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By Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor Gray Maynard took another step closer to reaching the next level at Lightweight. I'd like to see him matched against Joe Stevenson, or maybe even Diego Sanchez. I think a fight against either one of those guys is what Maynard needs to bring his game to new heights. I'd put Jim Miller in there against Jeremy Stephens or Mac Danzig. Aaron Riley was robbed in his fight with Shane Nelson. It's fully possible that Nelson could have won the fight eventually anyhow, but that was a garbage stoppage by all accounts. I suppose it helps both of them in the end because at least now people are talking about them.
I'm not going to assume Brandon Vera is for real until he wins decisively one more time. Nothing against Michael Patt, but he's Micheal Patt. If Vera can beat a Luiz Cane or Thiago Silva than we'll all take notice. Vera has never achieved what he says is his potential. If he can do what he says he can then he'll be fighting for the title by early next year. Jason Brilz scored a nice win over Tim Boetsch. He showed great ground skills. I'd like to see him fight Steve Cantwell next. Kendall Grove saved his job. A lot of possibilities opened up because of his quick win. His length makes him a tricky opponent to train for. I'd like to see him fight Yushin Okami or maybe Chael Sonnen. That way, Sonnen could try to redeem himself after getting rolled by Demian Maia.
Tamdan McCrory was dominant over Ryan Madigan, It's time for him to be put into a fight against someone like Karo Parisyan. McCrory lost to Dustin Hazelett in November but Hazelett's a very good fighter and no one goes undefeated. I'd like to see McCrory vs. Karo so we can see if Karo's ability matches his ego. Matt Hamill threw his name into the ring at 205 lbs. If his striking skills are truly evolving he'll be a dangerous opponent. I'd personally like to see him fight Ryan Bader. Let's throw 2 strong wrestlers in there and see what happens.
Pete Sell took a bad beating from Matt Brown because the ref was hesitant to be guilty of an early stoppage. There's no question the fight should have been stopped way earlier but it's not the worst beatdown I've ever seen. I do think it's sort of ironic that Sell's nickname is Drago considering the way some people are carrying on like Sell was Apollo Creed from Rocky 4.
Shane Carwin has unreal power to stone a guy flat-footed. He needs to be thrown into the title picture immediately. He crushed Gabriel Gonzaga and exposed him as a larger version of Brandon Vera. Both guys made their names off of flukish victories. Gonzaga got lucky with a head kick on Cro-Cop and Vera beat Frank Mir when Mir was still recovering from his motorcycle accident. Both guys are 2-3 since their "breakthrough' victories. We'll see if either guy can rise again or if they've already peaked.
Neither Quinton Jackson nor Keith Jardine were impressive but they fought their fight and it's done. Rampage was probably overlooking Jardine but at least he still won. This was a trap fight for Rampage but he pulled out the win and now he can train hard to face Rashad Evans. There's no real ramifications for Jardine, he wasn't expected to win so he'll go back to the spot he was in before. He'll face a few upper-level guys, maybe a rematch with Forrest Griffin or Chuck Liddell, and just keep on hanging around the periphery of the title picture. If Jardine is able to string together a series of wins against that good competition he might be in line for a rematch with Rampage.
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