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PELKEY: Where's Everybody Going? - UFC 102 Ramifications
Aug 30, 2009 - 12:06:12 PM PELKEY: Where's Everybody Going? - UFC 102 Ramifications

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With UFC 102 officially behind us, its time to start wondering what's next for everyone on the card. I'll throw my hat in the fantasy booking ring and try to lay out the next fight for last night's combatants. We'll start at the bottom and work our way up.


Evan Dunham: He was far more impressive than I expected, and deserves a step up in competition (and its not like Marcus Aurelio is exactly a can). If it wasn't a relative war he was just in, I'd love to see him take the short turnaround and be Terry Etim's opponent at UFC 105. That's likely too soon though so I'd say another undercard fight against someone of Jeremy Stephen's ilk is more likely.

Marcus Aurelio: That was not the impressive performance I expected from Aurelio, and it certainly wasn't the one he needed in his return to the UFC. Its almost a sure thing his next fight will be outside the cozy confines of the Octagon, and at his age I wouldn't be surprised if that was the last time we'll see Aurelio in the UFC.

Aaron Simpson: Very nice fight from Simpson. His frenetic pace will be a crowd pleaser, and, not having much invested in his future, the UFC should throw him to the wolves at 185. Luckily for Simpson they're more like inside dogs than wolves in the middleweight division. A fight with the winner of next month's Nate Quarry/Tim Credeur makes a lot of sense.

Ed Herman: Certainly no fights on the horizon for Herman as his knee injury will likely keep him out of action for the better part of a year. When he's healthy he'll definitely get another crack in the Octagon after that gutsy performance.

Mark Munoz: Its hard for me to make an accurate prediction of what's next for some of these fighters since I haven't seen their fight yet, but I do know that Munoz is a prospect they'd like to build for an eventual trip to the Phillipines. A fight against a decent striker with crappy takedown defense seems like the way to go. Probably a debuting fighter.

Nick Catone: Catone has lost two in a row now, and that's usually a death knell for a fighter the UFC has nothing invested in. My guess is his pink slip will be announced soon. He'd be a solid pickup for Strikeforce, who's always needing to add depth.

Todd Duffee: Its hard to tell what you have in a fighter when he wins his debut in a record seven seconds. We did find out that Duffee thinks highly of himself, which has to endear him to UFC brass. I'll say he takes on Mostapha Al Turk next. That'll be Al Turk's "we're sorry you got screwed" fight from the UFC after taking the fight ending poke in the eye from Cro Cop. Wow, thanks.

Tim Hague: Hague probably doesn't have much of a future in the UFC, but the big lug is likeable, has a marketable look, and has had both his fights so far make the pay-per-view broadcast. At 1-1, he likely will get one more fight to keep his job, probably against another debuting fighter deep on an undercard.

Mike Russow: Along with Duffee, Russow was another touted heavyweight prospect who made a successful debut at UFC 102. Russow is a little farther along in the process and is probably ready for the just-outide-the-top-10 fighters at heavyweight. Whenever Heath Herring is ready and healthy, a bout with Russow may be waiting for him.

Justin McCully: I can only assume McCully has stuck around this long because of his friendships with Tito Ortiz and now BJ Penn. He's just not an exciting fighter, and I don't see him evolving into one. I'd be surprised if he's brought back for another fight before winning a couple outside the UFC. He'll likely stay away from Strikeforce though, knowing his friendships give him a leg up on his fellow middling heavyweights.

Gabriel Gonzaga: Its time for another "get excited about Gabriel Gonzaga til he disappoints in his next fight" period. We know Gonzaga can beat the guys he's better than, but struggles when he's challenged. Let's try this again: how about the loser of Velasquez/Rothwell at UFC 104?

Chris Tuchscherer: Another guy with good connections. The training partner of Brock Lesner was thrown directly into the fire for his debut, drawing Gabriel Gonzaga. He'll be given another shot against someone he can beat, but he'll need to be somewhat impressive. I'm going with Denis Stojnic on one of the future overseas shows.

Brandon Vera: Vera wasn't as good as I thought he'd be, but maybe it was just a tough match-up. He takes another step back up the latter, and the fight that was supposed to take place against Matt Hamill doesn't make any less sense now.

Krzysztof Soszynski: That was Soszynski's first loss in the Octagon so he's not going anywhere. He's also not gonna get any favors from Joe Silva. He's in his thirties and has plenty of experience. He'll be taking only tough fights from here on out. I'd say Keith Jarine, but a)Soszynski hasn't earned that one yet, and b) it would just look to weird. You know what? Screw it. Jardine it is.

Nate Marquardt: Nate lived up to his nickname last night. He did everything you could've asked him to do to make his case for the next shot at Anderson Silva. Unfortunately, he just perfectly set up a true #1 contender fight with Dan Henderson. It would be a quick turnaround, and I don't know how receptive Marquardt would be to the idea, but that would make a plenty adequate main event for UFC 105. Just think about it fellas.

Demian Maia: Maia shouldn't drop too much because of the loss, but it'll be interesting to see how timid he is next time out, because I'm assuming that's the first time he's been hit that hard. A fight with Michael Bisping would make sense if Bisping wasn't already tied up in UFC 105. A fight with Alan Belcher or Akiyama would be a lot of fun either way.

Jake Rosholt: Rosholt earned the lofty expectations that have been bestowed upon him last night. They're likely back to "build-up" mode with Rosholt now. How about the loser of Quarry/Credeur?

Chris Leben: Leben looked rusty and never really let his hands go. And yet, he'll always a job in the UFC. I'd almost like to see him go back to regional shows for a couple fights to fine-tune his game and get some confidence back up. Instead he'll get another firefight to make the crowd happy. I'm almost flabbergasted that he hasn't crossed paths with Drew McFedries yet.

Thiago Silva: He was always a match-up nightmare for Keith Jardine, but the important thing is he actually went out and executed. With the win he's back in the top ten (well, at least in mine) of the light-heavyweight division and with all the other top fighters tied up, how about a fight with Luiz Cane. Now that would be fun.

Keith Jardine: I've already predicted earlier that Jardine's next fight will be against Krzysztof Soszynski. Moving on.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Vintage (thank you, Michael Cole) performance by Big Nog. The memory of his destruction at the hands of Frank Mir is still to fresh in the minds of fans, so I think he'll need one more win to seem like a legitimate challenge to Lesnar. If Cro Cop can manage to get past Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103, a Cro Cop/Big Nog fight is a near certainty. If Cro Cop loses that fight...I have no idea what you do with Nogueira. Maybe hotshot Mike Russow into a fight with Nog?

Randy Couture: Couture just inked a new six fight deal, so we don't have to be as selective with his opponents as if he only had two fights left. At heavyweight, the only thing that would make sense to me would be a fight with Frank Mir (don't worry, Mir would gladly drop Kongo as an opponent if Randy was game). Other than that, a drop back down to 205 seems inevitable. Think of all the match-ups there are for Couture: Machida, Silva, Franklin, Rashad, Rampage, Shogun, a teacher vs. pupil fight with Forrest Griffin if the money was right. Limitless possibilities. Don't be the least bit surprised if Anderson Silva/Randy Couture is the fight set up for Silva while Marquardt and Hendo battle for the title shot.