5 fights to make after UFC 211: Miocic vs. dos Santos 2
MMA: UFC 211-Jedrzejczyk vs Andrade
Let's take a look at some potential bouts for the winners at UFC 211: Miocic vs. dos Santos 2
Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier was trending toward Fight of the Night status before a couple illegal knees forced Herb Dean to call an end to the action and rule the bout a No Content.
Both fighters agreed afterwards that they needed to run it back and showed nothing but respect for each other after a disappointing ending to a highly-anticipated fight.
Let’s match these two fan favorites back up, this time, maybe in a five-round main event.
Frankie Edgar stopped Yair Rodriguez’s hype train in its tracks Saturday night, stamping his claim to the No. 1 contender spot in the UFC featherweight division.
Edgar obviously deserves a title shot, but it’ll be a hard sell if Jose Aldo unifies the title against Max Holloway next month. Aldo is just one of three men to beat “The Answer” during his career and he’s done it twice.
If Aldo manages to keep the belt at UFC 212, I’d like to see him face off against Cub Swanson again in a No. 1 contender’s bout. The pair of featherweights fought back in 2014 and Edgar left with a fifth-round submission win in a fight he thoroughly dominated. But since then, Swanson has gone 4-1 and won back to back exciting decisions in bouts where he cracked 100 significant strikes, something he hadn’t done in his UFC or WEC career.
If Holloway wins, however, the UFC can go ahead and make Holloway vs. Edgar that night if they want to.
Demian Maia vs. Tyron Woodley
Demian Maia had done enough to earn a shot at welterweight champion Tyron Woodley before Saturday night but his victory over Jorge Masvidal was just the icing on the impressive cake he’s built of the last year and a half.
Fortunately for Maia, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the winner of Saturday’s fight will definitely receive the next shot, so the Brazilian won’t have to wonder if he’ll be on the outside looking in yet again.
With seven straight wins, including three by finish, there is no question that Maia is the No. 1 contender in the UFC welterweight division.
UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk needs a real challenge in the Octagon and it looks like current No. 1 contender Rose Namajunas could be her huckleberry.
Namajunas is 4-1 in her last five fights and is coming off a second-round submission against savvy veteran Michelle Waterson in April.
Namajunas might be the only fighter in the top 15 dynamic enough on the feet and on the ground to challenge Jedrzejczyk over five rounds.
Stipe Miocic vs. Winner of Derrick Lewis vs. Mark Hunt
I know what you’re thinking: There is a perfectly good No. 1 contender’s bout going down July 8 between Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem and both of them have a history with champion Stipe Miocic.
While that is certainly true, the fact remains that Miocic KOed both Werdum and Overeem within a round the last time they met. That isn’t to say the winner of that fight doesn’t deserve a title shot, but I believe the next challenger should be a new face, presumably from the matchup between Derrick Lewis and Mark Hunt.
Lewis is probably closer than Hunt considering he’s won six straight, including five by KO/TKO. If he can do the same against Hunt, he should jump to the front of the line to challenge Miocic later this year. Hunt is coming off a loss to Overeem, but a win against Lewis puts him right back in the title picture.