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With Alistair Overeem's loss at UFC 156 throwing the heavyweight title picture into upheaval, which fights in the top of the division should happen next? (I.e. who should fight Velasquez, which other fights should be made amongst the top ten?)
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Heavyweight is a total clusterf*** now, so let's all take a minute to thank Alistair Overeem's overriding smugness. Seriously, so much smug comes from this man that even George Clooney is saying, "Damn. That's a lot of smug."
There is only one guy I want to see fight Cain Velasquez, and that's Daniel Cormier. Of course, Velasquez has ingratiated himself to Cormier so much that Cormier is calling out Jon Jones, kidneys be damned. I have zero interest in Cain vs. JDS, at least not until the end of 2014 or so. I already saw how Cain vs. Antonio Silva played out once, and it's going ot be the same every time. You could make a case for Fabricio Werdum to fight Cain next, even though it would be legalized murder, but he's tied up with TUF Brazil, buying him a stay of execution.
If Frank Mir beats Daniel Cormier in April (yeah, that's gonna happen), then he's the next guy up. Frank Mir is fast becoming Urijah Faber; constantly getting high-profile fights he can't win. But if (when) Cormier eviscerates Mir and refuses to man up and fight his training partner, then I swear to god the next best HWs are Struve, Hunt, Nelson, and Barnett. So there's no fight to make but Cain vs. Cormier. And if they refuse to fight each other, I strip Cain and never let Cain or Cormier fight anywhere but on Facebook. Before the doors to the arena open, ala Mick Foley vs. The Rock.
Other big fights to make are, of course, JDS vs. Overeem; Bigfoot vs. Barnett; and assuming Hunt can beat Struve, Hunt vs. Nelson.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Quite frankly, there is no good answer here. The heavyweight division is so thin that there isn't a good choice to face Cain. Junior Dos Santos just lost to Cain in pretty decisive fashion, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva lost to Cain the fight before that. Daniel Cormier won't fight Cain because they're friends.
Honestly, the only real move they could make would be to bring in Josh Barnett to fight Cain while they have JDS fight Bigfoot or something. I don't know what you do with Overeem, I guess they could move Roy Nelson in to fight him.
With the way the UFC is, I would only be slightly surprised if they announced that Chael Sonnen was going to fight Cain for the UFC Heavyweight title.
TONY BECERRA, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Although impressive Saturday night, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is still one more fight away from a rematch with Cain Velasquez. Possibly against the winner of Mir/Cormier or welcoming back Josh Barnett to the Octagon, if he indeed returns to the UFC. As far as “The Demolition Man” is considered, I like Overeem vs the loser of the Mir-Cormier fight. For Cain Velasquez, lets make that rubber match against Dos Santos happen!
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
If Cormier gets by Mir in April then Cormier should get Velasquez next. But, of course, they don't want to fight each other. JDS and Overeem would be a hugely successful and highly entertaining fight if the UFC can make it. Bigfoot Silva should fight whoever wins this June when Fabricio Werdum fights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. After looking at it this way, it is still surprising how shallow the heavyweight division is today.
DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR
Man did Overeem losing really mess up this division. They really don't have anyone suitable to face Cain Velasquez now, after the big Dutchman went and got himself knocked out. Who the hell wants to see Silva vs. Velasquez so soon after their one sided fight last year? Good luck trying to sell that one.
Cormier is tied up with Mir but doesn't want to fight his pal anyway. Nelson is booked to fight Kongo (could have been a decent stop gap). Werdum is booked for TUF Brazil. dos Santos won't get an immediate rematch. So, hear me out, why not give the shot to the winner of the Struve vs. Hunt fight next month. They have four and three fight win streaks respectively and neither of them has a previous loss to Velasquez on their record. It's either that or give an immediate shot to Josh Barnett; the man Dana White loves like a son!
[Cain Velasquez art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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