The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to Dallas Saturday night (Mar. 14, 2015) with UFC 185, producing an incredible night of action that saw two titles change hands. Now with the show behind us, there are a few potential match-ups I would like to see featuring some of the competitors from the evening… Alistair Overeem vs Junior dos Santos It’s time. It has to happen now. The wait should be over. Overeem has been avoiding this fight for years now, but following this past Saturday night’s unanimous decision victory over Roy Nelson at UFC 185, no other match-up makes sense for the PRIDE veteran. “Cigano” last saw action at UFC on FOX 13 three months ago, where he took home a unanimous decision victory over Stipe Miocic on the judges’ scorecards following five competitive rounds of action. The time to make this fight is now, and I think It would be a great fit for July’s UFC 189 in Las Vegas, which will be headlined by a featherweight title bout between challenger Conor McGregor and defending champion Jose Aldo. The co-main event of the evening will be a welterweight title bout between challenger Rory MacDonald and defending champion Robbie Lawler. Roy Nelson vs Antonio Silva “Big Country” vs “Bigfoot” feels like a match-up the UFC would make, and I would not be surprised to see it booked for a future card. Both heavyweights have now tasted back-to-back defeats and are in desperate need of a win. They are also both getting up there in age, and neither of them is planning on hanging up the gloves. I think this is a fight that makes sense, and will likely end ugly, if booked. Nelson is coming off his unanimous decision loss to Alistair Overeem at this past Saturday night’s UFC 185, and Silva suffered a first round knockout at the hands of Frank Mir in his latest outing, which came at UFC Fight Night 51 less than a month ago. Sergio Pettis vs Chris Cariaso Both flyweights competed at this past Saturday night’s UFC 185 card in Dallas, and they both came up short. Pettis was knocked out in the second round of action by Ryan Benoit, while Cariaso was dominated for 15-minutes of action by Henry Cejudo for a unanimous decision defeat. I think this potential pairing makes sense as a next move for both 125-pounders and is a fight I would very much be interested in watching. Pettis and Cariaso are both talented strikers, so I would expect this fight to play out on the feet, where we would be in for some entertaining exchanges. This scrap could be a contender for the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, regardless of the card it is booked on, but I would like to see it on either the main or preliminary card of July’s UFC Fight Night in San Diego, which would give California’s Cariaso a home advantage. Elias Theodorou vs Caio Magalhaes Theodorou just picked up his third straight UFC victory this past Saturday night at UFC 185 in Dallas and looks to make it four in a row in his next outing. Enter Magalhaes. The Brazilian rides a four fight winning streak inside the Octagon and also looks to extend his streak in an effort to climb the division’s rankings. I suggested this bout after a previous Theodorou victory, but of course it was never booked and both middleweights went on to face different opponents and continued to rack up wins. I think this is now an even better time to book this potential 185-pound scrap between these two young fighters who are constantly improving from fight to fight. I think this bout would be a great fit for the main card of May 30th’s UFC Fight Night 67 in Brazil. Being in his native land, Magalhaes would enjoy the home advantage in this one, although it is worth noting that Theodorou has been spending time in Brazil training with Team Nogueira.
