...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
It's been a hell of a five days, hasn't it?
It's five days later and Chael Sonnen still owns one more championship belt than Anderson Silva. It's five days later and the demand from UFC fans to see the rematch is only going to get more intense, and it's at a fever pitch already. It's five days later and I still can't understand what makes Silva tick (nor do you, so stifle). It's five days later and Vitor Belfort is still ex-girlfriend crazy.
On to the fights to make out of UFC 162…
UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman:
That's still weird, and it's going to be weird for a few days forever. Weidman's fighting Silva next. If anything else happens, Dana White has officially lost his bloody mind (and dozens of millions of dollars).
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva:
That's still weird, and it's going to be weird for a few days forever.
Silva's fighting Weidman next. If anything else happens, Dana White has officially lost his bloody mind (and dozens of millions of dollars.
Tim Kennedy
Raise your hand if you've ever enjoyed a Tim Kennedy fight. Well, either a lot of Tim Kennedy fans forgot to hit the Speed Stick and are being considerate, or the consensus of the room is that Tim Kennedy fights are as boring as Matt Pelkey's future Twitter feed. I sure don't want to see him drag down someone who's exciting, and since Jake Shields is a welterweight right now, let's do Tim Kennedy vs. Francis Carmont. Ronny Markes makes sense here too, as does Thales Leites (if Leites beats Kong Watson).
Mark Munoz
Staying with the middleweights who fought at UFC 162, Mark Munoz' statement win is of course being overlooked by the statements made by Chris Weidman and by Anderson Silva's hubris. So let's not so easily forget what Mark Munoz did on Saturday night. After being slaughtered into clinical depression by Chris Weidman, in a fight in which Munoz was the betting favorite lest we forget, Munoz got himself back in shape and laid out a top-ten fighter. Not only did he decimate Boetsch, but this was clearly the best performance of Munoz' career. Munoz is delusional if he thinks he can touch Chris Weidman (considering he literally didn't touch Weidman last year), but Munoz is on the short list of guys who are (wait for it) in the mix at 185. The UFC returns to Manchester in October, Michael Bisping wants to main event that card, Munoz has already main evented there, let's see Mark Munoz vs. Michael Bisping on top of that card. If that doesn't happen, fights with Jacare Souza (if he beats Yushin Okami) or Costa Philippou (if he doesn't get the Bisping fight) are logical fights to make.
Roger Gracie
Not every middleweight looked good on Saturday night, but Roger Gracie still has value. Even though only one Gracie has ever won a fight in the UFC, the last name is still royalty. Roger is still going to get one more shot to redeem himself before he's in danger of getting cut, and that fight could very well be against a big name. Roger Gracie vs. Rich Franklin could be a sellable fight, as well as a golden parachute for the UFC's next Vice-President of Golden Parachutes. If Gracie doesn't get a big name opponent the next time out, fights with Lorenz Larkin or the loser of Uriah Hall vs. Josh Samman could do the trick.
Tim Boetsch
Even with as much of a 180 as I've done on Mark Munoz, I can't fully get on the Munoz bandwagon because Tim Boetsch is an enigma himself. Boetsch is on a two-fight losing skid which is one massive flurry of uppercuts and one blind judge away from being a four-fight losing streak and a future fight with David Branch n the undercard of a Ray Sefo fight. Beotsch's UFC career is going to come to an end if he loses his next fight. But there are no easy fights in the UFC, so Tim Boetsch vs. Chris Camozzi should happen next. If not, then I would mind Boetsch vs. either Alan Belcher or Luke Rockhold, assuming Rockhold and Belcher don't fight each other next.
Andrew Craig
It is ever so hard to get excited about anyone in the middle ranks of the UFC's middleweight division. If you can't put away that version of Chris Leben that we saw on Saturday night, you need to grow some killer instinct, sir. That said, Andrew Craig vs. the winner of Uriah Hall vs. Josh Samman would be a good test for all parties. A fight with the winner of Brad Tavares vs. Bubba McDaniel or a fight with Tom Lawlor could be fun as well.
Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson
I join them at the hip, because Edgar vs. Swanson has to happen next. The way I see the featherweight division playing out, the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Jung Chan-Sung should fight Ricardo Lamas. Make Edgar vs. Swanson fight one another either on the same card or within a couple of weeks, and then the Edgar-Swanson winner is next in line for a featherweight title shot. To me, nothing else makes sense. If the UFC goes a different direction, then one of them can fight the winner of Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida, and the other can fight Nik Lentz.
Charles Oliveira
Sean Shelby's doing the best he can to completely murder this man's career before it ever begins. Nobody at age 23 should have already been booked against Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Cub Swanson, and Frankie Edgar. That just ain't right, boy. Let's give this very young fighter a chance to get some momentum against the proper level of competition, shall we? Coming off of two losses, Charles Oliveira vs. the loser of Cole Miller vs. Manny Gamburyan would be a lot of fun. A fight with Robbie Peralta would be a good scrap as well. And if Hatsu Hioki loses to Darren Elkins and doesn't get cut, Oliveira vs. Hioki would be the most fun fight I can imagine for Oliveira, even if Hioki would be too much for him.
Dennis Siver
OK, so maybe Siver vs. Swanson shouldn't have been considered a coin flip fight after all. Siver looked like a top-ten guy, but Swanson looked elite. Siver's in that purgatory between contender and gatekeeper, so it's going to be hard to put him in to fights that make sense for both himself and for his opponent. Dennis Siver vs. the loser of Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida makes perfect sense. The loser of Mendes-Guida will be ten miles away from title contention, but are still good enough to need to fight really good fighters. Siver vs. the loser of Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier could work too. Hacran Dias vs. Siver might be fun as well.
Other fights to Make
Norman Parke vs. Mitch Clarke: I just want to see him fight Clarke to see how badly Mike Goldberg will screw up their last names, even though they're extremely common names.
Edson Barboza vs. John Makdessi: Saturday night was a placeholder fight for Barboza. Now let's see the fight we were supposed to see on Saturday night. If Makdessi needs more time to recover, Isaac Vallie-Flagg or James Krause would make good opponents.
Mike Pierce vs. Jake Shields: Pierce is already calling out Jake Shields, which is why I'm supposed to write these on Sunday morning when I actually come up with the idea before the fighters steal my thunder. GAH!!
Brian Melancon vs. the winner of Court McGee vs. Robert Whittaker: No need to baby Melancon, as Seth Baczynski is a really good win for Melancon. Fights with the winner of Justin Edwards and Brandon Thatch or with Sean Pierson also work.
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
