The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back in London, England last Saturday (March 18, 2017) for UFC Fight Night 107: Anderson vs. Manuwa. It was an interesting night of scraps that saw only four of 11 bouts end inside the distance. The night of scraps is now in our rear view, so let’s take a look at some potential matchups featuring a few of the less fortunate competitors… Corey Anderson vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Anderson suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Jimi Manuwa in his first career UFC main event bout and will be looking to bounce back into the win column his next time out. A bout that makes sense for his next outing is one against the veteran Lil’ Nog, who is coming off a third-round TKO loss against Ryan Bader. This seems like a new school versus old school matchup the UFC would make, and if Nogueira is still sticking around, I could see the promotion putting this one together. I think this potential light heavyweight contest would be a solid fit for the Fight Pass headliner for July’s UFC 213 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas. Vicente Luque vs. Tim Means Luque came up short in a unanimous-decision loss to England’s Leon Edwards on enemy soil in London, which snapped an impressive four-fight winning streak for the Brazilian. In order to get back in the win column, I would like to see him take on Means in a welterweight barn-burner. Means is coming off a second-round rear-naked choke loss to Alex Oliveira and is also looking to find himself back in the win column at 170 pounds. Stylistically, I think this pair would produce a very entertaining scrap, and one that has a good chance of ending inside the distance. I think this potential bout would be a great fit for the televised preliminary card of the aforementioned UFC 213 this July. Makwan Amirkhani vs. Gray Maynard Amirkhani lost a hard-fought split decision to Arnold Allen this past weekend and will be looking to bounce back into the win column his next time out. I would like to see him take on a veteran for the first time in his UFC career, and one that comes to mind for another new school versus old school matchup is TUF 5 veteran and former UFC lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard, who is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Ryan Hall. I think this makes for an interesting potential pairing in the UFC’s featherweight division. Amirkhani and Maynard are both talented wrestlers, but it is Maynard who would have the advantage on the feet in this contest, although one good shot from Amirkhani could change the tune. I think this potential 145-pound showdown would be a good fit for the main card to July’s UFC Fight Night in Glasgow.
