...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
With so many fights over the last couple of weeks, we're breaking down the fantasy booking out of the events into three parts. For part one, CLICK HERE. For part two, CLICK HERE. Check out part three below:
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Benson Henderson: Unless you're Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva, champions don't get to pick their next opponents. Benson Henderson will be fighting Anthony Pettis if Pettis defeats Donald Cerrone next month in Chicago. If Pettis loses that fight, then obviously the Mayan calendar was off by a five weeks. After all, they failed to account for leap years, so they probably failed to account for Cerrone pulling the upset, too.
My choice: Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis
Nate Diaz: Is there a worse position to be in than that of Nate Diaz? He challenged for the title and lost, in an insanely deep division, where one of the top contenders is one of his own teammates. Nate Diaz is like three years and five wins away from getting back into the mix. And that's assuming his teammate Gilbert Melendez doesn't wind up UFC Lightweight Champion during that time. Diaz is screwed, and hopefully he can find motivation other than becoming champion in the near future, because that ain't happening.
So where to go from here? Diaz is a unique and dangerous fighter, and is a huge draw as well. If Anthony Pettis does in fact lose to Donald Cerrone, name me one person who wouldn't drool at the prospect of Pettis vs. Diaz. I'll wait. Yeah, that's what I thought. Maybe in the short-term Diaz becomes a gatekeeper to the upper echelon, in which case a fight with the winner of TJ Grant vs. Matt Wiman makes sense. Even if Diaz wins that fight the UFC wouldn't be hurt by losing Grant or Wiman as a contender, because there's hardly a dearth of contenders right now anyways. But realistically, only one name makes perfect sense here.
My choice: Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez
Yves Edwards: Just in case you weren't an Edwards fan before, his knockout of Jeremy Stephens should have sold you on his skills, not to mention being on the right side of good vs. evil, too. Edwards, if booked properly, can make some real noise in the dangerous.
Coming off of last weekend, a lot of people are calling for a fight between Edwards and Ross Pearson. That would work, especially if you want to put Edwards in against a guy who will stand and trade with him. For some reason, a fight between Edwards and Josh Thomson intrigues me. I don't think Thomson can win that fight, but it would be a real chess match. And if you're into stand-and-bang, how about a fight between Edwards and the winner of Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner? Assuming that fight does happen at UFC 155.
My choice: Edwards vs. Melvin Guillard or Jamie Varner
Ross Pearson: Ross Pearson returned to the lightweight division with a very successful performance against George Sotiropoulos. Pearson does what Pearson does, and looked as sharp as he has ever looked. It's clear his best weight class is lightweight. The UFC would wise to get behind Pearson and build him up as much as possible, because the UK is still a very important territory for them.
Obviously a fight between Pearson and Yves Edwards would be entertaining, and I'd have zero problem with that being the direction Zuffa heads. Even though this will never happen, I'd really like to see Pearson vs. Tim Means. It makes no sense whatsoever, I just think it would be a cool fight. Matching up Pearson vs. the winner of Evan Dunham vs. Gleison Tibau would force Pearson to improve quickly, and is that a bad thing?
My choice: Pearson vs. Evan Dunham or Gleison Tibau
Rustam Khabilov vs. George Sotiropoulos: No, Jamie. I don't want to see Sotiropoulos die. I want to see Khabilov vs. a legit grappler.
BANTAMWEIGHTS
This is where it seems like I'm getting lazy, because I'm going to be placing bantamweights against other bantamweights who fought over the weekend, but these are good fights regardless.
Raphael Assuncao vs. Scotty Jorgensen: Raphael Assuncao is on the fringe of the top-10, and his four career losses are against guys who were at the top of their games (Curran, Faber, Nunes, Koch). Jorgensen has a bigger name than Assuncao (although not big enough to get him off of Facebook…), and will be a hell of a test for Assuncao.
Hugo Viana vs. Johnny Bedford: You're not killing off a future contender, you're building up one future contender.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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