UFC on FOX 14 came and went, and the insane Swedish night produced an entirety of 12 bouts, with seven of them ending inside the distance. All three Swedish fighters competing on the card suffered defeats, and a number of underdogs found themselves victorious. Now with the wild night of fights behind us, let’s take a look at a few potential match-ups for some of the competitors of the evening… Kenny Robertson vs Brian Ebersole Robertson just defeated promotional newcomer Sultan Aliev by first round knockout at last night’s UFC on FOX 14 in Sweden to pick up his third straight win inside the Octagon, following a unanimous decision over Ildemar Alcanara and a submission over Thiago Perpetuo, respectively. The Illinois native continues to impress fight to fight, and in this one, where many thought his best chance at victory would be a submission, he pulled out the one-punch knockout to end Aliev’s night. The Dagestani went for a spinning back kick, and Robertson countered with a hook that put him quick to sleep. It was an impressive outing for Robertson and fight fans look forward to his next. That’s where Brian Ebersole enters the picture. I think “Bad Boy” matches very well with Robertson stylistically, and if paired up against each other, I could see them putting on a very entertaining fight. I think that with both of these welterweights, it is a coin-flip as to whether their fight will be entertaining or boring, mostly depending on how they match-up against their opponents. In this case, I think the match-up has a much greater chance of proving to be entertaining than not. I would expect it to be a grappling-heavy scrap that sees some beautiful exchanges and reversals, seeing both fighters have their moments and surviving submissions for a closely contested three rounds of action that gets decided by the judges’ at Octagon-side. Ebersole last saw action at UFC 174 four months ago, where he snapped a two fight losing skid with a unanimous decision over veteran John Howard. I think Robertson vs Ebersole would be a great fit as part of either UFC Fight Night 63 in Virginia on April 4th or UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland on April 11th. Konstantin Erokhin vs Jared Cannonier Erokhin looked impressive early on in the first round of his bout against Viktor Pesta at last night’s UFC on FOX 14 in Sweden. After dropping bomb after bomb but failing to finish the Czech, fatigue began setting in and Pesta began to initiate the grappling, where he found himself enjoying a massive edge. It was more of the same for Pesta in the second and third rounds with his superior grappling, ultimately costing the promotional newcomer Erokhin a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. Another heavyweight who recently made his UFC debut and tasted defeat is Cannonier, who lost for the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career when he took on veteran Shawn Jordan at UFC 182 earlier this month, losing the bout by first round knockout. Now with both heavyweights looking to bounce back into the win column, I think it would make sense for them to be pitted against each other inside the Octagon. This is a fight I would like to see added to the UFC’s aforementioned trip to Poland this April for UFC Fight Night 64. Ryan Bader vs Rashad Evans I think this pairing makes a world of sense and would not be at all surprised to see it announced in the near future and booked for an upcoming fight card. Bader just took a closely contested split decision over Phil Davis in upset-fashion, and the win put him on a four fight winning streak. He has looked impressive in every fight, having dominated Anthony Perosh, Rafael Fejiao and Ovince St Preux, respectively. Davis has not seen action in over 14 months, last facing and defeating Chael Sonnen by first round TKO to put him on a two fight winning streak following a split decision win over Dan Henderson. He was recently linked to a match-up against Glover Teixeira, but the Brazilian pulled out due the injury and the bout was scrapped. I think this is where Bader will be entering the picture, and we will be seeing this fight headline an upcoming UFC Fight Night card, possibly for either UFC Fight Night 65 on May 15th or UFC Fight Night 66 on May 16th. Those cards will be on back to back nights, but the locations for either have yet to be announced. I think Bader vs Evans would be an excellent fight, and one I could see going either way. I will be happy to hear it announced for a booking, as it is one light heavyweight contest I wouldn’t want to miss. Phil Davis vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Davis just dropped a closely contested split decision to Ryan Bader at last night’s UFC on FOX 14 in Sweden, in a fight many scored for him. “Shogun” last saw action at UFC Fight Night 56 nearly three months ago, where he was knocked out by Ovince St Preux in the very first round of action. For an opportunity to get back into the win column, I think this match-up makes sense for both light heavyweights following their recent defeats. If Rua loses to Davis, it would put him on a three fight skid, and I think his next move would either be retirement or finally a drop down to the middleweight division, which is where Davis sent Machida with his razor-thin victory over the Brazilian. I think this bout would be a good fit as the co-main event for April’s UFC on FOX 15 in New Jersey, which will be headlined by a five round middleweight contest between Lyoto Machida and Luke Rockhold.
