Fight Fixin’ is a fantasy matchmaking article that comes out after every major event and features possible matchups for main card winners and/or losers from the previous night.
Jose Aldo
In the main event of UFC 156, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo outpointed Frankie Edgar in order to earn a unanimous judges’ decision. The win moves Aldo to 4-0 in the UFC and there’s no doubt beating a guy like Edgar moves him into the top three or four of the mythical pound-for-pound ranks as well.
Right now, Ricardo Lamas and Chan Sung Jung are the next two guys in line for the UFC’s 145-pound title. The problem is that Lamas is still somewhat unknown, while Jung is currently injured and on the sidelines. I would of course like to see Aldo fight either man, but I don’t know if that’s the direction the UFC wants to go.
Instead, I think they’re going to book Aldo against Anthony Pettis, who texted UFC president Dana White immediately after Aldo’s win and said that he’s interested in dropping to 145 to fight Aldo for the belt.
It was smart of Pettis to ask for a featherweight title shot because he’s stuck behind Gilbert Melendez in the title queue at 155, and it wouldn’t be until the fall that he would get to have his rematch with UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, or face Melendez if he beats Henderson at UFC on FOX 7.
Apparently Pettis barely cuts weight to make 155, so if he can make 145 without harming his body, Aldo vs. Pettis is the fight to make. Both fighters are incredibly exciting strikers, both are extremely fast, and both guys know how to give the fans their money’s worth. The UFC has to book this fight. They just have to.
Match to make: Jose Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
In a massive upset, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was able to outpoint former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans over the course of three rounds to take home a judges’ decision and move up the ladder in the 205-pound division. Sure, it wasn’t Evans’ best performance, but you can’t take away the W from Nogueira just because his opponent looked bad, so I disagree with the folks who believe the win over the previously No. 2 ranked Evans doesn’t push Nogueira into contender status.
Only two men have previously defeated Evans, and they are Lyoto Machida and Jon Jones, two of the best fighters on the planet. Nogueira is in elite company now and deserves some respect, because there’s no doubt he got absolutely none heading into the fight with Evans.
Now on a two-fight win streak (he also defeated Tito Ortiz via TKO at UFC 140), Nogueira needs to fight another top contender in his next bout. That’s why I’d have the UFC pair him up with Glover Teixeira, who is coming off a win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC on FOX 6. Teixeira doesn’t have an opponent right now and the title picture is somewhat jammed at the moment, so it makes sense for him to take another fight against a big name.
In a fight between two hard-hitting Brazilians who love to entertain, how can the fans lose?
Match to make: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Glover Teixeira
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
In another shocking upset, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was able to ride out the early storm of Alistair Overeem and make a late charge in the third round, finishing off the Herculean-physiqued Dutchman with an incredible knockout that dazzled the fans live in Las Vegas, and which left UFC president Dana White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva with some serious work to do.
It was a huge win for Silva, who no one gave a chance to win heading into the bout. There was an incredible amount of hype for his opponent Overeem, but Silva, the first man to legitimately TKO the great Fedor Emelianenko, was never given any respect by anyone – the fans, Overeem himself, and especially the UFC, who guaranteed Overeem a heavyweight title shot with a win, but who made no such similar guarantee to Silva.
The loss throws a wrench into the UFC’s heavyweight division plans because, while Overeem vs. UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez would have been a massive hit on pay-per-view, some don’t believe the fans want to see Velasquez vs. Silva Part Two just yet. After all, it was just last May at UFC 146 when Velasquez left Silva drowning in a pool of his own blood. Is the world ready to see that again?
Well, I think the fans will have to like it, because it sure sounded like White was receptive to the idea of the rematch, more than anything because there are literally no other contenders available at heavyweight right now. Personally, while I don’t think the rematch would go any differently than their first fight, I think Silva has earned his chance for redemption.
And even though everyone will count him out again if the fight does get booked, I won’t make that mistake this time around because I’ve counted Silva out too many times before, and he’s always come through. He’s a stud who deserves more respect than he’s been given, and he deserves to fight for the UFC heavyweight title.
Match to make: Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Cain Velasquez II
Demian Maia
Jon Fitch felt what it was like to be “Fitch’d” on Saturday night, as Demian Maia completely controlled and outgrappled him for 15 minutes to earn a lopsided unanimous decision victory. For three entire rounds it seemed like Maia had Fitch’s back and was about to sink in a rear-naked choke, and the only reason it didn’t happen is because of Fitch’s world-class submission defence skills.
A win over Fitch – long considered the No. 2 welterweight in the world – is huge for Maia, who is now 3-0 since dropping down to the 170-pound division. It was a statement victory for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert, who jumped right into the title picture with the win.
For his next bout, Maia needs to fight someone else in the top five, so I would match him up with the winner Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald, which takes place at UFC 158. Condit is coming off a title-shot loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 154, but it was an excellent fight and with a few more victories he could be fighting for the strap again. MacDonald, meanwhile, blew out BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5 and with a win over Condit he’ll establish himself as title worthy, as well.
Either opponent would be a great test for Maia’s improving standup skills, but it’s obvious he would look to take the fight to the floor and try to submit the superior strikers in Condit vs. MacDonald. I really think this is the next fight to make, and it’s possible the winner of it gets a title shot before 2013 is up.
Match to make: Demian Maia vs. the winner of Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
Joseph Benavidez
Joseph Benavidez won a nail-biter of a decision over Ian McCall in the opening pay-per-view bout of UFC 156, a win that puts him right back into the No. 1 contender spot in the shallow UFC flyweight division.
Benavidez’ last outing before McCall was of course against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 152 in the finals of the flyweight tournament. Unfortunately for Benavidez he came up on the wrong end of a split decision, but fortunately for the pint-sized fighter the division has no depth, so one big win can get you right back into a title fight.
I’ve heard Benavidez say he wouldn’t mind one more fight before a rematch with Johnson, but there’s just no one else out there at the moment that the UFC can put in the cage with “Mighty Mouse” and sell tickets with, so this is the fight to make.
Match to make: Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson II
