Post-UFC 192: On the Chopping Block

chris-cariasoThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back in Houston, TX for the fourth time in promotional history with UFC 192: Cormier vs Gustafsson. After a wild and exciting night of fights, let’s take a look at which of the evening’s competitors we may no longer see go to work inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Chris Cariaso Cariaso has been employed by Zuffa for over five years and now for the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career, finds himself on an unfortunate three fight losing streak. He was submitted by Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in his bid for Johnson’s 125-pound strap, then took on Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and dropped a unanimous decision there, and most recently he took on Sergio Pettis at last night’s UFC 192 in Houston, where again lost by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action. There is a decent chance the UFC will give Cariaso another shot, considering the time he has put in with the company and how razor-thin the flyweight division is, or perhaps they would prefer to have him gone because he is in the higher tier pay for the Reebok sponsorship and isn’t a big enough draw to warrant that in their eyes. They gave him tough opponents back to back following the loss to Johnson, so that wouldn’t be hard to believe. On a three fight losing streak inside the Octagon, I think it is 50/50 whether we see him back. Francisco Trevino “Sitkayan” made his UFC debut against Renee Forte, upsetting the Brazilian with a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards and extending his undefeated record to 12-0. His luck ended there, however, as he took on Johnny Case in his next outing and again found himself playing the role of the underdog. Unfortunately for Trevino, he could not earn the upset win this time, as Case dominated him throughout the contest for a unanimous decision nod from the judges at Octagon-side. After having his first taste of defeat, he returned to action against 19-year old Sage Northcutt at last night’s UFC 192 in Houston, greeting the undefeated promotional newcomer to the Octagon. Sadly for the Texas-based Mexican, this scrap did not even last a full minute, as Northcutt stopped him with strikes very early in the first stanza. Now on a two-fight skid and having looked very poor in both losses, I think there is a very good chance that Trevino received a pink slip from the promotion, especially considering he missed weight by four-pounds at the weigh-ins on Friday. I would not be surprised to see him get another crack, possibly on the UFC’s next Mexico card, or against someone else they want to feed him to for an impressive victory, but I think it is more than likely that we have seen the last of “Sitkayan” inside the Octagon.

Written by Gabe Killian

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