Five For Fighting (UFC 169 Edition) – Matchups To Make After 10 Decisions, Two Title Defenses and One Epic KO

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The past weekend was pretty busy and hectic, and UFC 169 so incredibly boring, that trying to put together this column was kind of rough. Throw in the Super Bowl and sometimes being late to the party is a good thing I suppose. With an off weekend from MMA coming up, a rarity for the first quarter as we’ll have six straight weekends of MMA from the UFC as well as the next Bellator season starting back up, it’s time to step into Joe Silva and Sean Shelby’s shoes and figure out what’s next for the most intriguing winners and losers from Saturday’s card.

Winners

Renan Barao vs. Ralphael Assuncao – Assuncao is without a fight, as Francisco Rivera pulled out of their UFC 170 bout with an injury, and there are only two options for him. One’s a rematch with T.J Dillashaw for a title shot, which could make some sense. The other is a title shot against the champ and I think that makes the most sense. The Top 5 of the division are either guys who’ve been finished by Barao (Eddie Wineland, Faber, Michael MacDonald) or guys who’ve yet to have their shot (Dillashaw, Assuncao). Assuncao has a win over Dillashaw and slotting him in here makes sense. Takeua Mizugaki could be in this slot as well, depending on timing.

Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes – Everyone wants Aldo/Pettis and for good reasons. But it shouldn’t because one of the parties hasn’t earned this part of the “Super fight” and it isn’t the featherweight champion. I’ll have an extended piece on that, of course, but Anthony Pettis is also out until the summer and Aldo came out of the Lamas fight healthy. Thus he should defend his title one more time, at a minimum. Mendes has earned a second crack at Aldo and deserves it above everyone else. If not Mendes Dustin Poirier would make the most logical sense. Crazy thing is that Aldo has defeated the Top Five in his division already (Mendes, Edgar, Lamas, Swanson, Korean Zombie) and everyone underneath Poirier isn’t a compelling matchup.

Alistair Overeem vs. Stipe Miocic – It’s now or never for Overeem to get into the heavyweight title picture. He looked great against Frank Mir, mixing up his striking and showing a bit of mercy to the former champ. He looked like the world beater we thought he was after the Lesnar fight and/or coming into the UFC. Miocic is coming off a good, but not great, win over Gabriel Gonzaga and this makes as much sense for him as well. Miocic is probably a win away from a title shot, as is Overeem, because heavyweight is incredibly shallow. With Browne/Werdum giving us the next #1 contender this’ll give you the one afterwards. I could see the UFC throwing Overeem someone like Soa Palelei next, as well, and Junior Dos Santos could make sense in this slot too if you don’t think either fighter will be in the title picture for another year or so. Overeem gives you a lot of interesting matchups, at a minimum. Chuck Mindenhall of MMA Fighting suggested Mark Hunt and that could be a fun fight too.

Abel Trujillo vs. the winner of Diego Sanchez/Myles Jury – Lamping Jamie Varner was impressive for Trujillo but he’s not going to get a Top 10 opponent yet. The winner of Sanchez/Jury will be in the same spot as Trujillo, a fringe Top 10 guy looking to fight his way into that range. Bobby Green, who was supposed to fight Trujillo but pulled out with an injury, could make sense one more time. Jason High could be in this slot as well. Trujillo could make for a lot of fun matchups.

Ali Bagautinov vs. Demetrious Johnson – Bagautinov should get a title shot because Johnson is busy cleaning out his division in quick fashion. He’s the first fighter on the UFC’s ranking list that hasn’t been defeated by the champ when you go top down and thus probably will get a title fight by default. Don’t kid yourself, he doesn’t do anything that Johnson won’t nullify and soundly defeat, but “Mighty Mouse” needs a fight and who better than the “Puncher King” at this point?

Losers

Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub – Mir has lost four in a row and I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets cut by the UFC in the near future. He’s been knocked out twice and decision’d emphatically twice. Mir doesn’t have that elite gear anymore and might not have that gear good enough to be in the Top 10, either. I could see his next fight being against Andrei Arlovski or Mike Kyle in the WSOF in Vegas, of course, but part of me expects him to get another attempt to right the ship. He won’t get someone like Walt Harris, or a prospect of that ilk, because he’s still a name and still a main card talent. Schaub would be a good test and let’s face it; hearing him talk about how he thinks he’s better on the ground than Mir would be unintentional hilarity at its finest.

Urijah Faber vs. Mike Easton – Faber’s in a tough spot at this point but he’s still viable for something. What, we don’t know, but it all depends on the weight class he decides to continue to keep at. With Jose Aldo potentially vacating the belt to go up to lightweight I could see Faber moving back up, especially with his second loss to the current bantamweight champ. If he stays at bantamweight, and part of me thinks he does, I see him and Mike Easton matching up really well. At 145 he has a handful of potentially great matchups waiting for him, including a fun dream matchup with Frankie Edgar.

Ricardo Lamas vs. Chan Sung Jung – Lamas was outclassed by Jose Aldo. Nothing wrong with that as he put up a good fight and took the fifth round, a moral victory in some aspect I suppose. The Korean Zombie was stopped after being outclassed, as well, and failed challengers to the throne usually make for a typical Zuffa matchup. Nik Lentz makes sense here, as well, and I could see Diego Brandao in this slot too.