Five For Fighting (UFC 170 Edition) – Fights To Make After Daniel Cormier’s Mollywhopping, Ronda Rousey’s TKO and More

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Well … for all those who complained about the lack of finishes on UFC cards this year we were given a main card where nearly every fight was an emphatic finish. Granted two of them were profoundly questionable, as TJ Waldburger took way more punishment than he should’ve and Sara McMann looked like she was still potentially in the fight when Herb Dean stepped in, but the controversy wasn’t in who won and lost this time at least.

Now it’s time to play Joe Silva & Sean Shelby and figure out where the most intriguing winners & losers go from here.

Winners

Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano – Zuffa announced this as the next matchup for the women’s champion (at an undetermined date as of yet) and, after all the yawning, we’ll get it most likely this spring. It’s interesting that Rousey has defended her title twice since Zingano earned the title shot, of course, and Zingano coming back after her husband’s death and a torn ACL means this probably will be the biggest mismatch on a gambling basis in UFC history.  The only matchups for Rousey that are truly engaging, and I said this before the McMann fight, are Holly Holm and Cris “Cyborg” Santos.  Anything else is going to be “Ronda Rousey wrecks some poor, overmatched girl” on PPV.

Eric Koch vs. the winner of Pat Healy/Jorge Masvidal – Koch looked a lot better physically as a lightweight than as a featherweight. His camp spoke of how hard that weight cut was on his buddy and I believe them; he looked healthier at 155 than he ever did at 145. He moved a lot more effectively a weight class up, as well. Koch looks like you can call him a fringe Top 10 based on his shellacking Saturday night on Fight Pass. I think he gets someone of note in his next bout up and Healy/Masvidal is a fight between two guys in a very similar spot as he is.

Daniel Cormier vs. the winner of Shogun Rua/Dan Henderson – Cormier got a big win but it wasn’t over Rashad Evans, thus I think with a win Alexander Gustafsson gets his rematch before Cormier gets his first shot at Jon Jones. A UFC 178 card, slated for September in Canada, could make sense for Jones/Gus 2 and the winner of this fight as a sort of de facto light heavyweight tournament. Everyone else is tied up at the top of the division, as well, so a lot of it will be waiting to see how it shakes out for DC.  The winner of Rua/Henderson will be in an interesting spot and a bout with DC could fast track one back into the title picture sooner than later; it’d be a nice pedigree fight for Cormier that the Evans fight was supposed to be.  It’s also another shot at making 205, which I think he should do before fighting Jon Jones to really get that weight cut into something that’s easy for him.

Rory MacDonald vs. the winner of Carlos Condit/Tyron Woodley – MacDonald came out and looked terrific against Damian Meia, of course, but he’s not getting the winner of Lawler/Hendricks on that fight alone. A rematch for a title shot makes sense here, especially if it’s Condit (you could do that five rounds in Canada), but don’t discount Nick Diaz being slotted in here as well. He spoke of coming back and wanting a title shot immediately because he’s a draw, which is hilarious because he’s on a two fight losing streak and it is Nick Diaz after all, but a fight against MacDonald for a title shot could be interesting too. The winner of Hector Lombard/Jake Shields in this slot for a title shot, potentially, could make sense too.

Alexis Davis vs. the winner of Jessamyn Duke/Bethe Correia – Davis is in a weird spot in that she’s earned a title shot technically but needs to wait until the end of the year or so to get. I don’t think she waits that long and takes another fight, probably on the Zingano/Rousey undercard, in the meantime. Most of the Top 10 who’d be new or interesting matchups are coming off losses or aren’t suitable matchups. Duke is someone the UFC has high hopes for and Davis earning a shot with a win makes sense against someone in a showcase fight.

Raphael Assuncao vs. Renan Barao – Barao is running out of territory to conquer at bantamweight and Assuncao has a six fight win streak, second only to the champ, and is coming off a dominant win over someone who was a prospect to watch. You can make this in Brazil on a Fight Night and everyone will be happy down there. The only other fight that would make sense would be a rematch with TJ Dillashaw but let’s face it; it was close enough to warrant a rematch but Assuncao doesn’t have to take it. He’s punched his ticket to a title shot, pure and simple.

Losers

Patrick Cummins vs. the loser of Gian Villante/Fabio Maldonado – Cummins took a beating Saturday night, a much more emphatic one than I thought he’d take, but he’s still got some value perhaps. He just stepped into super deep waters early and got taken to the bottom by an expert swimmer. Time for him to take a step back, fight on a Fight Pass prelim against someone nowhere near that caliber, and the loser of Villante/Maldonado would make for a great follow up fight.

Sara McMann vs. The loser of Liz Carmouche/Miesha Tate – Either way we’d get a matchup of two challengers to the throne and would make for an interesting undercard fight. McMann has a long way to go, as does Tate and Carmouche, to warrant another shot at Rousey and it makes sense for their journey to start with one another.

Damian Meia vs. Dan Miller – Meia is on a two fight skid against Top 10 guys and still has some value, especially in Brazil. Miller dropped to 170 because he couldn’t compete very well at 185 anymore. Meia is going to get someone out of the Top 10, most likely, for his next fight but someone making their debut or on their way out. Miller/Meia makes some sense, as Meia will probably drop out of the Top 10 with a loss. TJ Waldburger could make sense in this slot as well; Meia is an intriguing matchup for a lot of guys at 170.

Jessica Eye vs. the winner of Carmouche/Tate – Eye got the scorecard on many people’s judgment but got the loss in actuality. She didn’t lose much in defeat, though, and a rebound win against Carmouche/Tate puts her right back where she was in the pecking order.

Rafaello Oliveira vs. Roger Bowling – Bowling hasn’t been cut, despite being on an essential 0-3 streak in the UFC proper, and probably has one more chance at staying on the roster. Same with Oliveira, who had his doors blown off against Erik Koch. Loser loves town on an undercard is always a staple.