Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Peeking Ahead - Top Fights to Make After UFC 145 "Jones vs. Evans"
Apr 22, 2012 - 7:30:02 PM HANSEN: Peeking Ahead - Top Fights to Make After UFC 145 "Jones vs. Evans"

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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

With UFC 145 in the books, it's time to take a peek forward in time and see what's next for some of the fighters on last night's card. These aren't predictions of what I think the UFC will do next; rather what I would do if I had the book. If a fight is already announced (i.e. Jon Jones is going to face Dan Henderson), I won't adjust that. And I won't line up a fight involving someone who is already signed to fight someone else already. So with that said, let's take a peek forward:

Jon Jones: Jon Jones holds victories over four of the five men to hold the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship since the Chuck Liddell era ended in 2007. And since Forrest Griffin isn't relevant anymore, we're finally going to see Jones against someone who hasn't held that title already. The UFC has already announced that Dan Henderson is next. Next opponent: Dan Henderson
 
Rashad Evans: While I don't think he's willing to drop down to middleweight anytime soon, let's face it; he's a middleweight. The fact that he was able to win The Ultimate Fighter as an undersized heavyweight, and then win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship as an undersized light heavyweight, is just phenomenal. He's a hell of a fighter, and if he retired today he'd be a borderline hall of famer. He told Karyn Bryant last night that he knows he'll fight Jon Jones again. Doubtful, since Jones is going to be a heavyweight in the near future. Evans would be wise to drop down, and would be one fight away from a title shot. Let's keep the Rashad vs. Greg Jackson meme going a few months longer, shall we? Next opponent: Brian Stann

If he stays at light heavyweight, only one fight makes sense to me... Next fight: Shogun Rua


Rory MacDonald: MacDonald's last four fights, in succession: Carlos Condit, Nate Diaz, Mike Pyle, Che Mills. Following that regression, his next fight should be against the loser of the upcoming Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah fight. It's time to reverse that trend and get him into the cage against a top-15 opponent. The UFC likes to book winner vs. winner fights, but there aren't many highly ranked welterweights who are coming off of a win who are looking for an opponent.  I want to keep Siyar Bahadurzada and Rory MacDonald separate for now, so he's going to have to fight someone coming off of a loss. The top three guys coming off of losses would be Jon Fitch, Diego Sanchez, and my choice, B.J. Penn. Consider it a passing of the torch if MacDonald wins, not to mention the exposure of being B.J.'s return fight. Next opponent: BJ Penn If BJ stays retired, then I say Diego Sanchez would be awesome. Then again, Diego vs. damn near anyone is awesome, no?

Michael McDonald: McDonald is red hot, but the trick is to keep him red hot. He's 21 years old folks, a young 21. He doesn't need to be fighting Dominick Cruz anytime soon. He also doesn't need to be fighting Renan Barao, who should be next after Urijah Faber, anytime soon. In a division Cruz has pretty much cleaned out, the UFC doesn't need to be pitting their two young contenders against one another. McDonald needs to be fighting someone who is hot, experienced, and talented. While I like the idea of McDonald vs. Mitch Gagnon, I'm looking for something a little higher profile here. Next opponent: Brad Pickett

Miguel Torres: It's apparent that the Miguel Torres who cut through the 135 weight class like a knife through something that gets cut through easily by a knife is dead and buried. He's currently not relevant to the title picture, but still has name value. Since he's made a decent amount of money for Zuffa over the years, they should give him a fight he wants, as long as it doesn't alter the futures of any of their up and coming contenders. Next fight:  Brian Bowles

Ben Rothwell: The amazing part isn't that Ben Rothwell KO'd someone, nor is it that surprising that Brendan Schaub got KO'd so easily. The amazing part is that Rothwell is two fights away from contender status despite not having won consecutive fights in almost five years. The first names that come to mind are both on the shelf, Rodrigo Nogueira and Shane Carwin, and since I don't know when they're returning, they're out. While I don't know if Rothwell is a top ten heavyweight, there are plenty of other guys who are in the same boat. You can pick any of a half dozen guys and make a compelling fight, so how about someone who fought on the same card?  Next fight: Travis Browne
 
Brendan Schaub: I understand that Rothwell is a powerful Ma'afala, and that he's got killshot power, but Schaub just can't handle a punch very well. I like Matt Mitrione next, to make a fight between competitors from the Kimbo Slice season of The Ultimate Fighter. Next fight:  Matt Mitrione

Eddie Yagin: Yagin seemed awfully hittable last night against Mark Hominick. A lot of that can be chalked up to Hominick's skill as a boxer, but you don't get hit that much unless you are in fact, well, awfully hittable. I'm relatively convinced that the ceiling on Yagin is pretty low, but I certainly wouldn't mind being proven wrong. Put him in with another striker and let's see what he can do. Next fight:  Jason Young

Mark Hominick: In the last year Hominick has lost three fights, and his trainer Shawn Tompkins. Jose Aldo picked him apart and left Hominick with a grotesque hematoma. Chan Sung Jung knocked him out in under seven seconds. And Eddie Yagin knocked him down twice and left him battered. Either Hominick's got horrible standup defense, or he's shot. Next fight:  Manvel Gamburyan in a loser goes to Bellator or MFC fight

Mark Bocek: Bocek is what he is, and nothing more. He's going to make you look worse than you are, and he's not going to look particularly good himself while doing so. You know who that sounds like? Next fight:  Jacob Volkmann

Anthony Njokuani: Njokuani's lost four of his last seven fights after beating John Makdessi last night, and six of eleven during his WEC and UFC run. He's an extremely limited fighter who does one thing well. And when given a fight against an opponent tailor made for him, he was unable to capitalize in the spectacular manner that was expected from him. Next fight: Mac Danzig


Other Fights I'd like to make 

Matt Brown vs. Jason High Can we get him signed already?

Stephen Thompson vs. Che Mills

Chad Griggs vs. Eric Prindle

John Makdessi vs. Popo Bezerra

Follow Rich Hansen on Twitter @MMATorchRich