By Michael Owens
Ben Henderson – This should have been a really easy segment to write. Had Josh Thompson correctly been awarded the victory, a fight for the title against Anthony Pettis would have been the clear choice. However, as Bendo went and used his mystical mind-control powers on two of the three judges for the fourth time in his last six UFC fights, Pettis will have to find someone else to fight.
No-one is particularly interested in seeing Henderson fight ‘Showtime’ again yet. Two humiliating defeats in WEC and UFC title fights mean ‘Smooth’ will have to put together a strong campaign of about four or five wins in a row for that. He could be in with a shout of a title shot if Pettis loses his title, but the Milwaukee native is likely to be a handy favourite against just about every 155 pounder out there. It would be pointless to match Henderson with someone unranked, but Joe Silva and Sean Shelby will not want him knocking off promising contenders either. I would suggest booking a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russian has had trouble getting a fight and he has no star power to be risked with a loss. On the other hand, a win over Henderson could give him that pus into the big leagues. A win for Henderson and he’s a win over a contender closer to the gold. A win-win for the UFC… unless it’’s another controversial split decision.
Stipe Miocic – That’s two wins in a row over top-15 fighters for the firefighting heavyweight, taking his record to 5-1 overall in the UFC. Despite that, he’s still some way off the title discussion. Skill level aside, he still has his loss to Stefan Struve hanging uncomfortably over his head and he has never beaten a top-10 fighter. His progression demands a fight against another top-tenner coming off a win to remedy that.
This quandary could be easily solved in just a week’s time. Give Miocic the winner of the Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem fight this coming Saturday at UFC 169. Both are big names and would be a tough test either on the mat or standing up for the Croatian-American.
Donald Cerrone – ‘Cowboy’ looks set to move back into that dependable role he occupied in 2012, taking a lot of fights against anyone the UFC matchmakers put in front of him and looking pretty good whilst doing it. He’s nowhere near the title yet though. He’ll need a few more wins to re-enter that conversation after falling to defeats against four of the UFC’s top seven in the last few years.
Cerrone said he was up for a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in the post-fight press conference, which could work, but I’d like to see him take on Jim Miller. He’s another fighter in a similar position in the division – losses against a few of the top guys but undeniably talented and more skilled than 90% of the other fighters out there. He’s only ranked one place behind him, he’s coming off a win and he’s almost always involved in exciting fights.
Jeremy Stephens – Who’d have thought Lil’ Heathen would have become a top-10 fighter after a three-fight losing streak and some well-publicised legal issues? Lo and behold, after a drop to 145 pounds, a switch in camps to Alliance and a three-fight winning streak that includes an explosive head-kick KO in Brazil and last night’s shutdown of #10 featherweight Darren Elkins, he’s up there in that conversation.
It would only make sense to match Stephens on another ranked featherweight with an upward trajectory. Dennis Siver is the ideal candidate. A win for either man would push their career onwards and upwards and they both like to swing leather and bone at other people’s heads with frequency and velocity. That’s a fight-of-the-night contender right there.
