UFC Fight Night 82 came and went, leaving behind a solid night of scraps. Now, following the night of action, let’s take a look at some potential match-ups featuring a few of the competitors who came up short on Saturday night… Sean Spencer vs Leon Edwards Spencer came up short in a third round T/KO against Mike Pyle at this past Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 82 and will be looking to bounce back into the win column for his next outing. Despite being on a two fight skid and 1-3 in his last four Octagon outings, I think the UFC will keep him around because they considered his unanimous decision loss to Cathal Pendred prior to the Pyle fight a win, as they gave him his win bonus for the fight. For his next outing inside the Octagon, I would like to see Spencer take on Edwards, who recently saw his two fight winning streak snapped by Blackzilian product Kamaru Usman. I think Spencer vs Edwards would be an entertaining fight between a pair of talented strikers and it is without a doubt a fight I would love to see. I think it would be a solid fit for the televised preliminary card for July’s TUF 23 Finale, which will be headlined by a five round strawweight title fight. Johny Hendricks vs Dong Hyun Kim Hendricks was stopped for the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career by Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson weekend this past Saturday night in the main event for UFC Fight Night 82. Hendricks took Thompson down at the begining of the first stanza but could not keep “Wonderboy” down and no answers for him on the feet. In a matter of minutes, Thompson put Hendricks away with strikes against the cage, earning the first round TKO stoppage and putting himself in position to potentially be the next challenger to Robbie Lawler and his UFC Welterweight gold. For his next Octagon outing, I would like to see Hendricks take on fellow veteran Dong Hyun Kim, in what would be a rare “winner vs loser” match-up, as Kim is currently riding a two-fight winning streak with wins over Josh Burkman and Dominic Waters. I think Hendricks vs Kim would be a fun match-up in the UFC’s 170-pound division and it is a fight I would personally like to see. Both welterweights are excellent grapplers who pack power on the feet, so it would be interesting to see how this one plays out. I think this fight would be a solid fit for the main card to April’s UFC 197, which is currently set for Las Vegas with Daniel Cormier vs Jon Jones as the headliner in a five round light heavyweight title fight. Ray Borg vs Dustin Ortiz II This would be a rematch of a bout that took place nearly two years ago, where Borg made his promotional debut against Ortiz and lost via controversial split decision following three very entertaining back and forth rounds of action. Both 125-pounders are coming off upset losses, with Borg dropping a unanimous decision to Justin Scoggins at this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night 82 and Ortiz coming short in a unanimous decision against Wilson Reis just two weeks prior. I think this rematch makes sense at the moment, considering how razor thin the UFC’s flyweight division and the fact that their initial match-up was quite close and drew some controversy, as many had Borg winning. Borg and Ortiz are both coming off losses now and I would like to see them attempt to get back into the win column by taking each other on inside the Octagon, hopefully with one of them being able to walk about with a convincing victory. I would like to see this potential 125-pound rematch on the preliminary card for the aforementioned UFC 197 in Las Vegas this April. Jared Rosholt vs Matt Mitrione I think this potential heavvyweight match-up makes sense in the razor-thin division, with both big men coming off losses and looking to get back into the win column for another run in the division. This would make for a classic “striker vs grappler” match-up, as Rosholt would be looking to take the fight to the mat and use his superior grappling and Mitrione would hope to keep things standing and use his superior striking to secure another T/KO victory. I think this makes for an interesting match-up in the UFC’s heavyweight division and I would like to see it booked for a future fight card, as long as the UFC and Mitrione are able to come to terms on a new contract.
