UFC Fight Night 50 is in the books, and after all four main card bouts ended inside the distance, it may go down as one of the best main cards of the year. There were great performances from top to bottom, but MMA is a constantly revolving door and as one fight ends, training for the next one begins. Let’s see what fights LWOS would book next for the main card competitors:
Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza: Incredibly dominant win for Jacare. At one point, the odds-makers had him at around -350, which many people scoffed at as being too high of a price. A lot of people thought Jacare deserved to be the favorite, but over 3-to-1 was ridiculous. Or not. Jacare dominated Gegard Mousasi from start to finish, and put the cherry on top by submitting him with a nasty guillotine right before the end of the third round. And in just under fifteen minutes, Jacare avenged a loss from September 2008, and, in my mind earned himself a title shot. Jacare should fight the winner of Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort for the UFC Middleweight Championship next.
Gegard Mousasi: Mousasi falls to 2-2 in the UFC after being manhandled by Jacare. He’s now lost to two of the UFC’s top five middleweights, the aforementioned Jacare and Lyoto Machida, which means the question of whether or not he can ever break into the top five will be brought up relentlessly until, and probably through, his next fight. Usually, the UFC doesn’t like to match up a fighter coming off of a loss with one coming off of a win, but all the best fights out there for Mousasi are with fighters who were victorious in their previous fight. Bouts against CB Dolloway or Tim Boetsch would be good contests, but the opponent I like the most next for Mousasi is Costas Philippou.
Ben Rothwell: Both physically and technically, Rothwell has looked better. But to Big Ben’s credit, he absorbed a few big shots on his chin early, waded through some leg kicks, and then let his fists do the talking as he clobbered Overeem with a huge right hand a little over two minutes into their bout. For the first time since he entered the UFC in 2009, Rothwell has a winning streak, and he’s won three of his last four, all three by knockout. Post-fight, Rothwell called for the UFC to place him in a number one contender’s bout, but I think he needs at least two more wins before a title shot. Timing wise, a fight against the winner of Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva vs Andrei Arlovski would be perfect. Stylistically, Rothwell versus Bigfoot or Arlovski would be good, especially if it’s Arlovski, who knocked out Rothwell in the third round of their first fight in July of 2008.
Alistair Overeem: Overeem won the first two minutes against Rothwell, then, for the ninth time in his career, his chin failed him. Nine defeats by knockout is a ton. For a long time, November 2007 – February 2013 to be exact, he avoided getting knocked out. But since then, he’s lost three of four, each one by way of KO. Two weeks from now, two hard-hitting heavyweights are main eventing in Japan. While the winner moves one step closer to a title shot, the loser of Mark Hunt vs Roy Nelson should find themselves squaring off with Overeem in their next fight.
Matt Mitrione: Mitrione needed less than one minute to show the world that Derrick Lewis should not have called him out. Mitrione proved once again that his power is very real, and he can drop any heavyweight on the planet. Like Rothwell above, Mitrione has also won three of his last four, all by knockout. Back in July, he was supposed to fight Stefan Struve at UFC 175 before Struve collapsed in the locker room before the bout, and it was cancelled. If Struve is healthy, the UFC should re-book that fight.
Derrick Lewis: Lewis bit off a bit more than he could chew with Mitrione. He got quickly clipped by a superior athlete, but he’s only 29, and he still has plenty of time to keep developing, especially in the relatively shallow heavyweight division. In August, Shawn Jordan rebounded from a knockout loss to Mitrione himself by defeating Jack May, and, like I mentioned above, while the UFC doesn’t often match up a fighter coming off of a win with one coming off of a loss, Jordan vs Lewis would be a lot of fun.
Joe Lauzon: Lauzon is always in exciting fights, and his scrap with Michael Chiesa was no different, as it won Fight of the Night honors. The doctor stoppage was debatably premature, and if they rematch right away, I’d be totally fine with watching them throw down again. If not, Lauzon facing the rapidly improving Ross Pearson has potential to be a great fight.
Michael Chiesa: Tough loss for Chiesa. He wanted to keep fighting, and he definitely could have. Like I said above, if they rematch right away, that would be fine, and that’s what Chiesa was calling for in his post fight interview. But if they don’t, Chiesa vs Evan Dunham would be a really interesting fight. Dunham has lost three straight, but he’s a fighter who provides constant action, win or lose, and with his job on the line, he could take it to the next level.
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