UFC 203: What's next for the winners?
Here are some potential matches to make for the winners of the main card of UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem.
At UFC 203, Stipe Miocic successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title for the first time against Alistair Overeem. It was a great night for Miocic, considering that he was fighting in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. But most importantly, he was able to retain his heavyweight title, which is no easy task when you’re fighting at the top level.
In the co-main event, Fabricio Werdum faced off against Travis Browne in a rematch. For the better part of three rounds, Werdum got the better of Browne in every aspect, but it was an extremely weird fight as a whole.
UFC 203 did have some great and exciting fights, but it was a very weird fight card altogether. It’s hard to remember another fight card that was as strange as this one, considering CM Punk’s UFC debut, the post fight altercation with Werdum and Browne’s coach Edmund Tarverdyan, and Overeem’s claims about Miocic tapping out.
Many fighters on the main card looked very impressive and will move forward by getting even bigger fights. So what might these upcoming matches be for the winners at UFC 203?
Jessica Andrade
Since making her debut in the UFC’s women’s strawweight divison, Jessica Andrade has looked like an entirely different animal. Let’s not get it twisted. She was still a very good fighter at bantamweight, but she was extremely undersized compared to everybody else in the division. The strawweight division is much better suited for somebody of her body frame and stature.
When she fought Jessica Penne in her strawweight debut, she looked much better. Her striking was much more effective, she was a lot stronger, and she was much faster. This is the best possible move she could make and she proved Saturday night against Joanne Calderwood.
As soon as the fight started, it was evident that she was the much stronger fighter and she was able to throw Calderwood around for the better part of the first round with solid takedowns before locking in the submission and forcing her to tap.
With one more win, Andrade may very well be in title contention. A matchup with Carla Esparza would be very interesting and it’s definitely a title eliminator.
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 10: Mickey Gall (top) attempts to submit Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks in their welterweight bout during the UFC 203 event at Quicken Loans Arena on September 10, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Mickey Gall
Mickey Gall seized the opportunity on Saturday night by welcoming CM Punk to the world of MMA in devastating fashion.
In 2014, it was announced that Punk had signed with the UFC with intentions to fight. Being someone who doesn’t have much combat experience and has never even stepped inside of the cage, it was definitely a strange move since the UFC doesn’t really sign fighters who have no prior MMA experience.
Punk began to train under Duke Roufus to sharpen up his skills and learn everything he possibly could. During an episode of Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight, they encountered someone named Mickey Gall who called out CM Punk after an impressive victory.
Months later, they finally stepped inside the cage and Gall won every aspect of the bout. Punk came out very aggressive and Gall made him pay for it by taking him down almost immediately. After landing some vicious ground-and-pound, Gall was able to take his back and grab a hold of his neck, forcing Punk to tap.
It’s hard to say just how good Gall is since he hasn’t really faced top competition just yet, but he’s ready to prove himself. He called out Sage Northcutt after his victory, so that’s definitely the fight to make.
Jimmie Rivera
Jimmie Rivera is a top bantamweight in the UFC, and after his very impressive win over one of the best of all-time in Urijah Faber at UFC 203, he’s ready for an even bigger fight.
In the first round, Rivera was able to beat Faber in every aspect and that was story for the rest of the fight. Rivera landed devastating leg kicks throughout the first round and he was able to neutralize Faber’s entire game, both striking and grappling.
Faber accidentally eye poked him in the second round and the third round was rather lackluster, but Rivera did enough in the first and second to secure a dominant unanimous decision win.
The UFC’s bantamweight division is stacked right now and there are many fights to make for Rivera. To name a few, Bryan Caraway and TJ Dillashaw are both potential matchups since other fighters John Lineker and John Dodson are already booked. Cody Garbrandt is also an interesting fight, but he will probably get the next title shot against Dominick Cruz. The fight that’s the most interesting for Rivera is TJ Dillashaw. He’s the No. 1 one ranked UFC bantamweight, and if Rivera wants a title shot, he’ll have to go through him.
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 10: Stipe Miocic (top) punches Alistair Overeem of The Netherlands in their UFC heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 203 event at Quicken Loans Arena on September 10, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Stipe Miocic
After shocking the world by knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198, Miocic made his first title defense against Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 and won the fight pretty convincingly. He made a statement and showed the whole division that he’s here to stay.
Overeem definitely had his moments throughout the bout. He was able to land some hard kicks and he even dropped Miocic with a nice left hand. Immediately after dropping him. Overeem looked to secure a guillotine choke, and it looked very tight at first, but Miocic was able to gut it and escape.
Soon after, Miocic began to take over. He picked his shots with his crisp boxing and had Overeem backing up against the cage. Overeem threw a body kick and Miocic was able to catch it, secure a takedown and land on top. From there on out, he landed accurate and precise shots, which put Overeem out.
Miocic has many options at heavyweight. A rematch with Werdum is a possibility, but Werdum didn’t look so impressive against Browne and that fight was a very weird bout. The fight to make is against Cain Velasquez. Velasquez did lose his title to Werdum, but he looked extremely impressive at UFC 200 against Travis Browne by stopping him in the first round. Miocic and Velasquez are extremely similar with their fight styles and a matchup between the two would be extremely interesting.
Fabricio Werdum
In a rematch against Travis Browne, for the better part of three rounds, Werdum dominated every aspect of the fight. But, it was things happening throughout the bout and the post-fight altercation with Browne’s coach Edmund Tarverdyan that made this fight very weird.
Right off the bat, Werdum came flying out with a flying side kick that knocked Browne back. He then went on to drop him in the first. Eventually, he went on to win by unanimous decision.
One of the weird aspects of this fight was when Browne stopped the action because of a finger injury. Usually, when this happens, the fight is stopped immediately. But, the fight continued. As stated before, the post fight altercation was also very weird.
Regardless, Werdum won. He’s definitely a top contender in the division, but he should get another fight before fighting for the title again. A rematch with Junior dos Santos makes the most sense. Not only are they some of the best in their division, but it would be a rematch that Werdum has wanted for quite some time.
More from FanSided
This article originally appeared on 
