With UFC Fight Night 25 in the books, a tremendously entertaining card and a candidate for underrated card of the year, it’s time to play matchmaker and figure out what’s next for some of the winners (and losers) on “Shields vs. Ellenberger.”
Evan Dunham vs. Jim Miller – Dunham had a strong win over an overmatched opponent and Miller is looking to build back to another title shot. Both fighters are top 10 and a win will go a long way to getting back into the mix for a title shot. Both tend to fight fairly similarly and both always have exciting fights, as well, so you’d have a solid co-main event for a smaller PPV or a good main event for a fight night.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Winner of Nick Diaz/BJ Penn – Ellenberger is on the cusp of a title shot, and stopping Jake Shields puts him in that category, but he needs that last pedigree for a shot. The winner of that fight against Ellenberger, winner gets GSP/Condit winner, makes sense. It would be a fresh matchup for all involved at the top, as well.
Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama – Sexyama is fighting for his career by dropping down to welterweight. Shields needs someone to bring out the type of fighter we know is inside him. Do it in Japan in February and you have a fight to establish relevance for both fighters.
Alan Belcher vs. Ed Herman – Last time they fought it was a close split decision. Both have been plagued with injuries since and now both are healthy. Both are also on the cusp of getting back into the Top 10 in the division. What better way to see which fighter is for real and which one isn’t?
The winner of this fight could take on the winner of Leben/Munoz and from there you have another contender for Anderson Silva.
Eric Koch vs. Winner of Chan-Sung Jung/Mark Hominick – Koch needs one more win and the winner of Florian/Aldo ought to be his. Hominick had a tremendous war with the champion and the fight the Korean Zombie is one that’ll probably be a bit of a slugfest. Both fighters would need another win at that point for a shot at the title and Koch makes sense as half of a fight to determine the next contender. The winner of Jung/Hominick ought to be the other half.
