Joseph Benavidez vs.
Ian McCall: When will the flyweights put on a boring fight? These two put
on an incredible scrap, technical back and forth slugfest. It was extremely
close, but the difference was the fact that Benavidez landed more and landed
harder. McCall should have gone for more takedowns, which really could have won
him the fight. He had him on the ground at the end of the second and showed his
superior grappling. Benavidez did end up winning by decision, but it was such a
close fight that McCall is still very relevant in the title picture.
Possible matchups for
Benavidez: With this huge win over McCall, Benavidez has earned himself a
rematch with the champion, Demetrious Johnson.
Possible matchups for
McCall: A record of 0-2-1 in the UFC is never good, in fact, it’s terrible.
And yet McCall is still somehow one of the top contenders in the UFC. Right
now, due to the lack of depth in the UFC’s flyweight division, there aren’t a
lot of fights for a person in McCall’s position. I would say the fight that
makes the most sense would be against John Dodson, who is coming off of a very
close loss to Demetrious Johnson.
Jon Fitch vs. Demain
Maia: Maia just defined the word relentless. He was Velcro; Fitch just
couldn’t get Maia off of him. It was impossible. Maia kept on going in for the
takedown without losing a step. He had Fitch’s back for about thirteen and a
half minutes of the total fifteen. It was complete dominance and it launches
Maia into the top of the division.
Possible matchups for
Maia: A win over Fitch launches you into the top of the welterweight
division, no matter how dominant. With a performance as dominant as Maia’s, he
is probably one or two wins away from a title shot. He needs to fight a top
contender, so he should fight the loser of Jake Ellenberger and Johny
Hendricks.
Possible matchups for
Fitch: This was an absolutely devastating loss for Fitch. It puts him back
pretty far in the welterweight title ladder. I would like to see him fight Dan
Hardy to get back on track. Hardy is coming off of a very impressive win over
Amir Sadollah, where he showcased a much improved grappling game.
Alistair Overeem vs.
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva: I was really disappointed at the first two rounds
of this fight. The first two, the third though, not so much. Bigfoot came out
into the third realizing he might be down by two rounds. He started to land
violent hooks left and right. Overeem started to fade off and Bigfoot knocked
the K-1 legend completely unconscious. Dave said before the fight, “If Bigfoot
can land a solid punch on Overeem, he will go against the cage and try to run
away.” Guess what happened.
Possible matchups for
Silva: Who do you give this guy? Overeem were guaranteed a title shot if he
won and Bigfoot knocked him out. I would like to see him in a number one contender’s
bout with Junior dos Santos . That
would be a very interesting bout.
Possible matchups for
Overeem: There aren’t a lot of choices for Overeem now. The heavyweight
division is similar to the flyweight division in its lack of depth. I would
like to see him fight the winner of Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve. A fight with
Mark Hunt would be especially amazing.
Rashad Evans vs.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: This fight was absolutely terrible. Despite the
fact that Nogueira pulled off the huge upset, both fighters didn’t look
particularly great, but Rashad looked especially bad. Nogueira didn’t win this
fight; Rashad lost it. I’m very happy that Noguiera won though and I look
forward to see who he gets next time out.
Possible matchups for
Noguiera: This was an enormous win for the younger Nogueira brother. It
puts him right there in the top of the light heavyweight division. I would like
to see him fight Glover Teixeira in a fight that would put the winner in a
number one contender’s bout.
Possible matchups for
Evans: Rashad Evans needs to drop down to middleweight, now. He obviously
isn’t going to be fighting Anderson Silva, but I would love to see a fight
against Vitor Belfort. That could be a fantastic fight and a potential number
one contender’s bout at middleweight.
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie
Edgar: This was the exact fight we were all envisioning going in. A back
and forth barnburner that ended in controversy. I mean, is that last statement
even needed for a Frankie Edgar fight? Unsurprisingly, the first two rounds
were very dominant for Aldo. He showed incredible speed and unparalleled
accuracy. He rarely missed his target. The leg kicks and jabs were starting to
wear down Frankie, but Edgar showed that Jersey
toughness. He came out to the third round the fresher fighter and started to
find his groove. Edgar was landing solid combinations as Aldo began to visibly
tire. Aldo did do much of the same in the third round as he did in the first round,
though, as he landed lots of powerful leg kicks and combinations. Once this
fight entered the championship rounds, Edgar really began to pick up the pace.
He was tagging Aldo with tons of combinations and was really starting to
surprise Aldo with some leg kicks as well. The last ten minutes of the fight
were Edgar landing lots of solid strikes. But ultimately, Aldo won the very
close decision over Frankie.
Possible matchups for
Aldo: Last weekend, Ricardo Lamas demolished Erik Koch, the original number
one contender, in the second round. If Lamas doesn’t get a title shot (which
would be criminal), then Aldo should move up and fight the winner of Ben
Henderson and Gilbert Melendez.
No comments:
Post a Comment