Despite dominating Renan Barao at UFC 173, T.J. Dillashaw will meet the Brazilian again in his second attempted defense of the bantamweight championship.
After losing the 135-pound belt to Dillashaw, Barao needed only a submission win over Mitch Gagnon in order to earn a rematch. Meanwhile, Dillashaw picked up his first bantamweight title defense against UFC newcomer Joe Soto.
No matter the result of the UFC on Fox 16 main event, Dillashaw and Barao should both have long UFC careers ahead. The same can’t be said for all those who will step into the Octagon on Saturday, though.
Here are the individuals sitting on the hot seat heading into this weekend’s event.
Jim Miller and Danny Castillo
Around 12 months ago, Jim Miller had won three in a row and was looking to earn his first shot at the lightweight championship.
Instead, he lost to Donald Cerrone and followed that defeat up with another disappointing outing against Beneil Dariush. With two straight losses, Miller is now suddenly in danger of seeing his UFC career end after nearly seven years.
Still only 31 years old, Miller has the ability to continue competing with high-level lightweights. However, the UFC brass will have to decide whether he’s worth his contract or not should Miller completely fall out of title contention.
With seven UFC victories, Danny Castillo has had a solid run inside the Octagon. However, he’s now riding back-to-back losses for the first time since joining the UFC roster in 2010. Having been knocked out by Paul Felder in his most recent outing, it’s surprising that Castillo would even be paired with Miller.
Being cut with a loss to a perennial contender like Miller would be extremely rough. So, there is a good chance Castillo could keep his UFC roster spot as long as he keeps this interesting.
Daron Cruickshank and James Krause
While Daron Cruickshank hasn’t lost multiple bouts in a row, he really didn’t do himself any favors the last time he competed.
Prior to UFC 185, Cruickshank missed weight by one pound. He then followed that up with a submission loss to Dariush the next day. A loss to Dariush normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but the UFC brass really comes down hard on fighters who fail to make their contracted weight.
Should Cruickshank miss his mark on Friday again and lose to James Krause Saturday, I don’t think anybody would be shocked to see the UFC part ways with the 30-year-old.
Picking up wins over Sam Stout and Jamie Varner in two of his first three contests since joining the UFC roster, Krause looked to be ready to take on all comers in the lightweight division. However, he’s now slipped up in two straight decisions against Jorge Masvidal and Valmir Lazaro.
Krause is entertaining and still has years of competition left in him, but three straight losses would put him in a bad position.
Jessamyn Duke and Elizabeth Phillips
Since beating Peggy Morgan in her official UFC debut, Jessamyn Duke has not looked great at all.
Duke was beaten by Bethe Correia in her sophomore UFC outing, which wasn’t a big deal considering that the Brazilian is now the top contender in the bantamweight division. However, a follow-up loss to Leslie Smith left Duke’s UFC roster spot in jeopardy.
Losing again to Elizabeth Phillips, who is still looking for her first UFC win, would be the final nail in the coffin for Duke’s career with the world’s top MMA promotion.
Dropping split decisions to Valerie Letourneau and Milana Dudieva, Phillips hasn’t been far from success inside the Octagon. However, she is already lucky to be getting another shot despite starting out with two losses.
A third defeat in as many appearances, no matter how close, would likely result in Phillips being cut.
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