What's next for UFC 268 winners?

Another UFC event is in the books.

Kamaru Usman retained the welterweight title, Rose Namajunas kept the strawweight belt, a rising bantamweight knocked out a legend, and one of the most exciting lightweights returned to the win column in a "Fight of the Year" candidate.

Here's what should come next for UFC 268's notable winners.

Kamaru Usman

Defeated: Colby Covington via unanimous decision
Should fight: Leon Edwards if he beats Jorge Masvidal

Usman signaled after Saturday's win that he may take some time off to conclude his 2021 campaign, during which he defended his 170-pound belt three times.

The division could look a bit different by the time Usman is ready to fight again, so it's difficult to speculate about who his next challenger will be. Masvidal could pull off the upset against Edwards, paving the way for Vicente Luque to get a title shot, or Khamzat Chimaev could earn two quick wins and cement himself as the No. 1 contender.

However, the most likely scenario is Edwards receives his long-awaited crack at UFC gold.

Of course, Edwards first needs to get past Masvidal at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. But if he does, and he's favored to do so, there would be no denying the Brit any longer.

Many people thought Edwards deserved a title shot after his win over Nate Diaz in June - not necessarily because of that one victory in particular, but because of Edwards' entire body of work since 2016. He is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division and is riding a 10-fight unbeaten streak. Edwards' last loss came against Usman in 2015, well before either was a top contender.

The UFC opted to give Covington the title shot before Edwards, presumably because he's a bigger name and would sell better on pay-per-view. But with the Usman-Covington rematch now in the rearview mirror, and with Edwards being the highest-ranked welterweight who has yet to challenge Usman for the title, "Rocky" should get his shot if he wins his next fight.

Rose Namajunas

Defeated: Zhang Weili via split decision
Should fight: Carla Esparza

After Namajunas knocked out Zhang in April, Esparza should have gotten a title shot. The UFC offered Zhang an immediate rematch instead, but now that Namajunas has beaten Zhang for the second time, Esparza should definitely be next.

The inaugural strawweight champion, Esparza had an up-and-down few years after losing the belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015. She seemed to be a step below the division's top talent for a while, including Jedrzejczyk, Claudia Gadelha, and Jessica Andrade.

But Esparza recently emerged as a top contender once again, stringing together five straight wins since the beginning of 2019. Her most recent triumph - an impressive TKO of Yan Xiaonan - sealed the deal: Esparza deserves a shot to get her belt back.

UFC president Dana White wouldn't commit to Esparza being the No. 1 contender after Saturday's event, but he should reconsider his stance. Esparza defeated Namajunas in 2014 to become the UFC's first strawweight champion, so a rematch in which Namajunas defends against Esparza would make for quite the storyline.

Regardless of that, no one is close to as deserving of a title shot as Esparza is. She wants the rematch and so does Namajunas. The UFC needs to get on board because this fight has to happen.

Marlon Vera

Defeated: Frankie Edgar via third-round knockout
Should fight: Cory Sandhagen

This matchup might feel like it's coming out of left field, but ask yourself this: Why not?

Vera proved to be a top-10 bantamweight by finishing Edgar, a former lightweight champion and surefire future UFC Hall of Famer. Vera entered at No. 13, while Edgar sat at No. 8.

After passing this latest test, it's time for "Chito" to get another step up in competition. Unfortunately for him, many fighters in the top 10 are currently booked, so there aren't too many options. But Sandhagen actually makes a lot of sense.

Sandhagen is coming off a loss to Petr Yan in an interim title fight at the end of October and previously dropped a narrow decision to TJ Dillashaw in July. Sandhagen is one of the five best bantamweights in the UFC, and he still has a ton of potential at 29 years old. But after losing two straight, he needs to fight someone a little lower in the rankings in his next fight to give him a shot at regaining some momentum.

Vera, meanwhile, deserves an opportunity to break through into the top five and work his way closer to a title shot. A fight with Sandhagen would be a good measuring stick for both guys.

Is Vera ready to face the best? Or, will Sandhagen defend his spot as the No. 3 fighter in the division? There's only one way to find out.

Justin Gaethje

Defeated: Michael Chandler via unanimous decision
Should fight: Winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier

Gaethje stepped into the Octagon for the first time since his title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020, rebounding with a win over Chandler in an instant classic.

Now, he should fight for the lightweight title again.

After Poirier gets his shot at 155-pound gold against Oliveira at UFC 269, the two most-deserving contenders will be Gaethje and Islam Makhachev, the latter of whom picked up a submission victory over Dan Hooker at UFC 267 late last month.

You could make a pretty strong case for either man to be next in line for the winner of Oliveira-Poirier, but Gaethje has the slight edge over Makhachev because he's fought the stronger competition. For instance, their most recent opponents fought earlier this year, with Chandler knocking out Hooker. Makhachev has won nine fights in a row but holds only one win against a top-10 lightweight.

So, regardless of whether it's Oliveira or Poirier standing across from him, Gaethje's next fight should be a five-rounder with the UFC lightweight championship on the line.