What’s Next For This Weekend’s Main Event Winners?
It’s been a memorable weekend for MMA fans as the UFC made history holding two events in just 24-hours; both producing fireworks.
The first card to go down was Fight Night 41 which took place in Berlin, Germany, featuring a main event between former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz. From top-to-bottom, the fights were action packed, starting with some electrifying preliminary matchups.
Then came the final event in the record-breaking day for the UFC. The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale kicked off inside the Ibirapuera Gymnasium, in São Paulo, just a few hours later. The fights may not have been as exciting as UFN 41 but it was still a solid card. Warlley Alves beat Team Sonnen teammate Marcio Alexandre Jr. to win the middleweight tournament.
Team Silva’s Antonio Carlos Jr. won the heavyweight tournament beating Vitor Miranda. Then came the explosive finale as Stipe Miocic downed Fabio Maldonado to hand the Brazilian the first knockout loss of his career.
The events weren’t stacked with huge names, however, they both certainly delivered. For me, the headliners were the icing on the cake this weekend. So let’s take a look at whats in stall for the main event winners:
Gegard Mousasi
I think the best way to describe his win over Munoz is total domination. Mousasi was clearly no match for the No.7 ranked fighter in the division, so pitting him against someone lower ranked fighter next would make no sense at all. He needs to get right back into the mix, for that a fight with either Luke Rockhold or Ronaldo Souza would make sense.
If a bout with either of the former Strikeforce middleweight champions cannot be setup, there’s always Tim Kennedy or maybe even Chael Sonnen (if he gets past Vitor Belfort at UFC 175).
Stipe Miocic
Despite being a heavy favorite against Maldonado, Miocic had a lot of pressure on him on Saturday night. If he had lost to the natural light-heavyweight, the Ohio native would have fallen right out of title contention. Only a strong performance would do for the 31-year old and that’s exactly what he put in, stopping the undefeated former boxer with strikes for the first time in his career.
He hasn’t moved anywhere in the heavyweight rankings with his performance so it would make sense to let him continue where he left of by rearranging his fight with Junior Dos Santos who he was originally scheduled to meet. If a bout with JDS is unable to be set up, a match with Alistair Overeem would be a great second choice.
Who would you guys like to see Miocic and Mousasi take on next?
