Quillan Salkilld said it himself when he spoke to MMA Junkie and other reporters immediate after his UFC Fight Night 284 main event win: He's "the real f*cking deal."

Everyone knows Mateusz Gamrot (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) is one of the toughest tests in the lightweight division, and that's what made Saturday's clash at Meta APEX in Las Vegas so compelling. Salkilld (13-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) aced the test in every way, forcing his Polish foe to tap inside the first round.

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It was Salkilld's masterpiece, and it was a performance that should put every 155 pound fighter in the UFC on notice. If he can do that to Gamrot in the pressure-filled moment of his first main event, it's not impossible to fathom him doing it to the division's other elite, as well.

What's scarier about him now, too, is that the 26-year-old Salkilld is only going to grow in comfort and confidence after a dismantling Gamrot in such a fashion.

It's not only that Salkilld got Gamrot to tap, it's what unfolded before that. He rocked him in the first true striking exchange, then from there showed strong submission defense, put Gamrot in uncomfortable positions then stayed a step ahead until he got the choke that ended it.

With four straight Performance of the Night bonuses, and three in 2026 alone for an extra $300,000, the hype around Salkilld appears to be truly legitimate. Now it's a question of how hard the UFC will push him.

He welcomed the idea of a matchup with Benoit Saint Denis in the aftermath of the event, even putting a timeline of UFC's annual November event at Madison Square Garden in New York on it. Honestly, there's not a much better suggestion than that.

Saint Denis (17-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is the perfect middle ground of a proven, dangerous opponent who doesn't seem like pushing Salkilld too far up the ladder. It's reasonable and realistic, and with Saint Denis coming off a 52-second submission loss to Paddy Pimblett in July, he's surely eager to come back and prove something.

It's tough to see Salkilld getting any of the names in the top five – Ilia Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway or Paddy Pimblett – so if he wants another step up, then Saint Denis is his best bet.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Quillan Salkilld after UFC Vegas 120 win?

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