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Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Top Fights to Make After UFC 163 "Aldo vs. Korean Zombie"
Aug 5, 2013 - 2:15:25 PM
HANSEN: Top Fights to Make After UFC 163 "Aldo vs. Korean Zombie"
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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

This is going to be a fantastic column. I'm going to do everything right, I'm going to make some excellent hypothetical fights, and it's going to be entertaining as all hell. Just don't listen to what Chris Watts, Sal D'Amato, and Rick Wintergrave have to say about it. Watts will say it's dreck. D'Amato will say it's long-winded. Wintergrave will randomly pick negative adjectives out of a thesaurus and put them into a Mad-Lib.

Fortunately for me, and not so fortunate for Lyoto Machida, their opinions only mattered during The Great Train Robbery we witnessed Saturday night. They can throw all the stones they want at me, and they can't take a win, or a win bonus, or a title shot away from me.

On to the Fights To Make.

Jose Aldo: The champ fights who the UFC tells him to fight. Assuming his broken foot only keeps him out of action for 6-8 weeks, he should fight Ricardo Lamas next time out. If he's going to be out any longer than that, then Lamas should fight Cub Swanson (again, I know, I know) with the winner getting the title shot. And then you book Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes for the next shot after that. We're off to a good start.


Jung Chan-Sung: Well, that was a brutal fight. Not so much a description of the entertainment value of the tepid main event fight, but also due to Aldo's broken foot and The Korean Zombie's dislocated shoulder that led to the end of the fight. Zombie's an entertaining fighter, but he was gifted a title shot due to his marketability. And that is going to look pretty stupid when the PPV numbers leak in a few days and reveal that UFC 163 sold 175,000 PPVs. Like Ricardo Lamas, who of course deserved the shot that was gifted to Jung, would led to the PPV selling many less PPV buys. Zombie needs a step down, but it's not like he can't work his way up if he goes undefeated for 2-3 years.

Next fight: Jung vs. Charles Oliveira. The UFC's already made it clear that Oliveira isn't getting easy fights, so let's find the most entertaining fight possible. Fights with Dennis Siver or with the loser of the upcoming Cole Miller vs Manny Gamburyan also makes sense.


Phil Davis: When is a win a loss? When the boss goes to Twitter to insult the judging within two minutes of having your hand raised. Normally beating the #1 contender makes you the number one contender. In this case however, Davis is just as far away from a title shot as he was on Saturday afternoon. One can hope...

Next fight: Davis vs. the winner of Shogun Rua vs. Chael Sonnen. Other possibilities include the winner of Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader or Daniel Cormier.

Let's break this down a little. If Shogun beats Sonnen, that fight's getting made. If Sonnen beats Shogun, then it's all up in the air as Sonnen might move to 185, the UFC might not want to do that fight, etc. If Teixeira wins impressively over Ryan Bader, he's allegedly getting the next shot. But if it's a bad win, or if Bader wins, either of those guys vs. Davis make a lot of sense. And if we get past those two options, and if the UFC or Daniel Cormier decide that Cormier should fight in a #1 contender fight before being destroyed by Jon Jones, then maybe the Cormier fight happens. But if Shogun beats Sonnen, it's all a moot point.


Lyoto Machida: Despite the fact that Machida won that fight, and despite Dana White knowing that Machida won that fight, the UFC didn't want nothing to do with promoting “For the Light Heavyweight Championship: Jones vs. Machida 2”, so plan on Machida being several wins away from a title shot now. Machida's very exciting, when he's booked against someone who isn't scared to engage with him, Mr. Henderson.

Next fight: Machida vs. the loser of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson. Which is another way of saying Machida vs. Alexander Gustafsson, of course. Gustafsson's height and reach, along with him being able to pick the hell out of Phil Davis' brain, not to mention that unlike Davis he knows how to strike, could lead to fireworks. I also think the UFC might put Machida in against the loser of Shogun-Sonnen. And who knows, maybe Machida's going to drop to middleweight now.


Cezar Ferreira: It's hard to know how good of a fighter Mutante actually is, because nothing is known about Thiago Santos. That said, Mutante exhibited some legitimate skills, and I'd like to see them tested against a legitimate fighter. Not Anderson Silva legitimate, but more like really good fellow TUF alumni legitimate fighter.

Next fight: Ferreira vs. Josh Samman. Sure, we don't really know how good Samman is either, but I think it's safe to say he's s step up from Thiago Santos. Other possibilities include the Uriah Hall vs. John Howard winner, or Luke Barnatt.


Thales Leites: Thales Leites defeated Tom Watson on Saturday night in Leites' first UFC fight since his August 2009 split decision loss to Alessio Sakara. Leites' release was unfair, due more to his underwhelming performance against Anderson Silva more than anything else. The Leites we saw at UFC 163 sure looked a lot like the Leties we saw in his first stint; an immensely talented BJJ-grinder. He's a top-20 guy for sure, and a tough test for anyone who isn't an immensely talented striker.

Next fight: Leites vs. Tim Kennedy. It's very possible that the UFC mistakenly feels Tim Kennedy is a top-10 guy who should be fighting bigger names than Leites, as is evidenced by them trying to get Kennedy to fight Vitor Belfort. I think Kennedy and Leites could have an extremely fun battle if it gets to the ground. Other fun fights for Leites would be bouts with Antonio Braga Neto or Ronny Markes.


Ian McCall and John Lineker: The flyweight division is so thin, and these guys are so equal in rank that I'm lumping them together. I'd be amazed if they don't fight each other between now and the end of the year. I suppose it's possible that they give Lineker a title shot, rewarding him for missing weight. If McCall and Lineker don't square off for one reason or another, fights between either guy with the winner or Louis Gaudinot and Tim Elliott could be in the cards. Beyond that? The division is thin enough where McCall and/or Lineker could face a UFC-newcomer in their next fights.


Anthony Perosh: Good thing he doesn't get paid by the hour, eh? Between a seven second loss to Ryan Jimmo in July 2012 and Saturday night's fourteen second manhandling of Vinny Magalhaes, Perosh has officially fought twenty-one seconds in the last year. While I can't think of a harder way to earn a living working twenty-one seconds a year, he certainly has a flair for the dramatic. At forty-one years of age, it really feels like Perosh's next loss will be his last UFC loss. If he's going to go out on his shield, I know just how to set him up…

Next fight: Perosh vs. Fabio Maldanado. Tell me this wouldn't be all sorts of awesome? I'll wait. OK, thank you. I also wouldn't mind Perosh being the next first opponent for Robert Drysdale, in a fight that couldn't be more stylistically different than Fabio Maldanado. And if we're going all over the map, Jimi Manuwa vs. Perosh would work as well.


Other fights I'd like to see

Sergo Moraes vs. the winner of Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson

Rani Yahya vs. Jeremy Stephens


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