Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Should Mark Hominick lose at UFC Fight for the Troops 2, who should get the next title shot against Jose Aldo? Amadi, Hobaugh, Perez, Hyden, Bacior, Williams, Hansen and Penick
Jan 22, 2011 - 4:45:49 PM ROUNDTABLE: Should Mark Hominick lose at UFC Fight for the Troops 2, who should get the next title shot against Jose Aldo? Amadi, Hobaugh, Perez, Hyden, Bacior, Williams, Hansen and Penick

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If Mark Hominick loses to George Roop at Fight for the Troops 2, who should get the next shot at UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo?

JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The featherweight division is an incredibly competitive division. While there is some truth to the idea that we don't have too good of a handle on who's who and what's what at 145 pounds, who is to say that we ever will? As it stands now, the featherweight division is fairly deep but hyper competitive. The fact is we'll probably never see the type of stability at the top of the featherweight division the way we do at welterweight. The division is too deep, too young, and with too many fighters cutting from 155, to get a solid top-three the way we see in other divisions.
 
Because of the nature of the division right now, only Chad Mendes and Michihiro Omigawa have the type of stability that a number one contender should have going into a title fight. The winner of their bout in 126 will probably be the next in line should Mark Hominick lose, get injured, or fail to impress in his bout with George Roop.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

If Chad Mendes gets past Michihito Omigawa at UFC 126, he is next in line in my mind. I think that some fans of the UFC are not as familiar with the featherweight fighters and they will be pleasantly surprised by the speed and tenacity of the lighter fighters. In my mind Mendes being 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the WEC make him the natural next title contender.

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

It would be a toss up of who fights Jose Aldo if Mark Hominick loses to George Roop.  Maybe Roop?  The problem is that the division is thinning itself out.  Aldo cleared the top two fighters in Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, then everyone else is beating each other to fight Aldo, with no clear contender.  We'll have to wait and see what happens with Hominick.  Who knows?  Maybe someone already in the UFC, in the lightweight division will give it a go if the UFC can't find anyone. 

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Well, I think Michihiro Omigawa might be the one. I don't know if he can beat Aldo, but at this point, that could be said about everyone in this division. There's no clear number 1 contender so you go with who's hot. I wouldn't have a big problem with Diego Nunes or Dustin Poirier getting the shot, though. It's not going to be easy, guys are going to have to do something to stand out in order to get a title shot.

MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think that if Hominick should lose, that Chad Mendes should get the shot with one more win. I think he may have the skills to do to Jose Aldo what Sonnen did to Anderson Silva. He may be Aldo's toughest fight style-wise. I would really like to see him get a shot.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

If Mark Hominick loses to George Roop, I'd be fine with Dustin Poirier getting the shot at Jose Aldo.  He's relatively unproven at featherweight, but he dominated Josh Grispi, who the UFC had deemed Aldo's number one contender.  

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

If Roop wins, I want the next shot to go to Michihiro Omigawa.  If Omigawa loses, I have no bloody idea.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If Roop upsets Hominick tonight, it's likely coming down to the winner of the Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa bout. Although Mendes is still young and still up and coming, a win over Omigawa, coupled with his undefeated record, will likely give him enough clout to earn the shot. Omigawa will quickly get thrust into that fight should he win, and he'd be the most deserving. After that, it's a total crap shoot, with a number of fighters who could make an argument.