UFC Vegas 81 was one of the best events at the UFC Apex this season. We had the pleasure of watching two of the best featherweight contenders in the UFC go to battle for five full rounds which capped off a great night of fights.

Sodiq Yusuff came out firing on all cylinders in round one hurting Edson Barboza and having him on skates in the early portion of round one. Barboza, like the veteran he is, was able to weather the early storm and then break down Yusuff for the remainder of the fight. Starting in round two, Barboza started chipping away at Yusuff with leg and body kicks, which opened his arsenal as the rounds progressed.

It was in round three that the tides turned for the better for Barboza and he started to pull away. He landed his patented wheel kick which had Yusuff on wobbly legs almost getting the finish. After that round three, it was all Barboza just landing the more telling shots and just having more gas in the tank to keep pressing forward. Ultimately, he was able to put on a vintage Barboza performance making it two wins in a row for him which is tied for the second-longest win streak of his featherweight career.

After a big win against fellow top-ranked competitors in the featherweight division we take a look at what could possibly be next for the future Hall of Famer.

Lerone Murphy

Lerone Murphy is right smack in the middle of his prime at 32 years old and has now won five of his six fights in the UFC bringing his unbeaten record to 13-0-1. He is currently ranked No. 14 in the UFC's featherweight division and is looking to move up the rankings and setting up a fight against Edson Barboza seems to be the logical next choice.

Barboza is now looking like the gatekeeper into the top 10 of the featherweight division beating two surging prospects in the division back-to-back Sodiq Yusuff and Billy Quarantillo. Murphy is yet another up-and-coming prospect who is looking to crack the top 10 in the division and getting through a veteran like Barboza makes him more than deserving to be in the upper echelon of the featherweight division.

Alex Caceres

Alex Caceres is the opposite of Lerone Murphy as he has been in the UFC for the latter portion of the last 13 years with 29 fights. This could be the last time that we could see Caceres make a run in the featherweight division. While he is coming off a loss against Giga Chikadze, a fight against Barboza would be a great chance at getting a crack against another top-ranked competitor. This also would be an exciting matchup for the fans with two highly skilled strikers going toe-to-toe in the center of the octagon.

While this fight may not do much in terms of getting Barboza into title contention but it is a highly competitive fight that would be fought primarily on the feet which should help him showcase his abilities more than it would against someone who's more well-rounded like a Lerone Murphy. This fight could be a UFC Apex main event fight and no fight fan would complain about it one bit.

Calvin Kattar

After a brutal knee injury against Arnold Allen, Calvin Kattar has been on the sidelines for the last year. He is now fully healthy and ready to get back in there and get himself into title contention once again. A good welcome-back fight against Edson Barboza would be a fantastic matchup to get into the swing of things. This fight would be an extremely high-level striking matchup against two of the best strikers in the featherweight division. Katter has lost each of his last two fights and is just 1-3 in his last four fights but a win against Barboza sets him up for another big fight against top-five ranked competitors in the division.

As for Barboza, a fight against Kattar makes the most sense as it is the most logical fight against another fighter inside the top 10 of the division. This is also a matchup that serves him well as he would be facing off against a fellow striker. Barboza may be at the tail end of his career and his best days may be behind him but he is still a tough out for anyone in the division and he will continue to push forward toward a potential title shot before he calls it a career.