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[Cat--Smasher]

Joe Silva’s Shoes: Who Should Be Next For The UFC 153 Winners?

Winner: Demian Maia
Who He Should Fight Next: Mike Pierce
Why They Should Fightemian Maia and Mike Pierce both picked up very impressive wins in their most recent outings as Maia quickly submitted Rick Story at UFC 153 while Pierce knocked Aaron Simpson silly at UFC on FX 5 a week earlier.

In a way, Pierce is a very similar to Story, who Maia just defeated. However, Pierce arguably possesses the better striking and wrestling game. Everyone is high on Maia after his performance at UFC 153, and even though he has looked like a force since moving to the welterweight division, he still needs one of two more fights in the weight class before sharing the cage with top-10 or top-5 opponents.

A win over Pierce moves Maia another step up the ladder while Pierce would have the chance to breakthrough against a strong name in the sport.

Winner: Phil Davis
Who He Should Fight Next: James Te Huna
Why They Should Fight:James Te Huna and Phil Davis are both coming off big wins at 205-pounds and considering each man’s place in the light heavyweight rankings, they seem to be on a collision course with one another. Te Huna prefers to keep his fights standing and slug it out while Davis utilizes his elite wrestling abilities to take his opponents down and work his ground-and-pound and/or submission.

The fight would be a test for both as Davis would be pitted against another dangerous striker while Te Huna would get a big step up in competition and, in a similar situation to Davis’ last opponent Wagner Prado, would have to prove he can defend against a high-level wrestler and work his striking.

Davis was dominant at UFC 153, but he should fight another mid-tier light heavyweight as throwing him in against another top-5 205-pounder would likely end in a lopsided loss like Davis’ defeat to Rashad Evans earlier this year. Let Davis get some more cage experience while at the same time providing Te Huna the opportunity to show how good he really is.

The only roadblock in his match up would be a Davis injury after his UFC 153 win but if both men are ready to go, this fight could happen in early 2013.

Winner: Jon Fitch
Who He Should Fight Next: Winner of Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5
Why They Should Fight:After a rough year, Jon Fitch got back on the radar in the UFC welterweight division by taking out highly-touted prospect Erick Silva at UFC 153. With the win, Fitch reasserts himself as one of the top contender at 170-pounds should compete in a significant bout next.

With a majority of the top-10 fighters in the division booked for fights, coming off of losses or on the sidelines with the injuries, Fitch may have to wait for a winner to emerge from a key bout in the welterweight division. There are few more significant fights in the 170-pound weight class than December’s UFC on FOX 5 match up between rising star Rory MacDonald and future “Hall-of-Fame” inductee BJ Penn.

The winner of the UFC on FOX 5 bout will be on a serious high and a match up with Fitch makes sense for a number of reasons. For Penn, fighting Fitch would mark a rematch of their UFC 127 bout that resulted in a controversial draw. A Fitch-MacDonald match up would give Fitch the chance to gain a victory over the training partner of Georges St-Pierre, a man who gave Fitch the worst beating of his career in 2008.

Fans are high on Fitch after his “Fight of the Night” winning effort at UFC 153 and it’s time to capitalize on his newfound popularity but putting him in a headlining bout.

Winner: Glover Teixeira
Who He Should Fight Next: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
Why They Should Fight:Glover Teixeira requested a bout with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson following his destruction of Fabio Maldonado at UFC 153 and quite frankly, the fight makes sense.

Teixeira and Jackson were scheduled to fight one another in Rio de Janeiro before “Rampage” withdrew from the bout with an elbow injury and was replaced by Maldonado. Even though Jackson is coming off back-to-back losses and Teixeira is on a 17-fight win-streak, they are both still contenders in the light heavyweight division and as the UFC has proven time and time before, wins and losses don’t always play a role in the matchmaking process.

There was a reason Teixeira and Jackson were matched up before – their styles mesh for a fantastic fight. “Rampage” wants and opponent who will strike with him and Teixeira is happy to oblige. Should the Brazilian defeat Jackson; he would be very close to a title fight. And should “Rampage” win and chose to remain with the UFC, he would remain one of the withstanding contenders at 205-pounds.

Winner: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Who He Should Fight Next: Cheick Kongo
Why They Should Fight:Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cheick Kongo were slated to fight one another at UFC 149 in July before Nogueira withdrew from the bout due to injury. Kongo picked up his 11th UFC victory when he defeated Nogueira’s replacement Shawn Jordan by unanimous decision. While Kongo’s effort in the fight was lackluster, he is still one of the most dangerous heavyweights on the UFC roster and a fight with Nogueira would be a good stylistic match up.

After Kongo’s last fight against Jordan, he needs to face an opponent that will push the pace and try to inflict damage, whether it is on the ground or standing. Nogueira fits the description. The Brazilian is a dangerous fight on the ground and feet and has shared the cage with the best of them.

Both men are on the tail end of their careers and this match up would gauge exactly where they both sit in the division.

Winner: Anderson Silva
Who He Should Fight Next: Georges St-Pierre
Why They Should Fight:The superfight mixed martial arts fans have been waiting years for is closer and closer to becoming a reality as just a few hurdles separate UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre from facing one another. The biggest of those hurdles of course is a man name Carlos Condit, the interim welterweight champion who meets St-Pierre in a title unification bout at UFC 154 on Nov. 17.

Should St-Pierre get past Condit at UFC 154, only money, a venue and a weight to meet at for the superfight stands in the way of the two pound-for-pound greats meeting in the cage.

Silva has made it very obvious that he wants to face St-Pierre next, but the French-Canadian has not been as forward about fighting Silva, understandably so because he has a tough challenge in Condit ahead of him.

UFC president Dana White said at the UFC 153 post-fight press conference that he will sit Silva and St-Pierre in a room and hammer out a deal to make the fight happen. When the UFC president is adamant about making a fight happen, a majority of the time it works out.

Joe Silva

[Y2JUBAE]

I like these, but I'd like to see Anderson go ahead and derail Diva Weidman so I don't have to see yet another article with him crying like he's some oppressed fighter with all of his 9 fights.

[Kimbo> Rampage]

Maia wins impressively.... and they should reward him with Mike Pierce of all people... no... just no...

Maia vs. Fitch would be nice... Although Fitch may have better fights available for him at this point...


It will be interesting to see how Marquardt does at WW in the UFC as well... Dana should bring him in when he is able to.

[Tyler Dirten]

Silva vs St. Pierre has to be the STUPIDEST fight I've ever heard of. Seriously people... it belongs in the days of Pride "open weight" fights.

For god's sake... Silva just PROVED that he has the size to compete with the LHW's. Bonnar is about as big as a 205er gets!

And now he wants to "challenge" himself by fighting a WW??!?

NOT impressive... and NOT something that makes me change my mind on how Anderson pretty shamelessly picks and chooses his fights.

No offense to the NUTHUGGERS... but the whole "anyone, anytime, anyplace" crap they were playing up in the promos to UFC 153... what a joke. Tell that to Weidman. Or better yet, to Bones.

If a champ wants to PROVE that he is the GREATEST... he moves UP in weight. NOT DOWN!

Plain and simple.

Just my two cents.

[tucker50]

Ya but the thing about that is, by the time he beats him, people will start talking about him needing to fight Bisping, Vitor, or who knows who else. Nobody has ever cleared out a division as thoroughly as Silva has. Eventually a fighter should get to the point where super fights get made, and if anyone is at that point its Silva.

[mmawolverine]

actually maybe anderson gsp is AS stupid as i used to think, i mean we saw how much daster anderson was against 205ers and his own 185 division why not see him face potentially someone faster? because he'll still be stronger than gsp i know but doesnt it seem plausible even by anderson's rationale that gsp stands a unique chance

id do maia vs any top 8 guy how bout alves
fitch vs kampman
bonnar retirement or loser of griffin/sonnen
big nog vs struve
herman vs barry/johnson
glover vs thiago silva
maldonado move down to 185 please
e. silva deflowered but comes back strong faces rick story

[Kimbo> Rampage]

Originally Posted by Tyler Dirten

If a champ wants to PROVE that he is the GREATEST... he moves UP in weight. NOT DOWN!

Plain and simple.

Just my two cents.

Why is this all about Anderson?.... What does Jones gain from "beating the smaller fighter"

and if GSP want to be the "GREATEST" then why doesnt he "he moves UP in weight."

[Bearded Big Country]

Originally Posted by mmawolverine

actually maybe anderson gsp is AS stupid as i used to think, i mean we saw how much daster anderson was against 205ers and his own 185 division why not see him face potentially someone faster? because he'll still be stronger than gsp i know but doesnt it seem plausible even by anderson's rationale that gsp stands a unique chance

id do maia vs any top 8 guy how bout alves
fitch vs kampman
bonnar retirement or loser of griffin/sonnen
big nog vs struve
herman vs barry/johnson
glover vs thiago silva
maldonado move down to 185 please
e. silva deflowered but comes back strong faces rick story

If Maldonado moves down... he must fight Leben.

[Tyler Dirten]

RESPONSE TO RAMPAGE 9712:

I agree with you bro... it's NOT all about Anderson.

But Anderson is calling out GSP... which to me is just nonsense.

But I agree with you...

GSP should be calling out Anderson... IF he wants to prove himself "the greatest". He shouldn't be calling out BEN HENDERSON. (And he's not)

Jones should be calling out JDS... IF he wants to prove himself "the greatest"... or challenge himself... He shouldn't be calling out SILVA. (And, he's not)

Silva should be calling out JONES.
Not GSP.

So I don't disagree with you... it's not "all about Anderson"...
But he seems to be the only one of the three who is clamoring for a fight with the SMALLER fighter... and ADAMANTLY refusing to fight the larger fighter.
That's not "great" to me.
It's just sorta lame.

BJ Penn is a great example... there's a fighter who CHALLENGED himself... and it sure wasn't by fighting SMALLER guys.
Silva could learn a thing or two.

Just my two cents.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Since when did moving up in weight equate to being the greatest?