What’s Next For UFC Fight Night 47’s Main Card Winners?

UFC Fight Night 47 took place last night in the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine and fans are still talking about all the exciting fights that went down.

Headlining the card was a light-heavyweight battle which saw Ryan Bader take out Ovince St. Preux who was previously unbeated inside the Octagon. That fight followed an explosive main card which had five finishes in total.

Here’s whats next for those six big winners from the main card:

Thiago Tavares

Thiago Tavares made a statement in his first bout in the featherweight division, taking out the hard-hitting Robbie Peralta with relative ease. With his dominant win, and taking into consideration his record as a lightweight, I think the UFC should chuck him right into the mix against a top featherweight next.

Cole Miller isn’t signed up to fight anyone at the moment and would be a good test for Tavares. Book these two up and give the winner someone in the top 15.

Shawn Jordan

It wasn’t his best performance but Shawn Jordan managed to get the job done against Jack May to get himself back in the winning bracket. He needs at least another win before he challenges anyone in the top 15 so for that reason a fight with UFC newcomer Oleksiy Oliynyk makes sense.

Oliynyk picked up his first win inside the Octagon in June with a first round submission over Anthony Hamilton, he’s currently on a ten-fight winning streak which includes wins over Mirko Filipovic and Jeff Monson.

Alan Jouban

Alan Jouban had one of the most impressive Octagon debut’s last night that we’ve seen in a long time and against a tough opponent in Seth Baczynski, who holds wins over some of the best in the welterweight division. Jouban doesn’t seem faced going up against a dangerous striker so why not give the fans a mouthwatering fight by booking him against kickboxing specialist Brandon Thatch.

Thatch has been out of action since November last year when he destroyed Paulo Thiago, making him tap out from a piercing knee to the body. He was scheduled to fight Jordan Mein next week at UFN 49 but had to withdraw due to a toe injury. With both men’s combined styles this is sure to be a an all-out war and a fight to remember.

Tim Boetsch

I don’t know how he does it, but Tim Boetsch knows how to pull it out of the bag when he has his back against the wall. Lets face it, he shouldn’t have won his fight against Brad Tavares, after getting battered for over a round and a half. But, he pulled it off and for that he deserves credit. He wont be moving any higher up the ladder with the win, he does however keep his place in the top 15, now he needs to secure it.

For that reason, I suggest a bout with the division’s former title challenger Nate Marquardt who moved back up to the weight class in June, taking a win over James Te Huna which followed a rough spell at welterweight. If Boetsch can stop Marquardt he will certify himself as one of the top 15.

Ross Pearson

Regardless of what people are saying about Gray Maynard needing to retire, he put in a solid performance in the co-main event. However, he was simply outclassed by Ross Pearson. The TUF 9 victor was able to defend the majority of “The Bully’s” takedown attempts and keep moving forward to inflict damage on the former title challenger. It was easily the Brits best performance inside the Octagon and he deserves a top-ten opponent next.

A perfect choice would be the No.10 ranked Michael Johnson who is currently un-booked following his annihilation of Melvin Guillard earlier this year. A bout with Johnson would give a good indicator of how far Pearson can go in the division. If he beats Johnson, who is on a three-fight winning streak, he is sure to come out as a title contender.

Ryan Bader

Bader’s win last night wasn’t pretty but he still took out a dangerous opponent in St. Preux to give him his third straight victory inside the Octagon. He’s unquestionably one of the best fighters in the light-heavyweight division but I think he’s still quite far behind the top 5. He needs another big win to get himself back into title contention and a bout against the winner of UFC 179’s co-main event between No. 4-ranked Glover Teixeira and No. 6 ranked Phill Davis would do just that.

“Mr Wonderful” is looking for another bout following his setback to Anthony Johnson in May. Prior to that defeat he was 4-1-(1) in his last six fights which included wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Lyoto Machida. If Bader can take care of Davis he should be ready to face someone in the top 5.

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