UFC Fight Night 33 was a remarkably unpredictable event that produced one of the greatest match-ups in UFC history; arguably the best heavyweight fight of all time. After a solid night of upsets and exciting scraps, we look ahead to the future for potential match-ups… Krzyszstof Jotko vs Caio Magalhaes – Jotko was successful in his promotional debut, with a unanimous decision victory over Bruno Santos. Magalhaes also won a unanimous decision victory over Nick Ring this past weekend, which put him on a two fight win streak inside the Octagon. This is certainly not a fight any MMA fan is interested in seeing, as nobody really cares about either of these guys. That said, this fight does make some sense. They both have some momentum going for them, after their victories on Friday night. Magalhaes may believe he’s deserving of a higher ranked opponent, but I don’t have the same sentiments. I, like most who watched the fight, scored it 29-28 for Ring. I was surprised that not only did he win the fight, but he won it unanimously. Shogun Rua vs Ryan Bader: Shogun was victorious with a first round knockout victory over James Te Huna this past weekend, and now says he wants to stay in the light heavyweight division. Bader fought on the same card, dominating Anthony Perosh en route to a very convincing unanimous decision victory. I think this fight makes a lot of sense. Bader generally has an easy fight, and then takes a huge step up. This would be another one of those fights for him, except I think he may find more success against Shogun than he did against Machida. While not a fight that fans will go crazy over, it is an excellent pairing they wouldn’t dare miss. Anthony Perosh vs James Te Huna: This is the third pairing of fighters that competed this past weekend, and another one that makes plenty of sense. In a battle of New Zealander vs Australian, we will see which one of these Islanders belongs in the top 15 of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. If Perosh loses, I’m sure Joe Silva will throw another fight his way. Te Huna, however, would have his back against the wall, and a loss would likely result in him being released, as it would mark three in a row. Takeya Mizugaki vs Francisco Rivera: This would be an incredible bantamweight war, and perfectly fit for the Mexico card, should it happen. Mizugaki is coming off an exciting performance against Nam Phan this past Friday night which resulted in a unanimous 29-28 decision victory. The fight would have easily claimed the Fight of the Night award, had the heavyweight bout between Hunt and Bigfoot not been as jaw-dropping as it was. Mizugaki had Phan hurt in the opening frame of the fight, but Phan toughed it out and went on to win the third round. Rivera is coming off an incredible performance of his own, where he scored a very impressive second round knockout over George Roop. Squaring these two against one another will result in a war no self-respecting fight fan will want to miss. Nam Phan vs George Roop: I don’t know which fight I would rather see, this one or Mizugaki vs Rivera. This would be an incredibly entertaining stand-up battle that will almost but surely snatch the Fight of the Night bonus. I don’t see how it wouldn’t. Phan was unsuccessful this past weekend in his loss to Mizugaki, however his fight resulted in the fourth most attempted strikes in a fight in UFC history. The kicker: number one and number two are also Nam Phan fights. I have a feeling a fight against Roop, should it go the distance, would also crack the top ten, as they are both heavy volume strikers. Coming off of his loss to Rivera, I think this is a fight Roop could get excited for. I think that for however it lasts, (likely all three rounds, unless there is an incredible knockout) it will be an edge-of-your-seat exciting fight. If you’ve gotten this far in the article, then you’ve probably already left the page and are tweeting @ Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, begging them to fire Joe Silva and replace him with me.
