What’s Next For Biggest Winners & Losers From UFC Fight Night 61?
UFC Fight Night 61 went down this past weekend (Sunday February 22nd, 2015) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It was maybe not the greatest night for the local fans to watch, as most of their favorite stars got starched or firmly beaten. Much has been said about what’s next for Antonio Silva after getting trampled again, and Frank Mir may be looking at a trilogy fight with Brock Lesnar.
Without further ado, the biggest winners & losers from UFC Fight Night 61:
Frank Mir/Antonio Silva
Mir looked on form in Brazil, laying out “Bigfoot” with a swift left hook and wasting no time in blasting his foe in to la-la land. He needed this win more than Silva did, and with it he has opened up the possibility of a huge fight with a potentially returning WWE superstar. Aside from Lesnar, should that fight not happen, bouts with the winner of Cro Cop vs Gonzaga, or perhaps Matt Mitrione might make sense.
By far the biggest fail of the evening was Silva’s performance. He looked terrible, and paid the price for his lack of defense or offense very early on. Maybe the expectations of fighting at home got to “Bigfoot”, this also marks the second time he has fought and been finished in the first round in Brazil. Andrei Arlovski pulled off the same result against Silva when they fought in September 2014. What’s next should indeed be retirement for “Bigfoot”, more likely he will hunt fights with maybe Stefan Struve, or the winner of Roy Nelson vs Alistair Overeem.
Michael Johnson/Edson Barboza
Michael Johnson upset the odds and local fans with his performance on Sunday, and he did so not only in Edson Barboza’s back yard, but in the striking department. The Blackzilians product is evolving at an astounding rate, and needs to be tested by a top five opponent really. The problem is that the only available lightweight in that upper echelon, Benson Henderson, might now be a full-time welterweight. Maybe Myles Jury?
Barboza needs to go back to the drawing board. It seems that every time he builds up a head of steam in the lightweight division, he gets halted when he faces quality names. This time he dropped a UD to a fighter six places behind him in the rankings, and will likely skid out of the top 10 for doing so. Maybe a fight with the winner of Paul Felder vs Jim Miller, or a bout against Adriano Martins could make sense right now.
Matt Dwyer/William Macario
A little unorthodox to dig this deep on the card, but hear me out. The crowds at the weigh-ins gave “Patolino” a huge ovation, perhaps the biggest of the card’s athletes. Dwyer flew from Canada, to hostile trritory to face the biggest fan favorite of the night. The result was priceless. A first round superman punch KO. What a way to make a name for yourself. Dwyer could seriously be considered for a top 15 opponent after such a classic showing.
For Macario, this is his second loss in a row, and in what was meant to be a ‘tune up’ fight against a relatively unknown force at 170 pounds. After getting handled by Neil Magny, a confidence booster would’ve done a world of good for “Patolino”, as it stands he has some serious egg on face right about now. What’s next? Well outside of Dwyer, there are fountains of other unknown welterweights for Macario to face, he just better hope he beats the next one.
Props
Well done to Mike De La Torre for unleashing the beast all over Tiago Trator’s face, and perhaps the referee could’ve stopped the bout 10 punches before, props to Sam Alvey for blasting “Mutante” in front of his home crowd, and what about Marion Reneau’s fantastic submission of Jessica Andrade? Props also go to Cody Gibson, whom if you now Google is on a two-fight losing skid.
