Post UFC 152: Deciding where the Big Winner’s go next

Now that the LONG awaited UFC 152 is over, some may be wondering where do some of the winners go now. Overall UFC 152 was very good, from the beginning preliminaries through most of the Pay Per View main card, we had several good finishes and one near HUGE upset.

Many of the fighters impressed Saturday night, Kyle Noke, who debuted at welterweight, and Seth Baczynski both scored big first round knock outs. This is actually a very good match up for both of these fighters. Seth is on a six fight win streak, four of those in the UFC, and Noke is looked great in his debut. Both guys are former Middleweight fighters and are big for the division.

Cub Swanson proved he is a force to be reckoned with in the  featherweight division with his quick knockout of Charles Oliveira. Swanson has won his last three fights, two of which were knock out of the night winners, and now should be considered one of the best in the division.

• Ricardo Lamas: I’m sure Swanson is licking his chops to get his hands on Lamas again. Lamas won the first meeting by submission in Swanson’s UFC debut so he’d be looking for some revenge.
• Erik Koch: Koch was supposed to fight Jose Aldo, but an injury took him out of that fight. Koch is one of the best in the division and would be a big step up for Swanson.
• Frankie Edgar: Another fighter who was supposed to get his hands on Aldo. Edgar was the replacement fighter when Koch was forced out, but Aldo himself suffered an injury. Again this would be a huge step up in competition for Swanson.

Michael Bisping had yet another statement fight at UFC 152, taking a unanimous decision win over Brian Stann. In a fight that was not even that close, Bisping dominated Stann and should have earned himself a title shot against Anderson Silva. Silva is scheduled to fight at UFC 153, but the timing is perfect.

Jon Jones made it look fairly easy against Vitor Belfort, minus the near, and when I say near it mean it, arm bar finish by Vitor. Jones is slowly working his way to being one of the most dominant champions in the UFC. What is next for him you ask, well Really the only name that makes sense is Dan Henderson. He was supposed to fight Jones at UFC 151 before an injury forced him out and started the domino’s. This is the fight the champ wants and so if Henderson can get healed up fast enough and Jones for that matter, this is the fight UFC should make next.

• Chael Sonnen: While he hasn’t even fought at light heavyweight in the UFC and is current;y scheduled to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 he looms a possibility. In the midst of the UFC 151 cancellation Jones was offered Sonnen but chose to decline the fight for various reasons. Having lost two of his last three fights, he hasn’t earned the title shot but if the name comes up again Jones just might take the fight to prove at point.

Tags: Chael Sonnen, Cub Swanson, Dan Henderson, Erik Koch, Frankie Edgar, Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, Kyle Noke, MMA, ricardo Lamas, Seth Baczynski, UFC, UFC 151, UFC 152, Vitor Belfort

Category: Featured, MMA, Opinion, UFC