UFC 172 Hangover: Gauging What’s Next For Boetsch, Davis & Teixeira
Baltimore played host to an awesome night of fights this past Saturday, with UFC 172 delivering on all the hype and arguably putting on the best show of the year so far. With all the excitement and great fights at 172, there are probably a number of bad Monday morning hangovers for a few main card competitors.
Phil Davis, Glover Teixeira and Tim Boetsch all tanked hard in their efforts in Maryland, so lets take a look at what’s next for UFC 172’s biggest losers:
Glover Teixeira:
The Brazilian slugger put in a game showing against the champion Jon Jones, but was far from a match for ‘Bones’. JJ utilized his reach and distance to keep GT at bay all five rounds, yet another challenger falling short of Jones’ length, and left back at the drawing board; so what’s next?
Although he was no challenge for Jones, I still feel that there is hope for Teixeira. With Jones’ move to heavyweight coming closer by the day, another (possibly successful) attempt at the light-heavyweight title could be a reality for G-Tex. We’ll see how he does is his next bout, but I’m thinking a scrap with Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson would be a great idea.
Phil Davis:
‘Mr Wonderful’ certainly didn’t live up to his name against Anthony Johnson in the co-main event, and his pre-fight trash talking bonanza just made the loss look worse. Although normally a dominant grappler, Davis’ game was picked apart by ‘Rumble’ with relative ease. So where to go now for Davis?
Well, there are still plenty of relevant matches to be had at lhw, and off the top of my head I’d say a bout with Ovince St-Preaux would show whether Davis still has what it takes to hang with the elite. If not, then it may be time to either move weight class, or start applying at the local MacDonalds for ‘Mr Wonderful’.
Tim Boetsch:
‘The Barbarian’ was steamrolled by Luke Rockhold, who is clearly in another class in comparison. With minimal resistance, Rockhold sunk in a tight inverted triangle and kimura lock, forcing the tap in the first round. T-Rock barely broke a sweat in doing so, and now Boetsch is left in a tricky position.
Now 1-3 in his last four, ‘The Barbarian’ will be looking at a do-or-die fight next time out; that’s if he isn’t cut following the loss against Rockhold. I’d say fun fights, rather than meaningful title focused scraps are what’s next for Boetsch. Perhaps a rematch with Costa Phillipou, who was also first rounded by T-Rock recently….
