The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was live last night (Dec. 20, 2014) from Brazil with UFC Fight Night 58. From top to bottom, the card featured 12 bouts, including nine finishes. Now, after the entertaining night of scraps, let’s take a look at a few potential match-ups featuring some of the competitors of the evening… Lyoto Machida vs Luke Rockhold Rockhold was quick to ask Dana White for this match-up via Twitter following Machida’s impressive first round TKO win over CB Dollaway in the main event of last night’s event in Brazil. With the victory, Machida bounced back into the win column following his UFC 175 unanimous decision loss to UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman in his bid for the title. Rockhold last saw action at last month’s UFC Fight Night 55 in Australia, defeating Michael Bisping via guillotine choke submission in the second round of action. I think Machida vs Rockhold is the fight that makes the most sense as the next-move for both of these 185 pound athletes. They are both amongst the elite in the UFC’s middleweight division and I believe a fight between the two of them would do nothing but produce edge of your seat action. I have no doubt this would be an incredibly entertaining match-up between both men, and a battle no fight fan would dare miss. I am feeling confident UFC matchmaker Joe Silva will soon pit these two against each other, so I would not be surprised to hear the bout announced for a future fight card. CB Dollaway vs Michael Bisping Coming off his first round TKO loss to Lyoto Machida, Dollaway will be looking to get back into the win column and keep himself relevant in the UFC’s 185 pound rankings. Bisping is coming off his second round guillotine choke submission loss to Luke Rockhold and looking to do exactly the same. Since both are looking to return to prominence in the division, I think these two should square off against each other the next time they step foot inside the Octagon. Not only does this potential middleweight match-up make plenty of sense, but I think it is one that could also prove to be quite entertaining. This is another contest I would not at all be surprised to see booked for a future UFC fight card, and could see it either headlining or co-headlining an upcoming European card. Rashid Magomedov vs Winner of Norman Parke/Gleison Tibau Rashid Magomedov took on the undefeated Brazilian Elias Silverio and defeated him via third round TKO, with only three seconds remaining in the fight. In his next outing, I think he should face the winner of Norman Parke vs Gleison Tibau, who will be competing on the main card of next month’s UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. Magomedov, Parke and Tibau are all climbing up the UFC’s 155 pound rankings, and after Parke or Tibau is eliminated from the picture, I think a pairing of the other two would make great sense. I would like to see Magomedov face either Parke or Tibau, as I think each match-up will be entertaining in its own way. Mitch Gagnon vs Anthony Birchak Gagnon took on the biggest challenge of his professional mixed martial arts career in former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao, and after being outstruck in the first two rounds, he tapped to an arm triangle choke in the third and final round of action. While walking away with a loss, the French-Canadian is satisfied with his performance and looking to get back to action soon for an opportunity to get back into the win column. Enter: Anthony Birchak. The former King of the Cage bantamweight champion made his promotional debut on the preliminary card of UFC on FOX 13 in Phoenix earlier this month and was submitted by submission specialist Ian Entwistle in the very first round of action. It did not take long for Entwistle to get a hold of Birchak’s leg, and after Birchak successfully rolled and defended for a bit, the cage eventually kept him from further defending and he was forced to tap to a heel hook, giving Entwistle his third heel hook victory. I think Gagnon vs Birchak would make for an excellent match-up in the UFC’s bantamweight division and would like to see it on a future fight card. I think it would be a very entertaining bout for however long it lasts, and I would expect it to be a competitive one.
