The UFC entered 2017 with a rather lacklustre limp on Sunday in Phoenix. The majority of the best fights came on the Fight Pass portion of the card, with the fight of the night being on the prelims. The main card was a decision-fest until Yair Rodriguez ruthlessly put away B.J. Penn.
After each card this year I’m going to follow the tried and tested Sliva/Shelby model for making fights. Matching winners with winners and losers with losers. Fights that make sense and would be f–king awesome to watch.
Fights That Make Sense after UFC Phoenix
Yair Rodriguez
Let’s be totally honest here, Rodriguez gains nothing from this fight at UFC Phoenix. He KO’d a 38-year-old man who hadn’t fought in two and a half years. Yeah it’s a legend and it’s a nice feather in his cap, but if he lost or didn’t finish him it would have been a massive disappointment and setback for the young Mexican.
But he did what he had to do in a very impressive way. SO going forward what is next for the 24-year-old? A part of me really, really wants to see him fight Brian Ortega because I’d love to see how Rodriguez would react to Ortega trying to tie him up and I would love to see how Ortega reacts to all the crazy shit “El Pantera” throws at him.
But the fight to make for me is Cub Swanson. Off the back of one of the best matches ever, Swanson has already smashed one prospect in Doo Ho Choi and beating another on the way to a title shot would be a good step. Plus it’d be an absolutely bonkers fight between two guys who throw out all sort of crazy stuff.
B.J. Penn
He needs to retire for good now, coming back was a mistake. He has done it all in the UFC, he’s a two division champ, a Hall of Famer and one of the best of all time. If he is set on returning there’s one fight I really want to see and that’s Dan Hardy at 155 pounds.
Hardy wants to come back and fight legends. They don’t come bigger than the man who made the Lightweight division what it is. A good fight for the fans between two legends of the game.
Joe Lauzon
Lauzon didn’t deserve to win that fight and he had the good grace to say as much afterwards as well. But win he did and now there is one fight that I sincerely want to see for a man on the brink of the top 15 and that’s Gilbert Melendez.
The #12 ranked Lightweight is 1-4 in the UFC and has lost his last three in a row. A fight with Lauzon could pull him out of the skid, but it’s no easy task. Lauzon is a game fighter and a win over Melendez would put him into the top 15 while possibly giving Melendez his marching orders.
Ben Saunders
It wasn’t pretty, but Killa B got the job done over a game Court McGee much to the dismay of the rest of my wonderful colleagues who picked McGee at UFC Phoenix. Mainly because it means I’m winning the predictions leaderboard one round in. Now on to matching “Killa B” up.
After a chat with the resident Scot and future podcast co-host Stuart Rodger there is one fight for the 33-year-old. Colby Covington is on a three fight win streak and his wrestling heavy style will make for a very exciting fight with Saunders’s crazy jiu-jitsu game off his back. A perfect fight for one of the up coming PPV’s.
Sergio Pettis
Sergio Pettis is on a damn impressive run of late. Wins over former title challengers John Moraga (at UFC Fight Night 103), Chris Cariaso as well as Chris Kelades is starting to show that “The Phenom” is starting to step up to the plate. The win over Moraga was the prefect blend of striking and takedowns.
The issue now is who do you give him. Wilson Reis is booked, Henry Cejudo and Kyoji Horiguchi should be next on the radar for both men. Ian McCall is booked. That leaves the man he was supposed to be fighting, Jussier Formiga as the only man in the top five not beaten by the champ. A win for Pettis would probably get him a title shot. Pitch the two together and let him face the winner of Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez.
Do you agree with Sean’s ‘Fights That Make Sense’ after UFC Phoenix? Leave a comment or get in tough at @MMAPlus.
