UFC 142: What's Next for Jose Aldo and the Other Main Card Winners?
E. Spencer Kyte
Updated: January 16, 2012 12:01 AM PST
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Who should be next to face UFC 142 winners like Jose Aldo and Vitor Belfort? E. Spencer Kyte plays matchmaker in the latest offering from Keyboard Kimura.
Shortly after the dust settled in Rio de Janeiro, a familiar question started to be asked — "Who's Next?"
With UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo having dispatched previously undefeated challenger Chad Mendes in explosive fashion on Saturday night, talks quickly turned to who the dynamic Brazilian would next face inside the Octagon.
The possible answers might surprise you.
Next Opponent: Frankie Edgar or Bart Palaszewski/Hatsu Hioki Winner
If we're just going for a conventional, "here's the next in line guy" in the featherweight division, it should be the winner of the UFC 144 battle between Palaszewski and Hioki. "Bartimus" was impressive in his divisional debut, stopping Tyson Griffin at UFC 137 in October. While Hioki's victory on the same card was a little questionable, he's been a top-ranked '45 for quite some time, and a win over Palaszewski should put him opposite Aldo.
However… the cooler, more intriguing option is Edgar, the UFC lightweight champion. Actually, there are a couple scenarios that could play out here:
1) Aldo vacates the featherweight title, moves to '55, and immediately faces Edgar for the belt, provided Edgar defeats Benson Henderson in February.
2) Edgar and Aldo meet in a "Champion vs. Champion" catchweight of 150-pounds.
3) Edgar loses to Henderson, drops to '45, and gets a title shot right away on the strength of his lightweight run.
Of those three, I like #2 the least because catchweight fights leave a divisional champion coming off a loss. I'd rather see either of the champions change addresses, and think Edgar coming down to '45 makes more sense than Aldo going up. It would give the other contenders in the featherweight division some time to sort themselves out, makes for a pretty solid bout that could easily headline a future event, and allows Aldo to stay where I think he is best suited.
Next Opponent: Wanderlei Silva
We already knew this one was in the books heading into Saturday night's event.
Belfort will coach TUF Brazil opposite "The Axe Murderer" with the two Brazilian MMA legends to square off in the spring or summer when the show comes to an end. It is a great match-up for Belfort, who will enter the bout on a two-fight winning streak, and possesses the speed and power to present all kind of problems for Silva. While Wand is still dangerous, he's not the same lethal knockout artist he used to be, and he doesn't take punches the way he used to either.
It's a long way off, but if Belfort can push his winning streak to three with an impressive finish of Silva, he could put himself back in line for a title shot.
Rousimar Palhares
Next Opponent: Michael Bisping/Demian Maia Winner
The winner of the Chael Sonnen-Mark Munoz fight that follows this middleweight pairing on the FOX show later this month should be next in line for Anderson Silva, which means the winner of this one will need another fight — or suffer an extended stay on the sidelines.
We've seen Palhares rip through middle tier competition time and again, but he's struggled in his two trips up the competitive ladder. He's an extremely dangerous submission fighter, and it's time to figure out once and for all if he's got any top of the food chain potential or not.
Pairing him with the winner of the Bisping/Maia bout works on all fronts. Whoever emerges from that fight gets a solid opponent that keeps them in line for a title shot should they win, while Palhares takes their place if he snatches up their leg and forces them to tap.
Carlo Prater
Next Opponent: Luis Ramos
Prater walked into a buzzsaw on Saturday night, and regardless of the final verdict, it was clear that he isn't capable of hanging with top of the line talent. He did the UFC a solid by taking the fight with Erick Silva on short notice, and while he has a win on his resume, I'm sure it doesn't feel that way today.
Pairing him with Silva's other victim gives Prater a fight that is more his speed, allowing him the opportunity to collect a victory in the Octagon through his skills, not a referee's decision.
Next Opponent: Winner Jake Hecht/TJ Waldburger
The UFC is treating Silva's performance Saturday night as a win, so I am too.
There are going to be people who think you push Silva at this point — set him up with a solid veteran somewhere a main card and see what he can do — but I don't see the point in that; not right now. The division is top heavy and muddled, so why not draw in the reins a little, get him back in the cage, and allow him to continue building with less risk?
Hecht looked good in his debut win over Rich Attonito, and Waldburger looked great subbing out Mike Stumpf back in the fall. Whoever wins is on a two-fight winning streak and in need of a step up in competition, the same position the UFC sees Silva in right now. Throwing him in with the likes of Brian Ebersole or Mike Pyle at this points puts him in against the best if he wins, and there is no need to rush him along at this point.
I say build Silva slowly over the remainder of this year, assessing things after each fight. If he keeps trucking guys, keep moving him up the ladder. As bad as some people feel his DQ loss is, a no questions asked defeat to a vet would be far worse for him at this point.
Next Opponent: Gleison Tibau
It's time to see just how good Barboza's takedown defense really is.
Tibau is a veteran powerhouse who can press the action, turn the fight into a grind, and give us a clearer indication of where Barboza's ceiling sits after his Knockout of the Year finish of Terry Etim at UFC 142. After four wins against opponents who were willing to stand-and-trade with him and not really strong enough grapplers/wrestlers to chance the location of the fight when they tried, Barboza needs to show he can get through a solid grappler before moving further up the ladder.
With three straight wins and victories in seven of his last nine fights, Tibau has the right kind of resume to be a suitable dance partner for the explosive Muay Thai specialist; his last two losses came to Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard. This is also a great opportunity for Tibau to take the next step forward, as adding a win over Barboza to his current run would vault him higher in the rankings than he's ever been in his career.
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