Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Life Goes On - Fights to Make After UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Event
Dec 11, 2011 - 7:30:14 PM HANSEN: Life Goes On - Fights to Make After UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Event

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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

That's one thing about life; you can't change the past.  No matter what you did in your past, it's static.  Mark Hominick can't change his ill-fated decision to throw a wild left hook immediately after touching gloves.  Rodrigo Nogueira can't go back in time and choose to fire punches on a downed Frank Mir instead of going for a guillotine choke, a decision which changed the course of two men's careers.
 
What we can do, however, is look forward.  While yesterday has been written, tomorrow is waiting for an author.  So let's take a look at what's next for some of the names who fought on this weekend's UFC 140 card.
 
JON JONES:  Of course, Jones will be facing off against whomever Dana White and Joe Silva unilaterally decide is the number one contender. Two scenarios come to mind; the winner of the January 28 fight between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, or Dan Henderson.
 
The UFC has already announced that the winner of Davis and Evans will be getting an immediate title shot.  But if Davis pulls off the upset (and he is a live dog), does anyone really believe he's a better choice than Henderson? You canot make the case from either a competitive or from a business standpoint.  Assuming Evans beats Davis, he absolutely deserves a title shot. But so does Dan Henderson.  So how to resolve this quandary?
 
If I'm in charge, I'm booking Dan Henderson vs. Jon Jones at UFC 143 on Super Bowl weekend.  That's a nine week turnaround for Jones, and a 12 week turnaround for Henderson.  Then the winner of Evans and Davis can fight Jones (or Henderson) four or five months after that.
 
LYOTO MACHIDA:  It's going to be a long time until Machida gets another title shot, but he's still a unique and dangerous opponent who poses stylistic nightmares for almost anyone at 205 lbs.  You can't put him up against a legitimate title contender, but you can't waste him against lesser fighters, either.  Two names come to mind here: Forrest Griffin or Rich Franklin.  And since Franklin might be out for a longer amount of time than Machida might want to wait, I say Forrest Griffin is a logical next fight. Neither Machida nor Griffin are going to be seeing a title shot anytime soon, but this is a legit #3 fight on a PPV card as both fighters are still relevant in the division.
 
FRANK MIR:  There are two scenarios to consider here.  One is in the universe where Alistair does fight Brock Lesnar on December, and the other is where Overeem cannot fight Lesnar on that date.
 
Assuming Lesnar vs. Overeem goes down as planned, Frank Mir is a money draw and a dangerous opponent for anyone in the heavyweight division. When he's on his game, Mir can beat anyone at 265, even Shane Carwin if they were to fight for a second time.  You can bet that Mir, a very intellectual fighter, won't make the same mistakes in a hypothetical rematch.  In a division that is still thinner than any in MMA, Mir is no more than one win away from a title shot now.  A win over Cain Velasquez would leave absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that Mir is worthy of another shot to regain his former title.  And coming off of his savage victory over Rodrigo Nogueira, there should be no doubt that he's a worthy opponent for Velasquez either.
 
Now, assuming that Overeem cannot fight Lesnar on December 30, and assuming that Mir doesn't catch a 30 day medical suspension (unlikely, since Dana's pockets are very deep, deep enough to fit Keith Kizer with room to spare even), then Mir is going to main event against Brock Lesnar in a fight that will sell 200,000 more pay-per-view buys than Lesnar versus Overeem would sell.  In this scenario, nothing else changes; winner gets a title shot when JDS is ready to return.
 
RODRIGO NOGUEIRA:  I would be shocked if Nogueira calls it a career.  Bones heal, and fighters fight.  So, with that out of the way, Nogueira's never going to get another sniff of a title shot, and needs to be booked as a special attraction that can draw money, or as a gatekeeper to determine if the next hotshot prospect is actually worth the effort for Zuffa to push. 
 
This is a hard one to pick, because Nogueira's going to be out of action for several months.  We'll likely see Georges St-Pierre back inside the Octagon before we see Nogueira return.  So for now, let's say either Dave Herman or Matt Mitrione, assuming both of those guys don't lose a fight between now and when Nogueira returns.
 
ROGERIO NOGUEIRA: Joe Silva needs to keep Nogueira away from wrestlers who are relentless in their pursuit of the takedown.  So if Chael Sonnen moves up to 205, that might not be the best fight for Little Nog.  There's still a logjam at the top of the division, what with the triumvirate of Davis, Evans, and Henderson locked in to the next two title shots.  So how about Shogun Rua?  This would be a rematch of their Pride fight from 2005, a fight which of course 99% of current UFC fans were unaware ever happened.  Shogun and Nogueira might both have one more run at the belt in them, and a win over the other would be a good way to thin the herd a little bit.
 
TITO ORTIZ:  Tito has one fight left on his contract, and then he says he's going to retire.  He wants a rematch with Forrest Griffin, which would conclude the most boring and unimportant trilogy in the history of MMA.  OK, maybe Voelker vs. Bowling was more unimportant; fine, you got me.  If it's me, I'm telling Tito to wait for Rich Franklin to get healthy, and there's your farewell fight.
 
CLAUDE PATRICK & BRIAN EBERSOLE:  Something on Fuel, so that very few people will have to watch it.
 
CHAN SUNG JUNG:  Look.  We all know the way he defeated Hominick was a fluke.  Not an undeserved victory, not controversial, just a fluke.  Hominick, one of the most technical strikers in the sport, threw a hook that was wilder than a coked up starlet and he paid dearly for it.  The Korean Zombie is a dangerous opponent, who displayed KO power that we weren't sure he had.  And as a result, he has both one of the top submissions and one of the top knockouts of 2011.  Add to the fact that people know and love him, which is something that you can't say about any other featherweights, and I say strike while the iron is hot.  Bring on the gold. Bring on Jose Aldo or Chad Mendes.  If I'm in charge, and I have a company with one, two, three divisions that don't draw a damn cent, I'm kick starting my featherweight division by making a fight that people might pay money to watch.  Sorry Erik Koch, apologies to Dustin Poirier, I feel for you Hatsu Hioki.  Get a following, and you'll be next.
 
This is where I plug my Twitter feed @MMATorchRich.  That was the plug.  I am now done plugging my Twitter feed @MMATorchRich.  Now that my Twitter feed @MMATorchRich has been plugged, I will now commence doing things other than plugging my Twitter feed @MMATorchRich. I don't know what I will do next, but it will not be plugging my Twitter feed @MMATorchRich.