The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 Finale brought to a close another season of the series, but crowned its first female “Ultimate Fighter” in Julianna Pena. In addition, the men’s bantamweight winner was also a promising prospect, as Chris Holdsworth earned himself a contract. Still, everyone wasn’t lucky enough to get their hand raised at the end of the night. Here are some suggestions for how the losers of the event’s fights should be matched up next:
Gray Maynard vs. Diego Sanchez
At 34 years of age, Gray Maynard’s best fighting years may have passed him by. Just two years ago he was undefeated and challenging for the belt, but since then he’s been finished in three of his last four bouts. The last two have been in devastating fashion in the first round. Maynard may still be considered a top ten lightweight, but he is quickly falling down the ladder.
Diego Sanchez is in the same position at 155. He’s always going to be considered a tough out for any opponent, but he may be beyond title contention. Matching Maynard and Sanchez would create an action fight that could be placed on a card to elicit excitement. The pacing would be very fast from start to finish, and both fighters know how to raise interest in their fights.
Sanchez vs. Maynard could be placed on the main card of a Fox Sports 1 or 2 event.
Rani Yahya vs. the loser of Dennis Siver vs. Manny Gamburyan
Rani Yahya and Tom Niinimaki put on an MMA-infused grappling clinic during their featherweight bout, and it ended up being one of the better bouts on the card. Yahya is still one of the most dangerous grapplers on the roster, but that fight showed how his skills could be stopped. His next contest should come against the loser of the upcoming Dennis Siver vs. Manny Gamburyan fight at UFC 168.
In either Siver or Gamburyan, Yahya would face a style that would be a test to the way he fights. Siver has one of the more diverse striking styles in the UFC, while Gamburyan is more of a grinder who uses his Judo abilities to control the fight. Either way, it would be interesting to see if Yahya could use his grappling abilities to elicit a submission from either one of these opponents.
Rani Yahya vs. the loser of Dennis Siver vs. Manny Gambruyan should be featured on the preliminary portion of an upcoming UFC event.
Maximo Blanco vs. Josh Clopton
Maximo Blanco is one of the most puzzling fighters on the UFC roster. He came into the promotion with a lot of hype surrounding his abilities because he had performed at a high level outside of the Octagon. However, since joining the promotion he’s amassed a 1-2 record. Being disqualified against Akira Corassani will not do his career any good, as this isn’t the first time he’s been DQ’ed. If he stays on the roster, he should be matched against Josh Clopton in a bout to force the loser off of the roster.
Even though Ryan Benoit was defeated by Josh Sampo via second round submission, the two fighters put on the Fight of the Night, which allowed Benoit to walk out with an extra $100,000 because Sampo didn’t make weight. And despite the losing effort, he still had some effective points in the fight. The flyweight division is in need of fighters who are willing in every fight to reinforce the idea that this weight class provides the most action in the UFC. Pairing Elliot and Benoit together would be a good way to get a card off and running on Fox Sports 1 or 2.
TUF 18 was a groundbreaking season of the reality show. However, despite two new contracts awarded at the Finale, there were a number of fighters hoping for an opportunity to bounce back from defeat. These suggestions should yield some interesting fights for them as their careers go forward.
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The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale took place on November 30, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think the TUF 18 Finale was.
