UFC Fight Night 38 provided us with an entertaining Sunday evening, as there were many exciting fights and finishes, not to mention a ridiculous nine out of 11 underdogs winning. Now, with the fights behind us, let’s look ahead at some potential match-ups. Here’s what I’ve got in mind for some of the losers of the evening… “Super” Steven Siler vs Maximo Blanco – Siler was on the disappointing end of an early referee stoppage in past Sunday in Brazil. His opponent Rony Jason dropped him with punches, but Siler was not out. In fact, he was attacking with upkicks. No one argued the fact that it was a poor stoppage, but regardless, it left the featherweight out of Utah with back-to-back losses in his record. Blanco recently dropped a unanimous decision to Felipe Arantes, and he also looks to get back in the win column. I think this would make for a very fun featherweight scrap, and regardless of how long it lasts, I have no doubt it would be exciting. A definite Fight of the Night contender, I would be happy to see this fight on a future preliminary card. There would be a down-side, however, in that the loser would likely be receiving his pink-slip from the promotion. Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira vs Derek Brunson – “Mutante” just had his first taste of Octagon defeat this past Sunday in Brazil, as CB Dollaway stopped him with strikes less than a minute into the very first round of action. The Brazilian swarmed the American against the cage, but “The Doberman” displayed solid striking defense, and answered back with a three punch combination of this own that sent Ferreira down to the mat, where Dollaway followed him. “Mutante” tried to defend with upkicks, but “The Doberman” quickly got past his legs and began to rain down a barrage of punches that ultimately made the Brazilian wilt and forced the referee to step in and call off the action. It was a poor outing for the Blackzilian product who will certainly look to put together another win streak in the UFC’s middleweight division, and that is where Derek Brunson enters the picture. The Strikeforce veteran was doing well against Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero, as he took the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards. Unfortunately, the Cuban made a great comeback in the third frame, dropping Brunson with a jaw-breaking punch, and then following with elbows to the body on the mat that forced the refferee to stop the fight. Even in the loss, Brunson looked impressive and gained fans. He has looked good thus far in his Octagon career, and much like Ferreira, he will be looking to build another win streak. I think this would be a fantastic middleweight match-up, and I could definitely see it being on a main card, especially one that is held in Brazil. These are two middleweights where it would depend on who they are fighting for me to be interested in the fight, and with them paired up against each other, it is a match-up that would definitely have my interest. More than any other pairing in this “losers” article, this is the bout I would want to see made. Mairbek Taisumov vs Adriano Martins – It was clear that after watching Taisumov vs Prazeres on Sunday that the Chechnyan has not yet become accustomed to fighting inside a cage. He is used to fighting inside a ring, and likely does not even train inside a cage back home. We did not see that in his Octagon debut, because he was the one initiating the takedowns. Taisumov was one of many favorites on the card who failed to come through, losing via unanimous decision. Martins himself is coming off a disappointing loss, dropping a first round knockout to Donald Cerrone at UFC on FOX 10 two months ago. The Brazilian now looks to get back in the win column, as the loss snapped a six-fight winning streak which included victories over Daron Cruickshank and Jorge Gurgel, respectively. I think this is a lightweight match-up that makes plenty of sense, and I would not mind seeing it featured on an future UFC Fight Pass preliminary card. Francimar “Bodao” Barroso vs Anthony “The Hippo” Perosh – This is a match-up that pits together two light heavyweights who are each coming off losses, with Barroso just dropping a controversial split decision to Hans Stringer at UFC Fight Night 38 this past Sunday, and Perosh being dominated by Ryan Bader for a unanimous decision loss at UFC Fight Night 33 nearly four months ago. They will both be looking to bounce back from their losses, and I think they make for excellent opponents for one another. I could see this bout being featured in a future preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass, as it is a light heavyweight booking that would make sense to me. Barroso would have an advantage on the feet, but I could see this fight hitting the mat, and if it did, I think we would be in for some excellent grappling exchanges between two very talented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts.
