UFC 162 may have produced some ecstatic winners from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it saw just as many fighters walk away going back to the drawing board after a disappointing loss.
Anderson Silva, Charles Oliveira and Tim Boetsch were among those that were unable to get their hand raised as they were on the wrong end of impressive performances from their opponents.
While a loss hurts, it isn’t the end of the world. Each of Saturday night’s biggest losers will have the opportunity to win again and repair their stock as they try to mount another climb up the divisional ladder.
Here’s a look at each of the main card’s losers and a potential fight for them to take next.
Dennis Siver Loses to Cub Swanson via Third-Round TKO
Where it Went Wrong
Dennis Siver became the latest featherweight to fall victim to Cub Swanson as he was finished in the third round by way of TKO.
Siver actually had his moments in the fight despite small underdog status. He scored a takedown in the first round and controlled Swanson to take the opening frame. However, he faded as the fight wore on and was caught by Swanson’s dynamic striking.
Potential Rebound Fight: Charles Oliveira
Both Siver and Oliveira were unable to pull off upsets at UFC 162, so why not put them in the Octagon and see who can get back in the win column?
Oliveira lost a unanimous decision to former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the night’s co-main event but showed that he’s ready to take on established fighters in the division.
Siver would have the opportunity to showcase his abilities against a much-less dynamic threat on the feet, while Oliveira gets another opportunity to shoot up the rankings.
Tim Boetsch Loses to Mark Munoz via Unanimous Decision
Where it Went Wrong
Boetsch was another fighter who got off to a good start before fading down the stretch. Coming off of a third-round TKO loss to Costa Philippou, “The Barbarian” needed a strong performance—and this wasn’t it.
Boetsch and Munoz engaged in a close technical grappling match in the first round, but Rounds 2 and 3 belonged to the Filipino Wrecking Machine. Coming back from nearly a year away from the Octagon, he was back in full form.
Potential Rebound Fight: Chris Camozzi
Boetsch now has two losses in a row, so his next fight is going to be a real must-win situation. That means a step down in competition. Camozzi is coming off of a submission loss to Jacare Souza at UFC on FX Belfort vs. Rockhold in Brazil and isn’t currently ranked in the top 10 of the division.
Camozzi is dangerous enough to challenge Boetsch; he’s still 4-1 in his past five fights. But he’s a nice step down from Philippou and Munoz.
Roger Gracie Loses to Tim Kennedy via Unanimous Decision
Where it Went Wrong
Gracie’s UFC debut couldn’t have gone much worse.
The Strikeforce veteran was able to secure two takedowns in the three-round fight but landed just 12 significant strikes, per FightMetric. That’s just four strikes per round.
Kennedy didn’t look all that great in the win, and the fight was definitely the most uneventful bout on the main card.
Potential Rebound Fight: A Facebook Prelim Near You
Cutting Gracie may be a little premature. He was good enough to warrant a pay-per-view slot in his debut, and we have yet to see how far Tim Kennedy can go in the middleweight division. However, he’s going to need to prove he can entertain if he’s going to be on TV again.
The best bet to see if he can get back on track would be a Facebook prelim fight against an up-and-comer making his promotional debut.
Charles Oliveira Loses to Frankie Edgar via Unanimous Decision
Where it Went Wrong
Oliveira was a big underdog coming into his fight against Edgar. But he did an admirable job of holding his own against the former lightweight champion.
Edgar was much quicker than Oliveira, consistently landing good boxing combinations while moving out of Oliveira‘s range. It was clear his takedown defense needs to improve as well; Edgar completed two of five takedown attempts en route to the win.
Despite those shortcomings, “do Bronx” had his moments and even rocked Edgar a few times. At 23 years old, the loss should be seen as more of a learning experience than a setback.
Potential Rebound Fight: Dennis Siver
By fighting Siver next, Oliveira would get to show if he can take what he learned from losing to Edgar by taking on another technical featherweight.
Anderson Silva Loses to Chris Weidman via Second-Round Knockout
Where it Went Wrong
You know the narrative by now.
The longest-reigning champion in UFC history’s title reign came to an end as Chris Weidman landed the punch heard ’round the world and sent Silva crashing to the canvas. Silva’s tactics of dropping his hands and goading opponents into attacking has worked in the past, but it eventually caught up to him.
Now he must fight as a challenger in his next bout for the first time in seven years.
Potential Rebound Fight: Rematch with Chris Weidman
Despite Silva’s comments after the bout on not wanting a rematch, Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Dana White is already trying to figure out a date for the rematch between the two.
While Silva may have denied interest in a rematch initially, he hasn’t lost in seven years. His mind could easily change when he sees the potential money that would come from a rematch against the champion.
Silva didn’t want to fight Weidman before their first fight either, preferring to take on Cung Le instead. It’s likely Dana White will be able to convince Silva to reconsider this time around as well.
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