It’s been a busy weekend for MMA fans (and writers) with two UFC events going down. Neither card really knocked it out of the park, but there is a lot of intrigue in terms of where the winners will go next. I figured it might be a good idea to look at some of the possibilities for each main card winner, so here we go.
UFC on FX 4
Gray Maynard: He’s in a pretty strange position right now. His fight with Clay Guida wasn’t very good, but it wasn’t really his fault. He showed some fire and earned some fans with the effort, but who does he fight next? He’s not going to challenge for the title, he’s already done that twice. It looks like there are only two real options – Anthony Pettis or Donald Cerrone. And I don’t think either guy has really done enough to earn a fight with Maynard to be honest. Maybe Eddie Alvarez if he does end up signing with the UFC?
Sam Stout: Dana White booked him in the co-main event despite his recent troubles because he thought Stout/Fisher 3 would be a war. Instead, Stout fought safe and picked up a much-needed win with some timely takedowns. A bout with the winner of the Rafael dos Anjos vs. Anthony Njokuani fight would be a nice next fight for Stout.
Brian Ebersole: Who knows what they’ll do with Ebersole. He’s now 4-0 in the UFC, but he’s mentioned that he might go down to lightweight. I found that a little odd, but he is kind of an odd guy sometimes. It’s time for him to take one some stiffer competition, and I think a perfect next opponent would be Mike Pyle.
Cub Swanson: Cub’s now won two in a row in the UFC, both by knockout. I think they’ll continue to book him against fighters that will stand and trade with him, but there’s not a ton of guys that do that at featherweight. The winner of the Eddie Yagin vs. Dennis Siver bout at UFC 151 looks like the best option.
We’ll look at the UFC 147 guys after the jump.
SBN coverage of UFC 147
SBN coverage of UFC on FX 4
UFC 147
Rich Franklin: Franklin said after the fight last night that he was looking to make one more title run at middleweight. It’s clear he’s still a very talented fighter, but he has a lot of miles on him too. Alan Belcher sounds like a suitable next opponent for Ace, and that could be a solid addition to a Fox card if they chose to go that route.
Rony Jason: I honestly have absolutely no idea what they’ll do with Rony. They tend to bring along their TUF champions slowly, and I think they’ll be extra-cautious with their first TUF Brazil champion. Is there anyone on the roster that’s suitable to face him? I can’t think of one.
Cezar Mutante: This one’s easy – the UFC has already said that Mutante will face Daniel Sarafian, the man who made the finals but was forced off the card with an injury. It will likely go down at an October show in Rio.
Fabricio Werdum: He asked for a rematch with UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos after his big win over Mike Russow, but that’s not going to happen. It seems like the right time to match him up with Frank Mir, even though Mir’s coming off a loss. I’d really like to see that fight.
Hacran Dias: Taking out Alcantara in his debut was huge. It seems like a bout with Rony Jason would be logical, but I highly doubt they go that route. Dias has already established himself as a threat. Put him in there with Charles Oliveira.
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