The storm is brewing down at 135 pounds. The veterans are probably jockeying for one final shot at Dominick Cruz, and then there's going to be an unfusion of young fighters in the next 18 months.
First Cruz has to successfully defend his title his this weekend against Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Versus 6. After that, who the heck knows.
Bloody Elbow did a nice job of listing some of the big fights upcoming in the bantamweight division. It looks like the winner of the UFC 139 fight between Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles will get the next shot at Cruz. Then there's these scheduled matchups:
Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen (UFC 137) - This is a big fight for Curran. The 34 year old veteran has fought everywhere - Pride, the UFC, WEC - and is 4-1 since leaving the WEC in 2009. A win here could move him right into title contention, largely because he would make a new name at the top. Jorgensen looked great in his last fight, and will hope for another spectacular finish here.
Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao (UFC 139) - Pickett has been out this year due to injury, but he's on a great 10-1 run that includes his claim as the only man to defeat Demetrious Johnson. A Pickett win here and a Johnson win would give Pickett a strong argument for a title shot. As for Berao, he lost his MMA debut, but in the 27 fights and over 6 years since that debut, he's never been defeated again. That's an impressive run.
On this list of future contenders posted by Bloody Elbow, who has the best chance of getting in line after Faber or Bowles? Here's our take:
Joe Benavidez: It seems unlikely that he'd get a third shot at Cruz and he's got to be a shoo-in as one of the first fighters to challenge for the new UFC 125-pound title coming in 2012.
Michael McDonald: He's 20 and will be brought along slowly. That said, in the next 18 months he has a chance to be where 22-year-old Rory McDonald is in the welterweight division and Anthony Pettis, 24, is at lightweight.
Miguel Torres - It looks like Torres has a long road back to contender status. Once 36-1, the 30-year-old veteran has lost 3-of-5 and may be stuck in the role of fighting some young guns for the next year or so. Up next is 24-year-old Nick Pace at UFC 139.
Takeyu Mizugaki - The Japanese slugger looked better than ever in destroying Cole Escovedo at UFC 135, but if he can't win a big fight he'll be stuck in the No. 5-10 range for the foreseeable future. Mizugaki is 0-4 against Faber, Torres, Jorgensen and Bowles.
BE points out nicely that no one should overlook Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter" either. The winner and runner-up from the TUF 14 Finale could be throw right into the mix with the veterans. That dude wins three or four fights coming out of the gates, and he'll be mentioned with the elite. There's some exciting things on the horizon at 135.
mastectomy space junk space junk gary johnson gary johnson rick santorum prime suspect
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন