Anthony Pettis
UFC 181 was one of the organization’s strongest events this year, and it certainly lived up to expectations.
Robbie Lawler’s (25-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) long pursuit of a UFC belt was completed when he edged Johny Hendricks (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) by split decision after five rounds in the welterweight championship headliner.
The co-main event at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center saw Anthony Pettis (18-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) make his long-awaited return to the octagon and pick up his first title defense, which came against No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez (22-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
While the two championship fights topped the pay-per-view card, just below were three key victories by Travis Browne (17-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC), Todd Duffee (9-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Tony Ferguson (17-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC).
After every event, fans wonder whom the winners will be matched up with next. And with another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Joe Silva’s and Sean Shelby’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker.
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Tony Ferguson
Jorge Masvidal
Should fight: Jorge Masvidal
Why they should fight: With wins in seven of his eight UFC appearances, Ferguson has displayed the talents of a legitimate contender and is going to be a tough draw for anyone in the lightweight division.
While he was forced into some trouble early in the fight, Ferguson remained focused and ultimately pulled off a second-round submission win over Abel Trujillo.
“El Cucey” showed some flaws in his game, including a willingness to absorb damage from bottom position, but his offensive pressure made up for those shortcomings.
Another fighter who knows a thing or two about offensive pressure is Masvidal (28-8 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Both men are in roughly the same position in the weight class and have the styles to make an entertaining fight.
Masvidal is one of the division’s most well-rounded fighters, and, like Ferguson, he’s only had one hiccup in his career under the UFC banner. While Ferguson and Masvidal have had largely smooth runs in the UFC, one man would finally face some turbulence in the form of a defeat.
Todd Duffee
Soa Palelei
Should fight: Soa Palelei
Why they should fight: After nearly two years away from competition due to health issues, Duffee returned with a vengeance to knock out Anthony Hamilton just 33 seconds into their heavyweight bout.
Duffee has needed less than three minutes of cage time to earn all three of his UFC victories. He’s clearly a force with real potential, but he needs to fight more frequently if he wants to build any momentum.
If Duffee can stay healthy, a matchup with Palelei (22-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) would help the winner take another step up in a wide-open heavyweight division that’s begging for new contenders.
Duffee and Palelei have a combined 31 pro victories and have earned all of those wins by some form of stoppage. While anything can happen in MMA, there’s a high probability that the 100 percent finish rate would continue regardless of who emerged on top.
Travis Browne
Junior Dos Santos
Should fight: Winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 13
Why they should fight: Not much separates Browne from a UFC heavyweight title shot, especially after “Hapa” made easy work of Brendan Schaub to rebound from one-sided loss to Fabricio Werdum earlier this year.
Currently No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, only four fighters – Cain Velasquez, Dos Santos, Werdum and Mark Hunt – stand between Browne and the top spot.
That narrows his options, especially when Werdum and Velasquez are booked to fight each other for the unified heavyweight title while Hunt is coming off a loss.
That leaves Dos Santos (16-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who meets Stipe Miocic (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on FOX 13 headliner in Phoenix. While the winner of that fight, in particular Miocic, would be very close to a title shot, the fact Velasquez and Werdum won’t fight until mid-2015 means another fight will be in order.
As far as rankings and the divisional layout are concerned, no one other than the winner of Dos Santos and Miocic make sense for Browne’s future.
Anthony Pettis
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Should fight: Khabib Nurmagomedov
Why they should fight: Pettis wants to make up for lost time with an active schedule in 2015. That shouldn’t be a problem since a number of fighters in the loaded lightweight division are on the cusp of a title fight.
The most likely contender seems to be Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who has been hounding “Showtime” for the past several months. The undefeated Russian believes Pettis is “scared” to fight him and claims his sambo-based fighting style would cause serious problems for the champion.
Nurmagomedov crashed the post-UFC 181 press conference and pleaded his case for an opportunity to challenge Pettis following the champs win over Melendez. The champion agreed, so now it comes down to whether UFC officials see “The Eagle” as the most deserving contender.
With a flawless record to his name that doesn’t feature a single lost round in the octagon, Nurmagomedov is the rightful candidate.
Robbie Lawler
Rory MacDonald
Should fight: Hendricks or Rory MacDonald
Why they should fight: Lawler’s journey to a UFC belt is one of the best stories in MMA’s young history. But if “Ruthless” thought the road to capturing the 170-pound title was difficult, he’s about to find out that hanging on to the strap is an even bigger challenge.
The belt hasn’t been around Lawler’s waist that long, and already there’s a heated discussion over who will be the first to challenge the newly crowned UFC titleholder.
Prior to UFC 181, MacDonald’s (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) position as No. 1 contender seemed set in stone. Following another extremely competitive five-round fight with Hendricks, though, UFC President Dana White said a trilogy fight between Lawler and “Bigg Rigg” could be next.
Despite debate over the decision, there’s no denying Lawler vs. Hendricks II was an extremely close fight that could have gone either way. Add that to the fact Hendricks won the first fight in March, and there’s a lot of ammunition in favor of a third contest.
Whether it’s Hendricks again or MacDonald who finally receives his championship opportunity, either would offer Lawler a stern test in his first title defense.
For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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MMAjunkie’s John Morgan breaks down UFC 181’s main event between Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks
MMAjunkie’s Ben Fowlkes breaks down UFC 181’s co-main event between Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez:
