UFC 132 was a night characterized by paradox. While one future hall-of-fame fighter will live to battle another day (Tito Ortiz,) one finds himself vanquished to the limbo state indecision provides (Wanderlei Silva.)
While the welterweight title division rankings have cleared up considerably with the victory of Carlos Condit over Dong Hyun Kim, the middleweight division is as murky as ever after Chris Leben’s first-round knockout of Silva. And as always, armchair mixed martial artists were at considerable odds with a fight (Dennis Siver versus Matt Wiman) that had judges awarding yet another questionable decision victory.
In a night that will forever be defined by its role in featuring the first Bantamweight title defense in UFC history, many of the fighters on the card are looking towards the future, wondering what’s next?
Carlos Condit: Condit, who was a veteran of WEC before he came over to the UFC, has clearly paid his dues in the octagon. With a stunning knockout of previously undefeated Dong Hyun Kim, Condit showed he has the devastating knockout power to end matches in decisive fashion. Well I would not be so quick to say that Condit should be next in line for a title match, a No.1 contenders bout with the winner of the B.J. Penn/Jon Fitch fight may be in order.
Dong Hyun Kim: Kim’s rise in the UFC and his popularity in his own country of South Korea have propelled him up the ladder of the UFC welterweight division at a dynamic pace. The loss to Condit, however, has put a crux on any sort of title shot in the near future. And while Kim will surely bounce back, look for him to be at least three wins away before any sort of title shot comes his way.
Tito Ortiz: Joe Silva has never been one to throw an easy matchup Ortiz’s way. He proved that by asking Ortiz to face off against a top 5 light heavyweight after four loses in a row. Ortiz will want to ride the momentum of this last victory right in to another top 5 matchup. Although Ortiz’s first inclination will be to jump into the octagon quickly, most of the current top light heavyweights are tied up. If he is willing to wait, the winner of the Forrest Griffin/Shogun Rua contest or the loser of the Rashad Evans/Phil Davis bout would be a perfect fit.
Ryan Bader: It’s back to the drawing board for “Darth” Bader, who knocked off 12 victories in a row before falling to Ortiz. Bader’s first loss to light-heavyweight prodigy Jon “Bones” Jones was excusable, but the even quicker first-round submission loss to Ortiz is blasphemy. Bader will be given at least one more shot to rack up a win, probably against a top 20 light heavyweight coming off a loss. Someone like Matt Hamill would provide an entertaining and challenging opponent for the young Bader.
Dennis Siver/Matt Wiman: All I have to say can be summed up in Wiman’s prompt exit from the ring after the judge’s decision. The fans demand a rematch after the poor display of judging. If you don’t believe me, I will be forced to bring in the big guns and refer to pop sensation (and apparent UFC aficionado) Justin Bieber on this one.
Wanderlei Silva: Nobody goes through the excruciating pain of a major surgery on their knee, not to mention the intensive rehabilitation involved therein, only to call it quits after one defeat. Even as big of a knockout as Silva suffered should not deter the perennial fan favorite from getting back into action later this year. Personally, I would love to see Silva take on one of his biggest critics, Chael Sonnen.
That is, if Sonnen is prepared to put his money where his mouth is and is sanctioned by either the Nevada or California State Athletic Commission. Both guys like to stand up and bang. Silva will surely use the constant barrage of insults as fuel for the “berserker” style for which he has become famous.
Dominick Cruz/Urijah Faber: The back-and-forth battle between two of the world’s top bantamweight fighters was a privilege to behold, proving once and for all that UFC’s acquisition of the two smaller weight classes was a genius decision by the brass at Zuffa. While one judge was clearly watching a different fight, giving all five rounds to Cruz, the other two had the fight relatively close, with Faber just a round or two shy of a decision victory. With no clear-cut bantamweight contenders currently worthy of a title shot, the UFC should immediately schedule a rubber match for some time in the fall.
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