2-ranked Ciryl Gane.

It would be nice to see the UFC put together an unofficial tournament between those four, with the ultimate winner getting the first shot at the Jones vs. Aspinall winner. In that event, the best choice would seemingly to be book a fight between Gane and Volkov, given that the former just defeated the latter with an extremely dubious decision. Pavlovich, meanwhile, could then be matched up with Almeida, who has distanced himself from a loss to Curtis Blaydes by beating Alexander Romanov and Serghei Spivac.

Shamil Gaziev vs. Derrick Lewis

After a perfect 11-0 start to his career, Shamil Gaziev got his first taste of defeat at the hands of Jairzinho Rozenstruik early last year. He has since rebounded with a somewhat slow decision defeat of Don'Tale Mayes and an impressive knockout of Thomas Peterson on Saturday. It remains to be seen how close he can get to a heavyweight title shot, but his recent wins at least proved he belongs in the top 15 at the moment, and they should set him up for a slight step up the rankings. Actually, it seems like he's ready for the Derrick Lewis test—a test that most rising heavyweights need to pass before mixing it up with the division's elite talent.

Lewis is fresh off a knockout win over Rodrigo Nascimento, who clearly didn't pass that test. That win separated him from a decision loss to Jailton Almeida who, as we covered above, is now one of the division's top contenders.

Gaziev and Lewis are both heavy hitters, so even if there's a slight chance this one devolves into a slow-paced heavyweight stinker, there's also a good chance it ends with a big KO. One way or the other, the winner will prove they belong in the heavyweight rankings, and perhaps set themselves up for a fight with someone just inside the top 10.