Former WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles was hoping to get back into the title picture at UFC 139.
Instead, Bowles was outworked by Urijah Faber and lost their fight by submission.
Despite the loss, Bowles is still a top five bantamweight in the UFC.
Bowles only has two losses which have come to Faber and current champ Dominick Cruz.
What Bowles needs to do now is build himself back up to being a title contender.
Despite being a former champion, Bowles has only had 12 MMA fights.
This means there are plenty of fights left for him to take.
One fight that sticks out for Bowles is Demetrious Johnson.
Johnson and Bowles are similar when you look at their wins and losses.
Johnson is coming off of a loss to Dominick Cruz and is 9-2 overall.
It would be an interesting fight style-wise.
Despite being an undersized bantamweight, Johnson is known for out wrestling and outworking his opponents.
Johnson has also never been stopped in his career.
Nine of Bowles’ 10 wins have come by knockout or submission.
The bout would also be a good test to see where both men stand in the division.
Other bouts that could be interesting for Bowles are Brad Pickett, Eddie Wineland, and Miguel Torres.
Pickett is another big name in the bantamweight division who is coming off of a loss.
Wineland is another former champion who is in need of a win.
Bowles has already defeated Torres once before.
But a rematch between the two could move the other one up the ranks significantly.
There are many routes the UFC and Bowles could go. But perhaps taking on Johnson is the best one.
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