UFC Fight Night 52 is in the books, and it was one heck of a show. The card was littered with spectacular finishes, back-and-forth battles, epic hometown victories, and emotional hometown defeats. It was capped off with Mark Hunt winning the battle of the bulge, knocking out Roy Nelson in the second round of their main event clash. Let’s take a look at who LWOS would book next for the main card winners and losers:
Mark Hunt: An epic victory for Hunt, as he becomes just the second man to stop Nelson with strikes. Hunt, a former K-1 Kickboxing World Grand Prix winner, clubbed Nelson with a right uppercut, watched him face-plant at his feet, and casually walked off with both arms raised in the air. It was a vintage Mark Hunt walk-off KO win. Last weekend, Andrei Arlovski KO’d Bigfoot Silva, and I suggested he fight Ben Rothwell next. I was wrong. Hunt vs Arlovski is a barn burner that would surely end in another crowd pleasing finish, no matter who wins the bout.
Roy Nelson: As mentioned above, Nelson’s loss to Hunt was just the second time the former IFL heavyweight champion had been stopped by strikes in his ten year career. Nelson, now 38, has lost three of his last four, and it looks like his dreams of getting a title shot may never be realized. Finding a next opponent for Nelson is tricky, as he’s practically fought every heavyweight of note currently on the UFC’s roster. Maybe a bout with the loser of Travis Browne vs Brendan Schaub will be his next challenge. Those two square off in December at UFC 181.
Myles Jury: Finally, Jury picked up the signature victory he had been looking for, and all it took was a trip to Japan and 92 seconds. He threw a right hand straight down the pipe, dropping Takanori Gomi to the canvas. Jury pounced, and finished off the former PRIDE lightweight champion with strikes from the top. The fight I really want to see next is Jury vs Nate Diaz, but Diaz is still in a contract dispute with the UFC, so that’s unfortunately unlikely. However, one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and no one knows that better than Bobby Green. In July, Green upset former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson as a late replacement, and a fight against Jury would be a striking fans’ delight.
Takanori Gomi: Coming into the Japan card, Gomi had won three of his last four, with his only loss being a bogus decision loss to Diego Sanchez. Many fans viewed Gomi as a winner of four straight, despite what his record said. But high hopes quickly turned to disappointment, as 92 seconds into the fight, Gomi was stopped by strikes for the first time in his nearly-sixteen year career. Despite being 36, the 2005 PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix winner still has some fight left in him. A fight versus Erik Koch would be a great striking battle.
Yoshihiro Akiyama: After a two year absence, the man known as Sexyama returned to the octagon, and thoroughly dominated Amir Sadollah from start to finish, including dropping the former TUF winner in round two. Originally, Akiyama was scheduled to face Kyle Noke on this card. Rebook that fight. Sexy is back.
Amir Sadollah: Sadollah also returned from a two year absence, but his night went much worse than his foe’s. If Sadollah wants to keep fighting, and match-up with German striker Pascal Krauss would be a good, competitive contest.
Miesha Tate: Often, Tate fights to the level of her opposition, and that was abundantly clear in her fight against Rin Nakai. Tate was clearly the superior overall fighter, but she let Nakai hang around for fifteen minutes and make the fight closer than it should have been. Up next, Tate should rematch former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman. They originally fought in May of 2009, with Kaufman taking a unanimous decision win.
Rin Nakai: An OK debut from Nakai. She managed to take Tate’s back a few times, but she just appears to be too small for the division, and her unorthodox fighting style doesn’t look like it’ll be too effective inside the octagon. Next up, Nakai should fight a UFC newcomer. Looking at the current UFC women’s bantamweight roster, I don’t think I’d pick Nakai to beat a single name on it. The UFC likes her, though, and they love how popular she is in Japan, so she’ll most likely get a gimme in her sophomore bout for the promotion.
Kiichi Kunimoto: Kunimoto has had an odd UFC career so far. In his debut in January, he beat Luiz Dutra when the Brazilian was disqualified for striking Kunimoto illegally to the back of his head. Then, in June, he pulled off a massive upset when he submitted Daniel Sarafian with a guillotine in less than three minutes. On Saturday, in his homeland, he was awarded a decision that he most likely did not deserve. After being thoroughly out struck in round one, he rode out a fairly inactive round two, before winning round three outright. Most pundits had it scored 29-28 in favor of his opponent, Richard Walsh, but two of the three judges sided with Kunimoto, giving him a split decision win. Although it may not have been the right call, Kunimoto did show great heart in his comeback, and despite some whacky finishes, he is 3-0 in the UFC. Last weekend, George Sullivan moved to 2-0 in the UFC himself, with a second round finish of Igor Araujo. Match these two together next, and someone’s UFC record will finally be blemished.
Richard Walsh: This is going to be a tough loss to swallow for Walsh, but he can also use it as a great learning experience. The Aussie showed improved striking, especially with his kicks, including busting open Kunimoto’s nose with his left shin in round one. But Walsh gassed badly in the final two frames, and Kunimoto’s strong finish swayed two judges in his favor. Above, I mentioned the Sullivan vs Araujo fight from last weekend. Igor Araujo was the loser in that one, and a fight between him and Walsh next would a good way to see who can bounce back from adversity better.
Kyoji Horiguchi: Horiguchi looked stellar in the main card opener, finishing Jon delos Reyes with strikes in just under four minutes. With an undefeated record inside the UFC, and tons of hype behind him, the Japanese prospect looks to be just one or two wins away from a flyweight title shot. Horiguchi, a protege of Japanese superstar Kid Yamamoto, needs to fight a top opponent next to get himself there, and Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Jussier “Formiga” da Silva fits that bill. It’s a bout with the classic stiker vs grappler dynamic, with Horiguchi filling the role of the striker, and Formiga playing the part of the grappler.
Jon delos Reyes: Reyes falls to 0-2 with the loss to Horiguchi. After losing his UFC debut at bantamweight, he dropped down to flyweight for this fight, and physically, he looked much better. He’s an action fighter, and I think flyweight is the proper division for him. If the UFC keeps him around, which I think they should, a fight against Joby Sanchez would be fun. Sanchez made his UFC debut this past August, and lost a competitive decision to Wilson Reis.
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