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.
Lyoto Machida
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 36, Lyoto Machida defeated Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision to cement his place as the #3 middleweight fighter in the world behind champion Chris Weidman and challenger Vitor Belfort, who meet at UFC 173. Although the UFC hasn’t committed to Machida getting a title shot, it makes all the sense in the world for him to get it next over every other middleweight on the roster, as he is not only at the top of the division based on his wins, but he’s also one of the promotion’s biggest names and most marketable fighters.
Both Machida vs. Weidman and Machida vs. Belfort are extremely intriguing fights, and it’s more than likely we’ll see one of those two matchups before the year 2014 is up.
Fight to make: Lyoto Machida vs. winner of Weidman vs. Belfort at UFC 173
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
In the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 36, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeated Francis Carmont via hard-fought decision to confirm his presence in the top five of the UFC middleweight division. However, Souza admitted after the fight he has bone fragments in his arm that require surgery, and he’ll be out for a few months due to it.
Fortunately for Souza, Luke Rockhold fights Tim Boetsch at UFC 172, and that’s in April, so the timing makes sense for the Souza vs. Rockhold rematch to happen later in the summer when “Jacare” is fully healthy. That’s assuming Rockhold wins, of course, but he really should get by Boetsch. However, if Boetsch does pull off the upset, a fight against “Jacare” makes sense as well.
Fight to make: “Jacare” vs. winner of Rockhold vs. Boetsch at UFC 172
Erick Silva
Erick Silva redeemed himself in impressive fashion after his shocking KO loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 29 with an extremely explosive first-round TKO victory over Takenori Sato. It was a devastating finish, and it earned Silva an award for “Performance of the Night.” The win, which puts Silva at 4-3 all-time in the Octagon, reaffirms Silva’s position as one of the top 20 or top 25 170-pounders in the world.
I don’t think that Silva should be fighting anyone in the top 10 next time out after what Kim did to him, and instead I’d like for the UFC to match him up with a striker ranked close to Silva who is coming off an impressive win. At UFC 170, two welterweight bouts go down: Mike Pyle vs. TJ Waldburger and Stephen Thompson vs. Robert Whittaker. There is bound to be an impressive performance amongst that crop of middle-of-the-pack 170ers, and I think that whoever gets that big win on the UFC 170 PPV card will earn a fight against Silva.
Fight to make: Silva vs. most impressive of Pyle-Waldburger and Thompson-Whittaker winners
Nico Musoke
In another main card welterweight bout, Nico Musoke defeated Viscardi Andrade via unanimous decision after surviving an early knockdown scare. This improves his record to 2-0 in the Octagon, which includes wins in two separate divisions (welterweight and middleweight).
Another welterweight who won via decision at UFC Fight Night 36 was Ildemar Alcantara, who took out Albert Tumenov via split decision to improve to 3-1 in the UFC, including wins in both the welterweight and light heavyweight divisions. A fight against Musoke would be fun, and makes sense based on both timing and rankings, so I’d like for the UFC to consider it.
Fight to make: Musoke vs. Ildemar Alcantara
Charles Oliveira
In the opening main card bout of UFC Fight Night 36, Charles Oliveira defeated Andy Ogle via third-round submission, earning Oliveira one of the event’s two “Performance of the Night” awards. Oliveira moved to 5-4, 1 NC all-time in the UFC (3-2 at featherweight), and at 24 years old, with improving skills, and with so much experience, he has what it takes to be a future world champ at 145 pounds.
But for now, I want the UFC to book him against fighters in the top 20, not in the top five like his last opponent, Frankie Edgar. One fighter who I think matches up well against Oliveira and who is ranked similarly is 27-year-old Robbie Peralta, who is 3-1, 1 NC in the UFC featherweight division. I think a fight pitting these two young up-and-comers against one another would be electric, and I’d love to see it happen.
Fight to make: Oliveira vs. Robbie Peralta
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UFC Fight Night 36: Machida vs. Mousasi took place on February 15, 2014 at the Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 36 was.
