On Saturday night, UFC Fight Night 57 was broadcast on Fox Sports 1, live from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. A solid main card was capped off with a stellar performance from former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who picked up the latest stoppage win in UFC history with a fifth round submission of Cub Swanson. Up next, LWOS books the fights for the main card winners and losers:
Frankie Edgar: Let’s get this out of the way at the top: if Conor McGregor loses to Dennis Siver, Edgar should fight Jose Aldo next. If McGregor beats Siver, Edgar should fight Chad Mendes next. Okay, the break down: Edgar is clearly deserving of a title fight rematch with Aldo, but if McGregor wins, the UFC has to strike while the iron is hot. If he loses though, Edgar is, unquestionably, the man to face off with Aldo next. If McGregor gets the title shot, Edgar vs Mendes would be an awesome bout. They are probably the two best featherweights in the world not named Jose Aldo, and a fight between them would be sublime.
Cub Swanson: Swanson’s six fight win streak was snapped by Edgar, who dominated him for 4+ rounds, before finishing him off with four seconds left in round five. With losses to top featherweights Edgar, Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes, plus a loss to Jose Aldo, it looks as though Swanson may never get a title shot. He’s still a great fighter, and a few more wins against top guys would put him right back in the title chase. Last weekend, another long win streak got snapped: the seven fight win streak of Dennis Bermudez. Swanson vs Bermudez would help the winner get right back into contention.
Edson Barboza: Barboza looked good for a second straight fight, cruising to a unanimous decision win over Bobby Green. If TJ Grant ever gets healthy, a fight against Barboza would be tons of fun. Until that time though, a fight against Michael Johnson would also be great. The TUF 12 runner-up has won three straight, most recently sending Melvin Guillard packing from the UFC altogether. Barboza would be a great test for Johnson, and vice versa.
Bobby Green: A tough loss for Green, who had won four straight inside the octagon, and eight straight overall. The loss won’t knock him too far down the rankings, and he should still get a top 15 opponent for his next fight. That man should be the loser of Donald Cerrone vs Myles Jury. Cerrone and Jury square off in the co-main event of UFC 182 on January 3rd.
Chico Camus: Camus picked up a win in his flyweight debut with a contentious split decision over Brad Pickett. Camus had good cardio throughout the fight, so it looks the move down in weight was a good call. For his second flyweight bout, why not match him up with Joseph Benavidez? More below.
Brad Pickett: A tough loss here for Pickett, and one judge even scored the fight 30-27 in his favor. The other two judges disagreed, and the Brit has now lost three-of-four. Next up for Pickett should be another former bantamweight, Scott Jorgensen. Jorgensen has lost four-of-five, but he holds a win over Pickett. The first met at bantamweight in August of 2010 at WEC 50, with Jorgensen winning via unanimous decision. The loser of this one may want to consider retirement.
Alexey Oliynyk: It wasn’t surprising that Oliynyk defeated Jared Rosholt, but the manner in which he did was. Forty of Oliynyk’s fifty career wins have come by way of submission, but it was a monstrous left hook that gave him the win over Rosholt. The Russian moves to 2-0 in the UFC, and next, a bout with hulking Aussie Soa Palelei would be a fun clash of styles. Palelei loves to take opponents down and ground-and-pound them, but Oliynyk jiu-jitsu game is top notch, and might be able to nullify Palelei’s top attack.
Jared Rosholt: The loss to Oliynyk was the first of Rosholt’s UFC career. He started 3-0, and was slowly making his way up the heavyweight ranks. His hype train is stalled for now, and next he should lock horns with Derrick Lewis. Lewis is also coming off the first loss of his UFC career, a September KO loss to Matt Mitrione. Prior to both men signing with the UFC, Rosholt and Lewis met once before, in August of 2012, with Lewis winning that fight by knockout.
Joseph Benavidez: In his career, Benavidez has only lost to former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, and current UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson. He looked great as usual on Saturday night, taking a unanimous nod over Dustin Ortiz. Benavidez will always be near the top of the flyweight division, but you don’t want him picking off top contenders like John Lineker, Ian McCall or John Dodson. So, up next he should take on Chico Camus. Camus isn’t a top contender right now, but a win over Benavidez would make him one.
Dustin Ortiz: Ortiz looked about as good as you can look against Benavidez, and he was much more competitive throughout than most pundits were expecting him to be. A fight with Chris Cariaso, the man who most recently challenged champion Demetrious Johnson, would be an excellent fight.
Matt Wiman: After a two year layoff, Wiman retuned to the octagon Saturday night, picking up a grinding decision win over Isaac Vallie-Flagg. Wiman is a fighter who is always on the verge of the top 15 of the lightweight division, and so is Gleison Tibau. Both men have been in the UFC since 2006, yet they have never faced off. Now’s the time.
Isaac Vallie-Flagg: This is Vallie-Flagg’s third loss in a row. All three are by decision, and he is an enjoyable fighter to watch, so the UFC may not cut him. If they do keep him, a fight with a loser from the prelims of this card, Nick Hein, would be a fun scrap to witness.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @Trent_Dozier. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
