On Saturday afternoon, UFC Fight Night 63 emanated live on Fox Sports 1 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The main event saw two former featherweight title challengers briefly clash, when Chad Mendes knocked out Ricardo Lamas in the first round. Elsewhere on the card, a slew of TUF vets picked up wins, including former TUF champions Julianna Pena and Michael Chiesa. Below, LWOS books the fights for the main card winners and losers of UFC Fight Night 63:
Chad Mendes: Once again, Mendes looked great. Unfortunately for him, he has two losses to current UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Sure, those are his only two career losses, and sure, the second fight between Mendes and Aldo was so close that a third fight between the two isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but he won’t be getting that chance any time soon it seems. The best thing for Mendes would be for Conor McGregor to beat Aldo in July and take the title from him. However, that would likely mean an immediate rematch between McGregor and Aldo, and more time on the shelf for Mendes. Another conundrum is that Mendes has already fought – and beat – most of the top 15 featherweights in the world. The only man left is Frankie Edgar. Edgar takes on Mendes’ teammate and mentor, Urijah Faber, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 66 in June. Whether Edgar wins or losses that fight, Mendes vs Edgar is the fight to make.
Ricardo Lamas: The loss to Mendes is a big setback for Lamas, but not one he can’t recover from. In two weeks on FOX, Cub Swanson takes on Max Holloway. Lamas should face the loser of Swanson vs Holloway. All three men are top 15 featherweights, and losing to other top 15 featherweights shouldn’t be held against them. Lamas and Holloway have never fought, but Lamas and Swanson have met once before, with Lamas picking up a submission win over Swanson back in 2011.
Al Iaquinta: While some thought Iaquinta was the deserving winner over Jorge Masvidal, plenty of others didn’t see it that way. It was a very close fight, but in the end the judges sided with Iaquinta. Iaquinta finished TUF 15 as the runner-up. Similarly, Michael Johnson finished TUF 12 as the runner-up. Now both have rounded out their games, and have rapidly risen to the top of the stacked lightweight division. Iaquinta and Johnson are both hungry, aggressive strikers, and a fight between them would produce a fresh contender at lightweight.
Jorge Masvidal: Masvidal ended the first round with a bang, but then he fell into his usual trap of inactivity, and it cost him a victory. Masvidal is a great fighter, but he’s his own worst enemy. Maybe a rival will get him to fight hard for all three rounds. American Top Team, Masvidal’s team, has a long standing rivalry with fellow Florida-based camp the Blackzilians. One of the top lightweights at the Blackzilian camp is Abel Trujillo. Keep the ATT vs Blackzilian rivalry alive and book Masvidal vs Trujillo.
Michael Chiesa: Chiesa looked great against Mitch Clarke, putting on an absolute clinic of back control. Up next, the TUF 15 winner should take on Evan Dunham. Dunham is a similar fighter to Clarke, but his stand-up is slightly stronger, and he’s fought a much higher level of opposition than the Canadian has. Dunham would be a good test for Chiesa.
Mitch Clarke: Clarke put up a good effort in the third round against Chiesa, but it was too little, too late. Clarke had nearly a year-long layoff due to injury, so I’d imagine he’d want to get back in the cage as soon as possible. A man with a similar skill set as Clarke is Rustam Khabilov. After starting his UFC career 3-0, Khabilov has lost two straight. A fight between Clarke and Khabilov has the potential to show some fun grappling exchanges.
Julianna Pena: Pena looked good in her return from injury, but Milana Dudieva is not the highest level of opposition. Liz Carmouche is. Carmouche, who picked up a contentious decision win on the undercard against Lauren Murphy, is a former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger, and she would be an incredibly stiff test for Pena. If the TUF 18 winner can defeat Carmouche, a title fight versus Ronda Rousey could be next up for her.
Milana Dudieva: With the loss to Pena, Dudieva falls to 1-1 in the UFC. Up next, she should take on Japanese grappler Rin Nakai. Nakai is 0-1 in the UFC, and both her and Dudieva are at the bottom of the women’s bantamweight barrel. Match them up.
Clay Guida: Guida returned to form Saturday afternoon in his win over Robbie Peralta. Post-fight, Guida called out UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos, and also said he wants to be the UFC’s superfight guy. I think he would be better served being the UFC’s gatekeeper guy though. With that in mind, there are two Brazilian featherweights on the rise who could use a challenge and step up in competition, and Guida would provide both of those to either man. Next, Guida should fight Godofredo Pepey or Hacran Dias. Both Brazilians are good grapplers, and if Guida took them down, they would be a threat to submit him off of their back, especially Pepey.
Robbie Peralta: Peralta hits hard when he’s on his feet, but he was on his back for most of his bout with Guida. Someone who will be willing to stand and trade with him is Katsunori Kikuno. Peralta and Kikuno are both coming off of losses, and both like to keep it on the feet. Book it, and we’ll likely get a knockout.
Dustin Poirier: ross pearson Poirier looked great in his return to lightweight, as he stayed patient against the pressure of Diego Ferreira, then smoked him with a counter and finished him off. The tests at lightweight should keep getting harder and harder for Poirier, and his next test should be long time UFC vet Ross Pearson. The TUF 9 winner has won two of his last three, both by knockout. Poirier and Pearson both always push the pace and bring the action, and a fight between them would be a Fight of the Night contender for sure.
Diego Ferreira: After starting his career 11-0, Ferreira has now lost two in a row. Let’s see if he can get his career back on track against Danny Castillo. Castillo has also lost two straight, and the loser of the potential Ferreira vs Castillo fight would likely be cut from the UFC.
