UFC 191 Results: Matches to Make for the Winners and Losers
UFC 191 wasn't the promotion's strongest effort. A card that looked somewhat underwhelming on paper turned out precisely so in practice, with a mostly fun preliminary card getting dragged down by methodical, one-sided beatings and flat-out stinkers on the main card. Few casual viewers who tuned in after the glorious madness of the UFC's last several offerings on pay-per-view will be converted to regular fandom by Saturday's offering.
With that said, several of those one-sided beatings did a great deal to advance the careers of the victors and to prepare them for substantial steps up in competition. Demetrious Johnson showcased his greatness once again in a dominant performance and effectively cleaned out the flyweight division. We'll look at what comes next in this installment of "Matches to Make."
John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera
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John Lineker def. Francisco Rivera, submission (Round 1, 2:08)
John Lineker inaugurated his arrival in the bantamweight division with a little over two minutes of glorious madness against Francisco Rivera. After exchanging bombs with his opponent in the pocket, Lineker snagged a guillotine choke as Rivera left himself exposed, and the diminutive Brazilian capitalized to secure the submission victory.
John Lineker
Lineker's raw talent has never been in doubt. He possesses huge power in his hands and, as he showed once again on Saturday, an inhuman capacity to absorb damage. What has been lost in our conception of Lineker as a wild brawler, however, is his technical skill. He is wild and a brawler, but he has fantastic timing on his counters, places his shots beautifully and has enough takedown defense and submission skill to be a real threat.
That's a roundabout way of saying that we shouldn't write off Lineker as just an action fighter. He has real potential in a division that is still establishing itself, and he should get a high-level opponent next. Matching him up with the up-and-coming and extraordinarily violent Thomas Almeida would be both a relevant matchup with a top-10 opponent and an action fight for the ages. Alternatively, Iuri Alcantara would provide a name opponent and a fun stylistic clash.
Francisco Rivera
For Rivera, this is likely the end of the line as a potential contender. The loss drops him to 1-3 in his last four, and he has shown little improvement in his areas of weakness. Matching him with Mitch Gagnon or Brad Pickett would likely be entertaining and still relevant to the division.
Ross Pearson vs. Paul Felder
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Ross Pearson def. Paul Felder, split decision
The veteran Ross Pearson came through with a major upset against an opponent who appears, in hindsight, to have been more than slightly overhyped. The Englishman proved the sharper, more powerful counterpuncher in an entertaining and close—but clear—fight that showed he still has something in the tank after an up-and-down recent run. Paul Felder, meanwhile, has to go back to the drawing board.
Ross Pearson
There is no shortage of attractive bouts to make for Pearson in the stacked lightweight division. It's clear at this point that the Englishman isn't on the cusp of blossoming into a future contender, but he is still one of the best action fighters at lightweight and a stiff test for one of the many up-and-comers at 155 pounds.
Francisco Trinaldo has come into his own recently, and his combination of power and improved striking acumen would offer an excellent counterpoint to Pearson's counterpunching skill. Alternatively, the UFC could put the Brit in with someone like Mairbek Taisumov in what would be a major step up in competition for the Russian.
Paul Felder
For his part, Felder needs to take some time off and re-evaluate his game. He has fought four times in the last 10 months and looked visibly slower and less sharp against Pearson than he did against Edson Barboza in July. When he returns, a lower-level opponent in the mold of Mitch Clarke or James Krause should be on the docket.
Paige VanZant vs. Alex Chambers
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Paige VanZant def. Alex Chambers, submission (Round 3, 1:01)
Paige VanZant was the biggest favorite on the card at an imposing 15-1, and she dominated the overmatched Alex Chambers from the opening bell to the third-round armbar. It was a softball matchup designed to give the youthful VanZant more time to develop and to make her look good, and the fight went exactly as it was supposed to.
Paige VanZant
With the win, however, the time for booking VanZant in squash matches is done.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the UFC should throw her to the wolves. VanZant is still raw, and while her clinch skills, work rate and grappling have all grown more technical, she remains a novice kickboxer with serious defensive liabilities. The cream of the division's strikers—Claudia Gadelha, Valerie Letourneau, Maryna Moroz, Michelle Waterson and of course Joanna Jedrzejczyk—would all rearrange VanZant's face into something resembling a Picasso painting.
VanZant's next booking should combine a real step up in competition with a winnable stylistic matchup. The best candidate would be Randa Markos (No. 6), who is conveniently just ahead of VanZant (No. 7) in the UFC's rankings. It wouldn't be surprising, however, if Sean Shelby gave her one more relatively easy matchup before moving her up.
Alex Chambers
There was nothing positive to take from this for Alex Chambers. VanZant beat her up and finished her, and the 36-year-old has little to look forward to in an increasingly youthful and talent-rich division. A booking with Cortney Casey or a debuting fighter would make sense.
Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz
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Corey Anderson def. Jan Blachowicz, decision
The Ultimate Fighter 19 winner Corey Anderson is the closest thing to a blue-chip prospect in the light heavyweight division, and he rebounded from a late loss to Gian Villante by beating the crap out of Poland's Jan Blachowicz. It was a brutal and dominating performance and precisely what Anderson needed to prove that he can reach the upper echelons of an aging division.
Corey Anderson
The problem with booking fights at 205 pounds is the shallow talent pool, which creates a sharp divide between the haves and the have-nots. It would make sense to give a still-developing and somewhat raw talent such as Anderson another tuneup in the form of Francimar Barroso, but I'd prefer a booking with fellow up-and-comer Nikita Krylov or, better yet, Ilir Latifi. It seems unlikely that Joe Silva would toss him into the deep end of the talent pool with a top-10 booking.
Jan Blachowicz
Blachowicz looked fine in the first round but ran out of gas shortly thereafter despite a pace that was no more than average. A matchup with Marcos Rogerio de Lima would be entertaining and tell us a great deal about where Blachowicz really stands in the division.
Anthony Johnson vs. Jimi Manuwa
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Anthony Johnson def. Jimi Manuwa, knockout (Round 2, :28)
Anthony Johnson might not be the UFC's most upstanding citizen, but there is no denying that he is a ridiculously talented fighter. He tore through Jimi Manuwa with embarrassing ease, showcasing further improvements to his already devastating arsenal of pressuring counters along with his forgotten wrestling game. He still looks the part of an elite fighter despite his loss to Daniel Cormier and will likely challenge for the belt again.
Anthony Johnson
The problem with the light heavyweight division is the dearth of potential matchups for top fighters. Joe Silva could give him Shogun Rua or Rampage Jackson, though the latter is still dealing with serious legal issues related to his departure from Bellator. The winner of the Glover Teixeira-Patrick Cummins bout in November would be a fresh and intriguing matchup.
The likeliest scenario for Johnson, however, is the winner of the Ryan Bader-Rashad Evans tilt at UFC 192, with the victor likely to receive a title shot following Jon Jones' return.
Jimi Manuwa
Manuwa accomplished next to nothing against a bigger, more physical, more skilled and younger opponent. With losses to both Alexander Gustafsson and Johnson under his belt, Manuwa looks to be firmly established as a good but not elite fighter at 205. A matchup with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Rafael Cavalcante would make the most sense.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Frank Mir
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Andrei Arlovski def. Frank Mir, decision
It's hard to find a better summation of the desperate state of the UFC heavyweight division in 2015 than the atrocious fight between Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir, which was—at least in theory—a top contender matchup. Only one fighter in the Top 15 is currently under 30, and Stefan Struve is no spring chicken in terms of experience.
The prospects who were supposed to replace fighters such as Arlovski and Mir in the Top 10 have either fizzled out or simply don't exist, which is how we ended up with two competitors who debuted in the UFC before the invasion of Iraq in a fight with these stakes on the line. Hopefully, the slow, plodding and uninteresting quality of the action will lead to another contender getting the shot at either Fabricio Werdum or Cain Velasquez.
Andrei Arlovski
Arlovski's recent run of exciting fights had made many fans forget that despite his power, hand speed, athleticism and skill, the Belarusian was always capable of putting on serious stinkers. He now owns a four-fight winning streak in the UFC, however, and it is impossible to deny him a shot at an elite opponent. Depending on the timing, he could either get the next title shot or the winner of the Ben Rothwell-Stipe Miocic fight next month.
Frank Mir
While Arlovski didn't look great, Mir looked worse. He can still win fights against incomplete fighters such as Todd Duffee, but retirement might be a better option. If he insists on moving forward, a fight with Matt Mitrione or the loser of the Shawn Jordan-Ruslan Magomedov fight next month at UFC 192 would make sense.
Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson
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Demetrious Johnson def. John Dodson, decision
A dominating five-round win over John Dodson reinforced the fact that Demetrious Johnson remains one of the three or four best fighters on the face of the planet. Fans' failure to connect with him and his inability to draw pay-per-view buys are separate issue from the quality of his skill, and at this point it seems unlikely that any flyweight will be able to challenge him in any meaningful way.
Demetrious Johnson
With that in mind, the best bout to make for Johnson is a superfight with bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. Johnson could stick around at flyweight and face the winner of the Henry Cejudo-Jussier Formiga fight in November, but there is no particular reason to think that even an Olympic gold medalist will give the champion a serious fright.
Johnson has now defended his title seven times, which ties him with Jose Aldo for fourth-most all time and leaves him three short of Anderson Silva's record. If he loses to Dillashaw at bantamweight, Johnson could always return to flyweight and continue his pursuit of Silva's mark, none the worse for wear or exposure. If he wins, then Johnson will become only the third two-division champion in UFC history and the first to hold two belts simultaneously.
It would behoove the UFC to make that fight happen. Dominick Cruz is recovering from injury, but the promotion can't count on him to show up for a fight with Dillashaw, and even if he managed to win back his belt, the risk of holding up the division for years on end remains a serious problem.
Dillashaw is young and could be a long-term champion, but he needs a signature win. Johnson would provide that. Either way, the UFC gets one of the few fights that might actually sell below 145 pounds and a bevy of interesting storylines.
John Dodson
As for Dodson, he has now lost twice to Johnson and probably won't get another shot. At 31 and with more than a decade of professional experience under his belt, he has hit his peak at flyweight, and he too might be best served to move up a weight class, where his speed and power might be more telling against bigger, slower competition. If he stays at flyweight, a fight with Ian McCall or the loser of the Kyoji Horiguchi-Chico Camus fight at the end of the month would work.
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