On Saturday night, the UFC had their thirteenth event on Fox, and it was another great one. The main event featured a classic five-round heavyweight slugfest, with former champion Junior dos Santos taking a split decision over Stipe Miocic. Those two, plus the six other main card competitors are ready for their next assignments, and LWOS is here to help. Below, LWOS books the fights for the UFC on FOX 13 main card winners and losers:
Junior dos Santos: The former UFC heavyweight champion looked like a shell of his former self for the first two rounds of action against Miocic, but he dropped him in the third with a stinging left hand, and he was able to rally back and win a split decision. Over the past few years, dos Santos has absorbed a ton of damage. So has Alistair Overeem. They should fight each other next. I’ll explain why below.
Stipe Miocic: Miocic put on one heck of a performance in a losing effort. He’s clearly one of the top 10 heavyweights in the world, and arguably top 5. Another man who is arguably a part of that top 5: Mark Hunt. Both men are coming off of defeats, and a victory by one over the other would put either one right back into title contention in the shallow heavyweight division.
Rafael dos Anjos: The next opponent for dos Anjos was announced by UFC president Dana White at the post-fight press conference, and it’s a big one. Due to Khabib Nurmagomedov still recovering from injury, dos Anjos will be the next challenger for Anthony Pettis‘s UFC lightweight championship. The champ is on a roll right now, but so is dos Anjos. It should be a fantastic fight.
Nate Diaz: Saturday night was the first time Diaz had fought in 13 months, and he looked bad. He said afterwards that he was hurt and had a bad training camp, but he needed the money so he fought anyways. At this point, the forgotten man at lightweight is T.J. Grant. Grant hasn’t fought since May of 2013 due to concussion problems, and if he’s ready to come back soon, and if Diaz is ready to get his career back on track, it would be a great fight to make.
Alistair Overeem: Overeem finally got back in the win column, and up next, he should fight Junior dos Santos. Originally, the two were scheduled to square off in May of 2012 for the UFC heavyweight championship. At the time, dos Santos was the champ, and Overeem was coming off of a dominating win over Brock Lesnar. But the fight got called off when Overeem tested positive for elevated testosterone levels in a pre-fight drug test. Ever since then, they’ve thrown barbs back and forth at one another, and now is the time to finally rebook this fight.
Stefan Struve: Struve looked alright in his return to action, but more than winning or losing, it was good to see him back in the octagon and healthy. It was his first fight since March of 2013, and you could tell he was a bit rusty. Next for him should be fellow main card loser Gabriel Gonzaga. More on that in a second.
Matt Mitrione: Mitrione has nine career wins, and eight of them, including his win over Gonzaga, have ended by knockout. He hits like a truck, and so does Todd Duffee. Duffee made his triumphant return to the octagon after a two-year layoff last weekend with a thirty second shellacking of Anthony Hamilton. A Mitrione vs Duffee fight is guaranteed fireworks, and a guaranteed knockout.
Gabriel Gonzaga: Gonzaga got swiftly taken out by Mitrione on Saturday night, and his time as a top contender in the heavyweight division is clearly over. But he can still have fun fights, like one versus Stefan Struve. Combined, Gonzaga and Struve have 33 UFC fights, yet their paths have yet to cross. Now’s the time.
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