Brandon Thatch won the approval of bettors when he somehow wound up entering UFC Fight Night 60 as the favorite over former lightweight champion Benson Henderson.
However, while Thatch demonstrated some excellent skills, stalking Henderson throughout and hammering him with body kicks, one simple thing shined through Saturday night. Thatch is an untested prospect. Henderson is a wily veteran.
As soon as Henderson took the muay thai fighter out of his comfort zone, he was quick to take advantageous positions and threaten submissions. In the fourth round, he would sink in a rear-naked choke that would force Thatch to tap.
Now, with his stock rising in spite of the loss, Thatch must return to the drawing board and look to get back on track. So who are some potential opponents for him?
Kiichi Kunimoto
Thatch wasn’t the only hot welterweight to suffer a disappointing loss. Kiichi Kunimoto, the chief apostle of the UFC’s Sultan of Swag, Yoshihiro Akiyama, came up short against the streaking Neil Magny. Depending on what the UFC plans to do with Kunimoto, these two could reasonably face off in the near future.
On paper, this fight makes perfect sense: both men are late-blooming prospects coming off rough losses. Stylistically, however, this is a clear mismatch in favor of Thatch, who owns the advantage standing and the skills to resist Kunimoto’s grappling game. The fact that their schedules are perfectly aligned doesn’t hurt matters either.
The only big hiccup here would be the UFC’s plans for Kunimoto. If they are banking on the 33 year-old to be an enduring foothold for Japan, they should keep these two men in separate rooms at all times. If not, this is a perfect bounce-back fight for Thatch.
Thiago Alves
Maybe the UFC isn’t all that interested in having Thatch bounce back? Maybe the UFC saw Thatch’s performance against Henderson and thought “this guy is 29 years old already and needs years to plug up the holes in his ground game.” Maybe, with Thatch’s stock at an all-time high, they’re thinking he should just be thrown into the thick of things at 170 pounds against already-established talents.
Already-established talents like…I don’t know…Thiago Alves, perhaps?
Alves contended for the welterweight belt way back at UFC 100, and has struggled with injuries ever since. That said, back-to-back wins over Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein have given him renewed relevance in the division’s upper echelon. Adding Thatch’s head to his mantel would not necessarily build him up towards a title shot, but it would be a fight worth his time.
This would not be an easy fight for Alves. Thatch’s striking skills are fearsome, and he could easily come out on top of an all-striking affair against “Pitbull.” But this would be the official, complete removal of the training wheels from Thatch in a division with many fighters that can exploit his weaknesses.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com