UFC 142 Results: 5 Fights for Rousimar Palhares to Take Next

Every time Rousimar Palhares steps inside the Octagon, fans fear for his opponent’s safety a little bit.

Palhares has a tendency to grab a hold of limbs and nearly rip them off—something that is only made scarier when you realize that he has one of the weakest mental games in MMA.

Palhares has turned in far more good performance than bad in his UFC career, but last night against Mike Massenzio might have been a game-changer for the Brazilian submission specialist, as he is now nearing the top 10 of a very thin middleweight division.

A win over another fringe contender could push him into the spotlight—something that could lead to crazy things from Palhares and should definitely be fun to watch.

Jason Miller

No one, including Mayhem himself, was impressed by Jason Miller’s performance at the TUF 14 finale last month, but the UFC should give him a shot to redeem himself.

Mayhem is entertaining and a pretty damn good fighter, and he was neither the first nor the last fighter to get hit by Octagon jitters.

Palhares is a good test for Mayhem to take in his second bout in his UFC return, as Miller is looking to prove he belongs in the sports best promotion and Palhares would benefit greatly if he had a win over Mayhem on his resume.

Chris Weidman

Before Palhares takes the leap into the upper echelon of the middleweight division, perhaps he should have to take out a heavily-hyped prospect trying to do the same.

Chris Weidman has been called the future of the middleweight division by a lot of fans over the past year, and a bout with Palhares would show us if he is all that he’s cracked up to be.

A strong wrestler, Weidman is most comfortable on the mat, which is a dangerous place to be when you’re fighting Palhares, and it would be interesting to see which man would survive.

Brian Stann

This fight hinges on whether of not Stann is able to defeat Alessio Sakara at UFC on Fuel 2 in April, but if Stann comes out of that one unscathed, then a fight with Palhares should soon follow.

Stann has incredible power on the feet, and his improving technical striking skills only make him even more dangerous. But his Achilles' heel has been his wrestling.

Palhares is an extremely strong middleweight, and it would be fun to see if he was able to overpower Stann and get him to the mat.

If successful, Palhares could easily score a submission win over the former Marine, but if it stays on the feet, then Stann likely scores the knockout.

Yushin Okami

Yushin Okami would have to take out Tim Boetsch at UFC 144 first, but assuming he does, then they need to throw him in there with Palhares.

Okami is coming off of a championship loss to Anderson Silva, but he has a long way to go in order to get back into title contention and the UFC should use him as a gatekeeper for the time being.

If Palhares is able to get past one of the toughest men to defeat in the division, then he has earned his spot in the weight class’ elite.

Alan Belcher

Since defeating Jason MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 25 in September, Alan Belcher has been practically unheard of. But after taking more than a year between bouts last time, it’s safe to say that Belcher is looking to return sooner rather than later.

Belcher and Palhares are in similar places in the middleweight division, and this fight makes a ton of sense to see which guy is worthy of a step up in competition. Stylistically, this has the potential to be a very exciting fight.