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By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist
I've got one MMA-related New Year's Resolution to make, and that is to not be the guy who writes a New Year's Resolutions column for MMA in 2013. I just thought that all y'all might appreciate that.
That said, we're at the tail end of a historic year for mixed martial arts. UFC pay-per-view buy rates and Ultimate Fighter viewership is down somewhat, but the UFC and Bellator are on bigger platforms than they've ever been on before. Add it all up, and I think it's likely that MMA is coming out of a recession and boom times are ahead. One could surmise that the best is yet to come for not only the sport, but for the fighters themselves as well. Accordingly, here are some possible fights we might see next for the most prominent fighters from last weekend's UFC 155 PPV.
Cain Velasquez: Velasquez reaffirmed his status as the best heavyweight in the sport. Please note that I did not say "Baddest Man On the Planet," as that phrase pretty much guarantees its bearer a supreme ass-kicking in the very near future. Velasquez avenged his November 2012 loss to dos Santos, and pretty much confirmed that shoddy performance was due more to his own health rather than Junior dos Santos' greatness.
Velasquez is the champion, and a brand new champion at that, which pretty much means that he fights who the UFC tells him who to fight now. I wish like hell they'd tell him to fight Daniel Cormier, but Cormier is the one name that he will (apparently) decline. I wish the UFC would find a way to finagle that fight together, but it's not going to happen.
So, taking Cormier out of the mix, what's next? If Alistair Overeem defeats Antopnio Silva at UFC 156, he's getting the shot. But if Silva defeats Overeem (See? I made a funny), is anyone clamoring to see Velasquez-Silva 2? Hell, I doubt even Silva wants that one. Fabricio Werdum has been promised a title shot if he defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but that fight doesn't go down until June. Junior dos Santos won't be ready to fight until June or July at the earliest after the beating he took on Saturday night. So the UFC really needs Overeem to take care of business. If Overeem loses, Silva, Werdum, and dos Santos don't seem viable. But if Silva wins over Overeem, the next option would be Roy Nelson.
My choice: Velasquez vs. Alistair Overeem, likely on July 4 weekend.
Junior dos Santos: Well, on the bright side, people love trilogies, right? Right? OK, maybe they won't love seeing this one become a trilogy for a couple of years, but there's no reason to think dos Santos can't get himself back into title contention with a few impressive victories. After all, Velasquez himself only needed one. Also helpful for dos Santos would be of Alistair Overeem becomes UFC Heavyweight Champion soon, because then the UFC wouldn't have to worry about burning out the Velasquez trilogy so fast. If Overeem becomes champion, expect his first defense to be against dos Santos in the fall of 2013.
But we're not booking dos Santos that far down the road. We're just looking at what's next. I would love to see the clash of styles Josh Barnett would present if Barnett comes over to the UFC. People want to see Barnett vs. Mir, which would be nice indeed, but I want to see Barnett vs. dos Santos. If one Strikeforce crossover is possible, why wouldn't Daniel Cormier be viable, presuming he stays at Heavyweight. The winner of that fight would have to earn the title of Second Baddest Man On The Planet. Sorry. Another possibility would be for dos Santos to fight the loser of the aforementioned Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva fight.
My choice: dos Santos vs. Overeem (if he loses to Silva) or dos Santos vs. Barnett
Jim Miller: Will someone please ask Dana White if Jim Miller has 'it' now? Thank you. Jim Miller blowed up Joe Lauzon something fierce, no? Miller absolutely eviscerated Joe Lauzon in one of the best fights of 2012, and I believe made himself a star in the process. Unfortunately, he's a star who has already been squished by the current champion, so he's absolutely not "in the mix" right now, but a man of his talent and ferocity cannot be relegated to gatekeeper status. Miller needs to be fed legitimate contenders until the stench of the Henderson and Nate Diaz fights wears off, or until Anthony Pettis kicks Ben Henderson's face so hard that the wings on Henderson's back fly away out of fear.
Miller vs. Gilbert Melendez would be awesome. I mean, like real awesome. That's high-quality prose, ladies and gentlemen. Miller vs. Eddie Alvarez would be dope as well. And if Gilbert Melendez gets an immediate title shot once he crosses over (without John Edward, thankyouverymuch), Miller vs. the winner of Pettis vs. Cerrone would be superfly.
My choice: Miller vs. Gilbert Melendez with the winner getting earning a title shot for Anthony Pettis' UFC Lightweight Championship
Joe Lauzon: Speaking of people who Anthony Pettis decapitated in 2012, I think it's safe to say that Joe Lauzon has recovered about as well as possible. Normally being taken to the brink by Jamie Varner and defeated by Jim Miller doesn't sound like a great way to rebound from an 81 second KO loss, but Lauzon did with style, flair, panache even. Lauzon has managed to make himself a star in defeat against Jim Miller, and he's as marketable now as he has ever been.
Capitalizing on that newfound star-status, a fight between Lauzon and Nate Diaz pretty much has to happen. Both fighters are high-profile names coming off of losses, they were both on the best (only great) season of The Ultimate Fighter, and both guys totally rock the casbah. I suppose if you want to be a contrarian, you could book him against Donald Cerrone after he loses to Pettis, or against the loser of the upcoming T.J. Grant vs. Matt Wiman fight. All of those options would be fine, but come on man.
My choice: Lauzon vs. Nathan Diaz
Costa Philippou: I was never sold on Tim Boetsch, so I don't know how much stock to put in Philippou's victory over Boetsch. Philippou took advantage of a headbutt and an eye poke, but he absolutely made the most of the situation. Philippou's status as a rising contender is unchanged, but not necessarily elevated, in my eyes.
A rock em sock em robots fight between Philippou and Brian Stann would be fantastic fun, assuming Stann isn't thrown into a dank Japanese prison cell in March. Philippou could welcome Luke Rockhold to the UFC, assuming Philippou is willing to wait the three or four years necessary to guarantee Rockhold's full health. A fight with Hector Lombard also makes sense, especially once you consider that a lot of observers believe Lombard defeated Philippou in Calgary.
My choice: Philippou vs. Brian Stann
Tim Boetsch: You can remember Boetsch's KO of Yushin Okami and his victory over Hector Lombard all you want. I tend to remember Boetsch getting lit up on the feet by Okami for ten minutes, and I believe Lombard (barely) defeated Boetsch. So I'm not a Boetsch guy, exactly. I enjoy watching him fight, but he's not a prospect.
Boetsch is held in higher regard by the powers that be in Las Vegas than he is in my eyes, so, you know, that's good for Boetsch. I could see Zuffa pairing him against the loser of the fight between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort for his next fight. I think Boetsch is more of the level of a Rousiman Palhares, and that is a fight that would intrigue me very much. I also wouldn't be surprised if Boetsch next fought against Mark Munoz.
My choice: Boetsch vs. Rousimar Palhares
Yushin Okami: Okami is good, and absolute death to watch. I'm sure he has an exciting fight or two in him, he just needs something to bring it out of him. You would have thought that (SAT WARNING) Alan Belcher would have been to Okami as Erick Silva was to Jon Fitch, but clearly that wasn't the case. Belcher just isn't in Okami's league, or at least he wasn't on Saturday night. The key with Okami is to either pair him up with someone who can force him to fight an exciting fight, or to pair him with someone else who is death to watch and then spend 20 minutes in the bathroom when the fight starts, because why force an exciting fighter into a dull fight.
So what's next for Okami? Based solely on my disdain for Tim Kennedy, there's a fight I could see happening. Okami's clearly a top 10 guy at middleweight, so maybe he'll be scheduled to fight Chris Weidman when Weidman's shoulder gets healthy. A fight with Okami and Hector Lombard could be in store as well. Both Okami and Lombard are ranked about the same, and maybe Lombard could force Okami into a standup war.
My choice: Okami vs. Lombard
Alan Belcher: OK, so I was slightly off on this one. I knew Okami was good, strong, and savvy, but I really thought (hoped) that Belcher was going to kick Okami's face off. And I certainly didn't think Belcher would be as useless on the ground as he was. This has to be an extremely discouraging result for Belcher, and it really puts into question just how high of a ceiling he has.
A fight between Belcher and Tim Boetsch makes sense. Boetsch likes to stand, but he's more than capable of taking the fight down. Belcher would have to keep his grappling game up to par in preparation for Boetsch, and that would be a good thing. Even though Cung Le won his last fight, who wouldn't want to see Le vs. Belcher? A win over Le would really mean something, because Le really helped his credibility with his victory over Rich Franklin. Speaking of Franklin, a fight with Belcher and Franklin would be fun as well. It also makes sense for both fighters as well.
My choice: Belcher vs. Cung Le Come on man, tell me this wouldn't result in the most entertaining fight ever.
Eddie Wineland: The best way to explain Wineland is to say that he has chosen the right time to get hot. After getting Alpha Maled by both Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez, Wineland recovered nicely by defeating both Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett. The losses to Mister and Junior Alpha Male show his limitations, and the victories over Jorgensen and Pickett highlighted what Wineland does so well.
I don't think anyone outside of Wineland himself sees him wearing a belt in the UFC, unless the current interim champion goes on the shelf for 18 months, and then the interim interim champion also gets shelved for an extended period. That said, bantamweight is thirsting for credible contenders, and Wineland is just as credible as anyone else.
My choice: Wineland vs. Raphael Assuncao The winner of that fight would be in the interim mix. How's that for damning with faint praise?
Jamie Varner: I like Varner. I think he gets dumped on unfairly, and I think people like hating him just because. I think Varner is more likely to put on an exciting fight more often than 90% of the roster.
There's only one fight I want to see Varner take next, and I've been consistent about this for months now. I mean sure, Varner vs. Pat Healy would be interesting, and Varner would be an interesting test for the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Thiago Tavares. But…
My choice: Varner vs. Takanori Gomi or Diego Sanchez Specifically, I called for Varner vs. Gomi since November, when Gomi beat Mac Danzig in Macau. Gomi's fighting Sanchez in March, but if Sanchez wins I would have zero problem with Varner vs. Sanchez. Either of those fighters against Varner would be epic.
Other Fights To Make
John Moraga vs. Darren Uyenoyama: Louis Gaudinot would be fine as well, but I think Uyenoyama is vastly underrated.
Derek Brunson vs. Chris Camozzi: I wouldn't mind Brunson getting Nick Ring or the winner of Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig, either.
Chris Leben vs. Tim Kennedy: Neither guy is going to even be "in the mix" but they have names and salaries that justify them fighting each other next.
Brad Pickett vs. Mike Easton: The winner has a chance to rebuild, the loser is relegated to Facebook, BAMMA, or RFA.
Melvin Guillard vs. Michael Johnson: Josh Thomson or Mac Danzig would be fine in this slot as well.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/richhansen/article_15488.shtml
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