All the fights worth booking for the UFC in the aftermath of their Brisbane card.
It’s fantasy fight booking time. That day of the week you await with unabashed anticipation. I mean, fights are fights, but fantasy fights are possibilities. And I’ve got all the best possibilities right here in my hip pocket just waiting for you.
As always, I’m working with the basic criteria that the UFC’s Joe Silva and Sean Shelby have laid out over the ages. Winners fight winners, losers fight losers, similarly tenured fighters tend to get matched up against one another. Hopefully doing that gives me some reasonable foresight into just what the future might hold. Now, let’s check out the bouts!
Mark Hunt: So, Mark Hunt already fought Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett is coming off a loss (and Mark Hunt already fought Josh Barnett). Still, that fight happened a decade ago, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again at all. However if the UFC wants to do their winner vs. winner thing (which they didn’t for this Mir fight), then Hunt would be a hell of an interesting fight for the winner of Overeem vs. Arlovski, even if Overeem is another guy he fought ten years ago. At the end of the day however, Hunt is probably safest just staying ready for action. With 9 out of the top 15 ranked fighters currently booked he’s bound to get a short notice opportunity.
Frank Mir: It’d be easy to just say “Frank Mir should be done” and leave it at that, but getting KO’d by hunt isn’t really a sign that anyone can’t take a punch anymore. Besides that, if he wants to keep fighting he’s one of the UFC’s OGs. He’ll get more fights. With Antonio Silva vs. Stefan Struve coming up, I’d be fine seeing Mir against either guy, winner or loser. Keep this increasingly fragile heavyweight round robin going.
Neil Magny: Part of me want s to rush Magny up the ladder and see how he’d do against someone like Johny Hendricks or Tyron Woodley, but since he’s the kinda cat that’s got time and is looking to fight whoever, whenever, the UFC might as well not rush him. Dong Hyun Kim has won two straight, is right with Magny in the Rankings, and hasn’t picked up a meaningful top win in the division ever, unless you count 2008 Matt Brown. This looks like the perfect time to see if DHK is really top 10 material or not.
Hector Lombard: As long as the UFC is still happy to keep Lombard around, he’s not in the worst position he could be. He’s still got some name value and welterweight is so deep that there are half a dozen quality fights just waiting for him whenever he wants one. He could fight Kelvin Gastelum, if the UFC wants to keep throwing Gastelum into the deep end, or he could fight Hyun Gyu Lim when he returns from injury in a battle of one-round power monsters. Eventually, and because I assume he’s going to need time off, I’m gonna say the loser of Lorenz Larkin vs. Jorge Masvidal would be just right and let him take some time to heal up.
Jake Matthews: Matthews just improved leaps and bounds to take a tough win over Johnny Case. So the question is, how far do you push him and how fast. Lightweight is not a kind division to prospects (as Matthews already found out) and he seems to be a really bright one. There are two solid, tough options in front of him that I can see. He can face big, powerful, low output Leandro Silva, or scrappy, tough, aggressive James Krause. If the UFC really wants to slow play him though, they could give him Michel Prazeres as a very very winnable fight.
Johnny Case: Tough break for Case. He’s a good well-rounded fighter, but he’s just not the most powerful athlete in the division. Still, I didn’t expect Matthews to be the guy to really expose that. Fight I’d love to see right now, coming off this is Johnny Case vs. Shane Campbell. Campbell has rounded out his game nicely, is tough as nails and has a great technical kickboxing style. It should make for a great action fight. If you just love matching guys who fought on the same card up though, Case vs. Laprise would also be fine.
Dan Kelly: Somehow Kelly and Jotko are both 4-1 in the UFC Middleweight division. I say put ’em together, see what happens. Kelly vs. Dongi Yang would also be an acceptable matchup of trundling henges.
Antonio Carlos Jr.: ACJ has some re-aligning to do. Basically he’s not good enough yet to fight like he just can’t lose. Especially not at MW where there are a bunch of dudes who, while beatable, are also incredibly dangerous. I say put him against Brad Scott, for a slightly less dangerous version of the guy he just fought. See if he can learn the lessons.
Steve Bosse: I don’t know if Bosse will return at 205 or at 185, so I’ll figure out a booking for both. Since he’s got a bunch of power and is experienced enough that I’m not expecting huge leaps in skill he might as well get some solid fights. If he’s staying at 205, why not fight Ed Herman? If he’s going back to 185, then Trevor Smith has his name all over him.
Bec Rawlings: Rawlings beat the odds and took a decision win (only the second of her career) and that puts her on much firmer ground in a division that’s getting deeper by the month. If she wants to turn around quickly Juiliana Lima needs an opponent for UFC 197 next month. If that’s too soon, then Aisling Daly would be a really solid matchup as would Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Kowalkiewicz would probably be the most action heavy of the three, so I’m gonna go with that one.
Seohee Ham: There’s an obvious matchup staring Seohee ham in the face right now. You’ve got a well rounded striker with uneven output that’s really undersized for her weight class and she’s coming off a loss? Let me introduce you to Alex Chambers. That’s the fight to make for the UFC for both these women. And it’d be perfect for another Asia/Oceania card if they have one planned anytime soon.
Alan Jouban: We kind of know that Jouban isn’t going to just run his way to the top of the mountain. He’s already hit setbacks against other elite prospects, so the question is, what’s the next fun action fight for him. I honestly can’t believe I’m about to suggest this, because he was kind of a grinder pre-Silva, but Nordine Taleb seems to have really found his striking groove recently. Taleb vs. Jouban would be a fun solid fight and should be striking heavy.
Leslie Smith: Marion Reneau or Ashlee Evans-Smith. Doesn’t really matter which one. They were about dead even last time out and neither have the kind of complete game that should just run over Leslie. That should make for a fun action fight with either of them. I’d also be fine with Germain de Randamie when she comes back from injury. For the sake of matchup I’m going to say Smith vs. Smith since AES seems to be lacking a clear advantage in any one place and would make for a really even back and forth fight.
Ross Pearson: I was going to try and come up with a better fight for Ross Pearson than Diego Sanchez right now, and frankly I can’t. Sanchez won his fight over Miller clean, Pearson deserves to get one back in a fight everyone thinks he won. And most of the other unranked vets in the UFC lightweight division aren’t coming off wins right now, so might as well make this fight.
Other Bouts: O’Reilly vs. Jingliang, Hooker vs. Rosa, Eddiva vs. Collard, Andrade vs. Covington, Walsh vs. Sullivan, Laprise vs. Burns, Patrick vs. Ray, Brown vs. Kasuya