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| Michael Chiesa caps off amazing TUF run and story. Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports |
Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer: This fight had one hell of a
finish. Although Cofer was the busier striker, Lawrence was landing the better
blows and getting the better of the exchanges. Coming into the 3rd
round, Lawrence was arguably up on the scorecards but he didn’t have to worry
about any scorecards, he brutally KO’d the tough Cofer with a brilliantly
executed head kick just 19 seconds into the closing frame. Lawrence has an
extremely bright future.
Possible matchups for Lawrence: Lawrence needed to
desperately work on his fight IQ. This was shown in his fight with Chiesa. He
fought a much smarter fight against Cofer and it eventually worked out with his
brutal KO in the 3rd round. He is also a rather undersized
lightweight and a move down to featherweight could prove very beneficial for
him. Daniel Pineda is coming off a loss and it could definitely be an
entertaining fight between two rising prospects.
Max Holloway vs. Pat Schilling: Max Holloway is the new kid
everyone needs to keep their eye on. He has some of the best technical striking
in the division. Not even Jose Aldo mixes it around with body shots. Holloway
peppered Schilling for three dominant rounds mixing in beautiful body shots,
brutal uppercuts, and even went for the famous off the cage “showtime” kick. I
was reading around on some forums and people were saying that Schilling is
going to absolutely destroy Holloway. That wasn’t exactly the case. The main
criticism that I have for Holloway is that he needs to work on his finishing
ability, but he was simply playing it smart. Schilling had a much better ground
game and he didn’t want to risk it. Props to Schilling though for a tremendous
amount of heart, but heart doesn’t win you a fight.
Possible matchups for Holloway: Holloway showed to me that
he shall be a title contender in the coming years. With the technical standup
that brutalized Schillings face and body, to his great takedown defense. He
defended all Schilling’s takedown attempts and in a few, I really thought that
Schilling would get the takedown but Holloway showed much improved takedown
defense, which he promised and delivered. Schilling has absolutely no name
value, so if Holloway really wants to make a statement at featherweight, he
should fight the winner of Cub Swanson vs. Ross Pearson. It very well could be
too much too fast but I can guarantee you that Holloway will hold his own in
either of those fights.
Charles Oliveira vs. Jonathon Brookins: Oliveira truly
emerged as a contender for the featherweight belt against Brookins. Oliveira’s
punches were picture perfect and then he ended up cinching a devastating
modified guillotine choke that was also part D’arce choke for the finish mid way into round 2.
Possible matchups for Oliveira: With the featherweight
division looking rather thin as of late, Oliveira has launched himself up into
the top contenders. Dennis Siver himself has also launched himself into title
contention. That fight would be absolutely awesome along with it being a real
launch for both goes at 145.
Possible matchups for Brookins: Let’s be honest with
ourselves, Brookins is a very talented guy but he will never rise above
anything passed gatekeeper status. But before he has to resume his job as
gatekeeper, he needs a fight that will put him back there. A fight with the
lone Chinese fighter, Tiequan Zhang would be both a fight that would get him
back there, and a rather easy fight.
Mike Chiesa vs. Al Iaquinta: After Chiesa’s fight with
Larsen, I wrote him off as guy who would prove tough but not even come close to
winning the show. I also chose the guy he was facing to win every time, except
for Larsen. But boy, was he on a mission. After hearing about the death of his
father, he made it the only goal in his mind that he was going to win this in
dedication to his father. Iaquinta is a tough dude but when you are facing a
guy like Chiesa, you aren’t going to win. This show was Chiesa’s to win. Not
much happened in the standup but once Chiesa got a hold of him, he took his
back and finished the fight. The best storybook ending to any TUF season ever.
Possible matchups for Chiesa: Once you win The Ultimate
Fighter, you will be instantly thrown into the wolves. You will be given a fighter
that has name value and has a chance to beat you. But isn’t that the way with
all UFC fights? A fight with Mac Danzig would be a great test for Chiesa.
Possible matchups for Iaquinta: Iaquinta has some solid
standup but desperately needs to work on his submission defense. Tony Ferguson
is coming off of a loss against another TUF runner up and that would be a
great standup fight.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann: Martin Kampmann is
turning into the comeback kid of the UFC. After being blitzed in the opening
stages of the fight and the second round, Kampmann pulled off the upset and
finished Ellenberger with a barrage of knees that dropped him. Ellenberger,
despite this loss, is still one of the top guys in the division and Kampmann is
easily one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC.
Possible matchups for Kampmann: The only fight that would
truly make sense right now would be a title eliminator fight with Johny
Hendricks, and Kampmann said it himself, a fight with him and Hendricks would
be an entertaining scrap.
Possible matchups for Ellenberger: Well, as of today, Jon
Fitch has had to pull out of his fight with Aaron Simpson due to injury.
Ellenberger would be the perfect guy to replace Fitch. This is, of course,
depending on the fact that he doesn’t have a concussion following his TKO loss.
