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 event.
Alexander Gustafsson
Alexander Gustafsson may have lost to Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 165, but he came out a winner in many ways as well. He was able to take Jones to the limit, and nearly pull off the upset decision win.
Although at first I thought that Gustafsson should have to fight someone else before he gets a crack at Jones again, after really thinking long and hard about it the only fight that makes sense is a rematch with Jones. No one has ever given Jones a fight like the Swede has, and the fans would definitely pay to see this again. So the UFC needs to capitalize on it and do it as soon as possible, because the first fight was “Fight of the Year,” and the second has the potential to be even better.
Fight to make: Gustafsson vs. Jon Jones II
Eddie Wineland
Eddie Wineland looked good early on, but after Renan Barao made the necessary adjustments, Wineland was the victim of a brutal spinning back kick TKO. Now he has a lot of work to do to climb back up the bantamweight ladder.
I still believe Wineland is one of the best in the world, but I think he could use a bounce-back fight in his next outing, and I think Mike Easton should be who he fights.
Both men are coming off losses and both men are ranked in the top 15, and with both preferring to keep their fights standing, the fans would be in for an entertaining match.
Fight to make: Wineland vs. Mike Easton
Matt Mitrione
Matt Mitrione was very disappointing in losing via first-round submission to Brendan Schaub in a main card heavyweight bout at UFC 165. I expected more from Mitrione in this fight, and now, after losing three of his last four fights, it’s very possible the UFC could outright release him, although since he’s a heavyweight he’ll likely get one more chance.
Another guy who will likely get one more chance is Nikita Krylov, who was embarrassing in his UFC debut against Soa Palelei. Let him fight Mitrione next, and the loser of that fight can get cut, because whoever loses is clearly not good enough for the UFC.
Fight to make: Mitrione vs. Nikita Krylov
Costa Philippou
On Saturday night Costa Philippou showed he was overrated in the rankings, as the Cypriot lost a unanimous decision to Francis Carmont that showed he is lacking in the takedown defence needed to be a top contender at 185 pounds.
For his next fight, I’d like Philippou to fight Luke Rockhold, who also lost his last fight. Both guys are ranked in the top 10 and I think this would be an intriguing matchup, so I hope this is what the UFC has planned next.
Fight to make: Philippou vs. Luke Rockhold
Pat Healy
In the opening main card match of UFC 165, Pat Healy was dominated by Khabib Nurmagomedov en route to a unanimous decision loss that really sets him back in the lightweight rankings. Healy is a very good fighter, but I doubt he’ll ever get back into title contention after this loss to the young Russian phenom. However, he can still be booked for fun fights.
I’d like for Healy to fight the loser of UFC 166’s Diego Sanchez vs. Gilbert Melendez next. I think both fights would be ridiculously entertaining, so whoever comes out on the short end of their fight next month really does make sense as Healy’s next opponent.
Fight to make: Healy vs. loser of Sanchez/Melendez
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UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson took place on September 21, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 165 was.
