The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in Kansas City, MO for the first time in promotional history last Saturday (April 15, 2017) with UFC on FOX 24: Johnson vs. Reis. It was an entertaining night of action that saw six of 13 bouts end inside the distance, and with the scraps now in our rear view, let’s take a look at some potential matchups featuring a few of the competitors…
Demetrious Johnson vs. Winner of Benavidez/Nguyen
“Mighty Mouse” made it 10 successful UFC flyweight title defenses for himself inside the Octagon, defeating decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Wilson Reis via third-round armbar submission. He tied Anderson Silva’s UFC middleweight title defense record with the victory, and for his next Octagon outing, he will be looking to break it. I think it would only be fair to attempt to break it against the clear cut No. 1 contender in the division, Joseph Benavidez, or Ben Nguyen, if the latter is able to get his hand raised in that matchup. Benavidez has long deserved another crack at the gold, and I don’t think it would be fair to allow Johnson to break the record against anyone but Benavidez, should he come out on top against Nguyen, which a majority of fight fans expect him to do.
Rose Namajunas vs. Loser of JJ/Andrade title fight
“Thug Rose” returned to the win column with a second-round rear-naked choke submission win over Michelle Waterson, and she indeed impressed many with her slick performance. She bested Waterson both on the feet and on the mat en route to scoring the submission victory, which was started off with a phenomenal head-kick. Namajunas is calling for a title shot following the victory, but I think it is too quick to grant her one, as she lost her previous fight. While I don’t think she deserves a title shot at this point, I think it would make sense to see her take on the loser of the upcoming title fight for a potential No. 1 contender bout.
Robert Whittaker vs. Gegard Mousasi
Whittaker surprised many with his second-round TKO of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and cemented his status as one of the elite in the UFC’s middleweight division. The win puts him at seven straight inside the Octagon and six in a row at 185 pounds, with four of those wins coming via T/KO. For his next outing, I would like to see the Kiwi take on the veteran Mousasi, who is coming off a second-round TKO victory over Chris Weidman and enjoys a five-fight winning streak inside the Octagon, with four victories coming by way of T/KO finish. I think Whittaker versus Mousasi would make for an excellent matchup in the UFC’s 185-pound division, and I would love to see it booked for a future fight card, as a potential No. 1 contender bout. Behind Yoel Romeo, I believe these two are next in line for a shot at the gold, and there’s no better way of deciding which one of them gets that shot than having them square off. I think this potential clash of elite middleweights would be a great fit as either the main or co-main event for August’s UFC 214 in Anaheim, CA., which would give the Armenian Mousasi somewhat of a home advantage, as he has many friends, family and fans in Southern California.
