Who Should the Brits Face Following UFC London

Who Should the Brits Face Following UFC London
by Chris Houten - mrhouts

Saturday night was a great night for fight fans in the UK, but not the best night for fighters in the UK. The cards British contingency went 2-3, with some looking fantastic, and other looking decisively poor.

We take a look at what could be next up for the winning and losing British fight on Saturday night's UFC Fight Night 37. 

Jimi Manuwa
Alexander Gustafsson gave Jimi Manuwa a tough time both on the ground and on the feet on Saturday night; it what really was a difficult fight for Manuwa so early in his UFC career. Although Manuwa may have been ready for a top 10 test having looked virtually untouchable in the first 3 bouts of his UFC career, Gustafsson proved to be to much of a test.

Matching for Manuwa's next fight could prove to be a difficult one as it take some really consideration to where he now figure in the division. Does he stay around the top 10 or does he return back to the level of fighters his was fighting before the Gustafsson bout.

A fight against the loser of Phil Davis vs Anthony Johnson seems to be on the lips of fans, which would probably be a pretty descent contest should Johnson end up the loser. Both man have excellent striking and are equally capable of finishing each other with just one shot.

I still think Davis vs Johnson loser would be a tough test for Manuwa. I'd like Manuwa to fight one step lower and fight former Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight champion Rafael Cavalcante. Cavalcante might be coming off a win in his last fight, but I don't think Manuwa should loss to much position with the loss to Gustafsson. Cavalcante also carry the skill set and tools needed to give Manuwa a great fight.

Brad Pickett
Although Pickett was able to see off a game Neil Seery 30-27 on 2 judges score cards, I feel he will need to have at least one more fight before the UFC will give him a shot at the flyweight title.

I think we wait and see whats going on with Ian McCall and set that fight up again if he expects to be back soon. Failing that there are some excellent match ups out there for Pickett in the form of Dodson, Moraga, and Lineker.

Luke Barnatt
With another impressive victory this weekend against Mats Nilsson - his 3rd in the UFC, Luke Barnatt is rapidly becoming on of the finest prospects in the Middleweight division, and is on his way to becoming a the PPV main card fighter he promised to become on the MMA Hour.

I feel like it might be time to see how far Barnatt can go and put him in there with some one from the upper echelons of middleweight division. A fight against Costas Philippou might make sense for both men with Barnatt looking for the scalp which will take him to the next level, and Philipou needing a step away from the top 10 to try and get his career back on track, having lost his last 2.

I know the UFC likes to match winners vs winners, but this fight would suit both men.

Brad Scott
Scott may feel a little hard done by following his loss at the weekend to new-comer Claudio da Silva, and will feel the fouls which took place during the fight ultimately gave a tired and beaten da Silva to regain the energy needed to win the final round, and lead to him taking the victory. In reality Scott really only has his self to blame and will need to look at his take down defend over the next few months, as he ended up losing to a guy who is probably not as good overall because he couldn't stop the shot, and was unable to get up off the ground.

While Scott isn't done and dusted yet, at 1-2 in the UFC he will be pretty desperate for a win in his next fight. A fight with fellow Ultimate Fighter contestant Daniel Sarafian could prove to be a great battle, although it may not be a bad decision to go back to 170lb where he has previously fought, and could do again with just a few tweeks to his diet.

Danny Mitchell
Danny Mitchell didn't look particularly bad in his debut, he was just a slight second behind Igor Araujo on the ground on Saturday night, and by his own admission "felt pretty flat out there."

Mitchell will be given another opportunity to make up this on an upcoming EMEA Fight Pass card, and if I had to guess I'd say one of the Asian Fight Night cards planned for the Autumn. If this happens a fight against some one like Wang Sai who was runner up in TUF China, or Takenori Sato who recently lost his debut in Brazil to Erik Silva might be on the radar for Mitchell, as both men are 0-1 in the UFC also.

Phil Harris
As sad is it will sound for British fight fans,  at 1-3 in the UFC I feel Harris may get released following his loss to Louis Gaudinot this weekend. I genuinely think Harris is a better fighter than his UFC record suggests and with the skill-set he possesses he would have a complete different record is he wasn't 125 pounder.

Harris has a had a pretty tough run since joining the promotion with all of his of opponents being top 15 guys. But that's the problem with the flyweight division, there's not many of them but they are all super good.

If Harris does get another fight, and as a fellow Brit I hope he does (it's never nice to lose one of your own), Harris should be given a real step down in competition and a bout with TUF Smashes contestant Ritchie Vaculik could provide firework, with both men desperate for a victory.

Kingdom MMA fights to make after UFC 162

The fights we would like to see after UFC 162

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

It's been over a week now since UFC 162, and I'm still pinching myself in case its a dream! Did Anderson Silva really get knocked out?!?! Is Chris Weidman really the new UFC Middleweight champion? As it happens it's all true.

Silva vs Weidman

As much as I was completely wrong about the outcome of the fight, there seems to be a very fine line between a genius and a dope! Silva has shown in many cases and especially in his light heavyweight bout with Stephan Bonnar putting his hands down, leaning up against the fence inviting Bonnar to land a punch or take him down, only seconds later to find himself knocked out. This was the genius of Silva and lauded by the fans and media.

Doing the same against Weidman and getting caught and knocked out we all call into question what the heck he was playing at!! Taking nothing away from Weidman as he took advantage of the opportunity given to him by Silva and become the first fighter to ever knock out Silva and put an end to his 7 years as UFC middleweight champion.

Where next for both fighters? Verdict: Rematch!

Even though at the time Silva said he isn't interested in a re-match with Weidman, I think money will talk. Now it has been confirmed we will get to see it. I hope for one it actually happens and nothing changes this between now and December, though the massive downfall of this happening is the title being on hold for so long. As if Silva wins the rematch, there is no doubt the Trilogy will happen, leaving the belt on hold between 2 fighters for another year at least.

If this wasn't to happen, there is only one fighter at the moment worthy of a title shot. If you like it or not Vitor Belfort has steamrolled Bisping & Luke Rockhold by devastating knock out to earn that title shot. With Belfort on TRT the fight would either have to take place in Brazil (which wouldn't be likely) or we will get the see the 'real' Belfort in Vegas without having the helping hand of TRT.

Silva hmmmmmm.. Without a rematch, I think a new challenge up at light heavyweight to take on Rashad Evans.

Frankie Def Oliveira

After three straight losses , even though some of the very questionable, Frankie Edgar went into Saturday nights fight with Oliveira feeling the pressure to get back into the winning circle. Putting on a very impressive performance and beating a very game and solid Oliveira via unanimous decision (30-27 x2 29-28) .
This was the first time since 2010 that Edgar has be in a 3 round fight, and proved once again why he is so feared. 

Where next for both fighters?

Winner: Frankie Edgar vs Cub Swanson

I feel after his loss to Aldo he still needs one or possibly two more fights, to get himself back fighting for the title. With both fighters at the top of their game and with both fighters love a good tear up my match up would be Cub Swanson!


Loser: Charles Oliveira vs loser of Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway

Having lost his last two fights, Oliveira needs to bounce back with a win. Having fought Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar back to back, I think he'll be given a more winnable fight to get back to winning ways. A fight with either Conor McGregor or Max Holloway could suit the young fighter!

Tim Kennedy Def Roger Gracie:

Someone give me back 15 minutes of my life after having to watch this fight!! Both making their UFC middleweight debuts since signing from Strikeforce.
I'll cut this short to say you and me time from what was a low point of the night! Tim Kennedy def Roger Gracie (30-27 x 2 29-28) 

Winner: Tim Kennedy vs Alan Belcher.

Tim Kennedy got himself the win on Saturday night, but what proved to be over a limited Roger Gracie. I don't see Kennedy fighting for any title soon though he might prove a stern test for a few middleweight fighters. I would like to see Kennedy prove he's a better fighter than this, and test himself.
I really like the idea of Luke Barnett next for Kennedy , though maybe a little to soon for the Ultimate Fighter contestant. Therefore I put forward to you Alan Belcher, yes he's on a two fight losing streak, though I think Belcher is ranked above Kennedy and would make for a good fight!


Loser: Roger Gracie vs Rousimar Palhares

Whenever you hear the name Gracie I tend to get excited, though it might only be me that isn't excited by the prospect of Roger Gracie? So, what next for Roger, Anderson Silva? Nah, not a chance folks, though a fight vs Rousimar Palhares who is coming of losses to Alan Belcher and Hector Lombard , and with a great ground game Palhares could make for the perfect opponent.

Mark Munoz Def Tim Boestch:

Was great to see Mark Munoz back inside the octagon and a devastating defeat to the hands of now UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. Having to deal with depression, and piling on the weight ballooning to 260lbs. Munoz has worked very hard to get himself back into shape and it proved Saturday night it has all paid off.
With a dismantling display over Boestch , Munoz looked very impressive dominating Boestch and bullying him to a unanimous decision (30-26,30-27,29-28) all in favour of a Munoz win.

Winner: Mark Munoz vs Michael Bisping

With Munoz official ranked 6th and Bisping 4th it makes sense to make the fight happen when/if the UFC return to Bisping's home town of Manchester in October. This would make the perfect main event and push one of them nearer the title shot.

Loser: Boestch vs Luke Rockhold

Since making his middleweight debut back in 2011 , Tim Boestch went onto a 4 fight winning streak with impressive wins of Kendall Grove, Nick Ring, Okami & beating Hector Lombard who hadn't lost for 5 years!
Having lost to Costa Philippou and now Mark Munoz , he will have to work his way back up the rankings and back nearer that title shot. I really like the match up of Luke Rockhold, who himself coming off a KO defeat to Vitor Belfort.

Cub Swanson Def Dennis Siver (Fight of The Night)

This fight wasn't to be missed, and it didn't fail to deliver! Cub always comes into the octagon with one thing in his mind! That's to finish his opponent. And more often than that he does just that! Having KO/TKO'd 4 of his last 5 opponents in his 5 fight win streak Cub is nearing the title shot he has no doubt deserved.
Having to endure an early onslaught from the much bigger Siver , both men went toe to toe for the first two rounds. Then in the third round Swanson came out stronger to finish Siver via TKO.

Winner: Cub Swanson vs Frankie 'The Answer' Edgar

I've always wanted to see this match up and now it makes perfect sense to me! 'The Answer' is Frankie Edgar

Loser: Dennis Siver vs Winner of ( Dustin Poirier vs Erik Koch)

Despite losing to Cub, Siver is still one of the best fighters in the Featherweight division. Being (2/1) since moving down to featherweight we still haven't seen the best of Siver.
With a lot of top ranked fighters already due to fight, this one was a little harder to choose for Siver. Nik Lentz would seem a obvious choice but having a three fight winning streak I don't see this fight happening?
Maybe fighting the loser of Guida v Mendes would make sense. But I'm going for the following! The Winner of Dustin Poirier vs Erik Koch to be his next opponent.

Other entries.... because he was our TUF Smashes champion 

Norman Parke Def Kazuki Tokudome

The ultimate fighter winner Norman Parke put on a great performance in his official UFC debut beating Tokudome via unanimous decision (30-27 x2 29-28) I expect a step up in class for the norther Irishman.

Verdict: Parke vs Winner of (Myles Jury v Mike Ricci)

This has been one of my hardest picks, My head would like Norman in with more competitive fighter , and my heart would like the UFC to take their time with Norman and build him up , giving him more of a chance that some of the British fighters we have seen lately. So in that case I'm going with my head and picking the winner of the up and coming bout between Myles Jury and Mike Ricci.

The Winners & Losers of UFC 158!!

The Winners & Losers of UFC 158

by Tommy Strong - @strong_tea

 

It's been two days removed since we saw GSP retain his Welterweight title in dominant fashion at UFC 158 in Montreal Quebec Canada.
This event was meant to put the Welterweight division into some perspective, though Im still not sure we are any the wiser with the talent pool so deep in this weight class.
So where do the winners & losers of the Welterweight division, top contenders go from here? Lets start with the current champion GSP.

GSP  (24-2-0) v Hendricks (15-1-0):

We truly have a number 1 contender in Johny Hendricks that has earn't his title shot at George off the back of some very impressive wins against, Fitch,Koscheck, Kampmann & Condit. And not off the back of a failed drug test and a loss!

This fight really has my mouth watering! George won't be able to implement his normal style of take down , hold them down labour his way to a UD.
He will almost be forced to stand with Hendricks who is probably one of, if not the hardest puncher pound for pound in the UFC right at this moment.
I hope Hendricks hasn't sustained to much damage to his left hand after his fight with Carlos, so a Summer fight v GSP could take place.

Diaz (27-9-1) v Condit (28-7-0):

This to me makes perfect sense. Having fought each other at UFC 143 just over a year ago , where Carlos won in a close fought battle. Both coming off losses and Im sure Diaz would like to avenge his loss to Carlos in a fight that he and his fans thought he done enough to win.
Diaz talked about retirement straight after his loss to GSP, but I think thats just all spur of the moment talk and deep down doesn't really mean it.
Once he sits back and reflects on his career, I believe he will be back in the octagon again soon.

Ellenberger (29-6-0) v Rory Macdonald (14-1-0):

After a very impressive knockout out over Nate Marquardt on Saturday night, Ellenberger is fast becoming a top contender for the title. Like wise so is Rory. Having to pull out of his fight against Carlos Condit due to an injury, he will be itching to get back in the cage with a Top 5 fighter like Ellenberger to push himself further up the rankings, so this could be a perfect fight for both fighters.


Nate Marquardt (35-12-2) v The Dreaded Cut ( 98-0)?

With back to back loses and with his previous history of failed drugs test & suspensions he really must be looking down the barrel of the UFC loaded gun that has 98 bullets left to fire!
But winning the Welterweight title in his debut for Strikeforce in a very impressive manner over Tyron Woodley, he might be given one more chance in the UFC before they decide his time is up.