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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
With so many fights over the last couple of weeks, we're breaking down the fantasy booking out of the events into three parts. For part one, CLICK HERE. Here's part two:
WELTERWEIGHTS
Rory MacDonald: After obliterating B.J. Penn, MacDonald is the newest member of the group that has 'it.' His next fight has been already determined, he will be fighting Carlos Condit at UFC 158. On the same card, George St-Pierre defends his title against #4 contender Nick Diaz (fresh off of a five fight win streak, I mean loss and drug suspension), and #1 contender Johny Hendricks gets his long awaited title shot against UFC champion Jake Ellenberger. OK, maybe that's not quite a factual statement. What am I, Wikipedia? If Diaz flakes, Hendricks will get GSP. If Diaz keeps his metabolite level in check, Hendricks will get a title shot when he shatters the jaw of his opponent, The Poor Man's Johny Hendricks. So what of MacDonald? One can only presume that the winner of MacDonald vs. Condit 2 will face the winner of Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia with the winner of that de facto tournament getting the title shot after Hendricks.
Matt Brown: A fight with Dan Hardy seems inevitable. Here's hoping Joe Silva agrees. Brown and Hardy are both marketable to be worth investing in, and the winner of a Brown vs. Hardy fight will have enough momentum behind them to earn a push.
Mike Pierce: Mike Pierce is really good at making good fighters look really bad. Seth Baczynski had steam behind him... until he ran into Mike Pierce. Pierce is a nightmare draw for any welterweight. Either he's going to beat you and make you look useless in the process, or you're going to beat him in a manner that doesn't inspire shock and awe. Josh Koscheck eked out a split decision victory in what was Koscheck's least impressive victory in the UFC. Johny Hendricks also earned a split over Pierce, and not many people who saw Hendricks in that fight saw future championship material that night. And Jon Fitch, well, Jon Fitch Jon Fitched him in Fitchcockain style.
A lot of people are calling for Pierce to face Mike Pyle next. It makes some sense, I suppose. Both guys are under the radar, ranked about the same, on winning streaks, and both fought last weekend. But really, I don't want to see Pierce fight against anyone I like or anyone exciting because, well, re-read the last paragraph. If a Pierce fight is going to be tedious, then put him in against someone who is unlikely to put on a barnburner against someone else.
My choice: Pierce vs. John Hathaway. Sorry, Danny Moore.
Mike Pyle: So if Pyle isn't going to fight Pierce, who's left? GSP, Hendricks, Condit, Marquardt, Diaz, Ellenberger, Maia, MacDonald, Fitch, and Bahadurzada are all booked. Martin Kampmann is coming off of a loss, as well as a serious KO. There's only one guy left who is at or around Pyle's league.
My choice: Pyle vs. Josh Koscheck This might not please Koscheck, since he only calls out guys in the top 5. But anything that can piss off Josh Koscheck has my full support.
T.J. Waldburger vs. Kyle Noke. Just because.
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Dennis Siver Last week, Jamie Penick, Matt Pelkey, and I discussed who could be next for Dennis Siver, and not one of us came up with Cub Swanson. A day later, Dennis Siver vs. Cub Swanson was booked by the UFC. Score this one for Sean Shelby, because that fight is going to be awesome.
Chad Mendes: And this is where it gets sketchy. The great unknown here is trying to figure out what the powers that be think of Chad Mendes. Do they think he's a fight away from another title shot? If so, why was his first fight after the Aldo fight against Cody McKenzie? And then after beating McKenzie, he was booked into a very dangerous fight with Hacran Dias. A win over Dias would not have helped Mendes nearly much as a loss would have harmed him. So, it sure seems that the UFC doesn't want Mendes anywhere near Aldo anytime soon.
A lot of names come to mind for Mendes' next fight. Maybe they reschedule his aforementioned fight with Hacran Dias. Maybe they put him in against Dustin Poirier. That would be a wonderful fight, but again, if Zuffa thinks highly of Poirier and not Mendes, would they put Poirier in that position? Maybe a fight with the winner of Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas could be next, but not likely if in fact that fight's winner is getting the next title shot. Or maybe they really do think highly of Mendes, in which case, a fight with Chan Sung Jung in a title eliminator will be next.
My choice: Mendes vs. Hacran Dias. I think they're going to keep Mendes in a holding pattern and try to put some other guys in front of him.
Dustin Poirier: Poirier is just as hard to decipher as Mendes. Poirier was certainly on the fast track until Chan Sung Jung choked him out earlier this year. Featherweight is loaded at the moment, so the UFC has a lot of ways they can go with this division.
A fight with Chad Mendes could be next. The winner of that fight would announce himself as a major player in the division, and the loser would be young enough to recover with a couple victories. Poirier could face off against the winner of the upcoming Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz fight. A fight with the dangerous Robert Peralta could make a lot of sense too. If the UFC doesn't feel fully confident in pushing Poirier, then a fight with Peralta would follow the same template as booking Chad Mendes against Hacran Dias.
My choice: Poirier vs. Robert Peralta That manure would be bananas. B A N A N A S. I try to keep my pop cultural references as dated as possible.
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/richhansen/article_15367.shtml
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