UFC 142 Results: Who Should Yuri Alcantara Fight Next?

On Saturday night at UFC 142, Yuri Alcantara made his second appearance inside the Octagon, earning an impressive unanimous decision victory over the incredibly tough Michihiro Omigawa.

In the first round, Alcantara rocked Omigawa with a spinning back elbow, but he found himself unable to finish the fight.

Then, in the waning seconds of the first round, Alcantara locked in an armbar on Omigawa, and although it appeared at first that he had tapped, the ref said no, and the fight continued to the second round.

For the rest of the fight Alcantara controlled Omigawa, and he finished the fight with a 30-27 score on two of the judges' scorecards and a 29-28 on the third.

Alcantara is now 2-0 inside the Octagon, and he is on a 13-fight winning streak, with an overall record of 27-3 with 23 finishes.

Alcantara could become a force in the featherweight division, but who should he fight next?

If the UFC wants to bring him along slowly, they could give him someone from season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, such as Marcus Brimage or Bryan Caraway.

If they'd like to bring him along a little more quickly, perhaps the winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Diego Brandao, would make a good matchup to see which of these bright prospects is ready to take the next step.

Other options could include the winner or loser of the upcoming Leonard Garcia vs. Tiequan Zhang fight at UFC 144.

There are an incredible number of potential matchups for Alcantara and for all of the other featherweights in the division.

The featherweight division is looking bright early on in 2012, and there are a number of prospects who will be looking to make the leap to the next level.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @TimMcTiernan.