The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Vancouver, B.C., Canada for UFC on FOX 21: Maia vs Condit and delivered a solid night of scraps that saw 50% of them end inside the distance. Following the night of entertaining action, let’s take a look at a few potential match-ups featuring some of the competitors from the evening… Anthony “Showtime” Pettis vs Cub Swanson Pettis made his featherweight debut in the co-main event for UFC on FOX 21, taking on Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira and defeating the Brazilian submission ace via third round guillotine choke submission. “Showtime” showed serious fatigue for the first time in his UFC career, which could have been a result of him emptying his gas tank trying to finish Oliveira in the opening frame, after hurting him with a series of heavy kicks to the body. For his second Octagon outing at 145-pounds, I would be interested in seeing Pettis take on Swanson, who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Japanese veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri. I think Pettis vs Swanson would be an excellent match-up in the UFC’s featherweight division and would be another great test for “Showtime” at 145-pounds. He got past the submission ace, so I think it would make sense to give him the heavy handed striker next. I think this potential featherweight showdown would be a great fit as either the main or co-main event for December’s UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, NY. Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira vs Andre “Touchy” Fili After dropping a third round guillotine choke submission loss to former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, I would like to see Oliveira take on Team Alpha Male product Fili. Despite the fact that Oliveira is ranked and Fili isn’t, I think it would make for a fantastic matc-up and is a fight that makes sense, especially considering just about everybody who is ranked is already booked. Fili is coming off a second round knockout loss to Yair Rodriguez and will be looking to get back into the win column. I think this potential 145-pound scrap would be a solid fit for the main card of November’s UFC Fight Night 100 in Brazil. Paige VanZant vs Cortney Casey I think this would be a ridiculously fun pairing in the UFC’s strawweight division, with VanZant coming off a second round knockout of Bec Rawlings and Casey scoring a first round armbar submission over Randa Markos in her most recent outing inside the Octagon. I think VanZant vs Casey is a scrap that fight fans would look forward to, and it is one that makes sense in the UFC’s razor-thin women’s 115-pound division. I believe it would be a good fit for the FOX Sports 1 preliminary card to November’s UFC 205 in New York City. Jim Miller vs Scott Holtzman Miller made it two in a row for himself inside the Octagon this past Saturday night with a split decision win over Joe Lauzon. Most scored the contest for Lauzon, but two out of three judges’ at Octagon-side felt Miller’s offense on the feet and shutting Lauzon down off his back warranted him the victory. It was an incredible rematch of a fight that earned ‘Fight of the Night’ and ultimately ‘Fight of the Year’ honors, and this one also took home ‘Fight of the Night’ but unfortunately will not be ‘Fight of the Year’ this year, considering all the great wars we have experienced, including the Diaz vs McGregor rematch just a week prior. Now with back to back victories over veterans Takanori Gomi and Joe Lauzon, I would like to see Miller take on surging prospect Holtzman, who trains out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, AZ and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Cody Pfister. I think this would be a solid “old school vs new school” match-up in the UFC’s lightweight division and think it would be a good fit for the Fight Pass prelims to the aforementioned UFC 206 at Madisn Square Garden this November.
