UFC on Fuel 3 Results: Five Fights to Make After Zombie vs. Poirier

With a stellar, action-packed UFC on Fuel event in the books, it's time to turn our eyes toward the future. 

What's next for the stars of Fuel 3? Where they do go from here? Some of them inched closer to relevance, and at least one turned himself into a bona-fide pay-per-view attraction in a single fight. 

Let's take a look at five fights I'd like to see coming out of Tuesday's show in Virginia.

Chan Sung Jung vs. Winner of Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch

The UFC featherweight division has lacked a true superstar ever since the division was created last year. Champion Jose Aldo is a fan favorite, but there's no 145-pound fighter in the world who fans will go out of their way to see on pay-per-view. 

Chan Sung Jung, or "The Korean Zombie," has a chance to become that superstar. 

He's never in a boring fight, and he's riding three consecutive wins that displayed a shockingly developed game in each successive fight. His Tuesday night win over Dustin Poirier was a revelation: Who in the world was this fighter, and what had he done with the overrated Korean Zombie? 

Jung's win over Poirier vaulted him into rare air. If the UFC had been able to wait until today to name a challenger for Aldo at UFC 149 in July, Zombie would be getting the shot. Without question. As it is, Erik Koch will get that title shot. But Jung should sit on the sidelines, and he should face the winner. 

Aldo vs. The Korean Zombie might be the first true money fight in the featherweight division.

Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis

Outside of his loss to Nate Diaz late last year, Donald Cerrone has looked virtually unstoppable. 

That pattern continued on Tuesday night with Cerrone's utter domination of Jeremy Stephens in what should have been the co-main event of UFC on Fuel 3. I say "should have been" because Dana White tweeted, while watching the show from home, that he'd screwed up and didn't realize Sadollah-Lopez was the co-main event instead of the Cerrone fight.

No matter. Cerrone showed up and clowned Stephens for 15 minutes, punishing him with nasty leg kicks while making space for Stephens to swing and wildly miss. Cerrone once again looked like a top-five lightweight, and he should receive a top-five lightweight in his next bout. 

A contender's fight with Anthony Pettis makes perfect sense. Set it up for September or October, and you'll have a ready-made title fight for whenever Diaz ultimately gets his title shot. Plus, Cerrone vs. Pettis would be an awesome fight. 

Yves Jabouin vs. Ivan Menjivar

Dana White is almost certainly going to announce on Friday night that he's pulled Renan Barao from his bout with Ivan Menjivar so that Barao can face Urijah Faber for the interim bantamweight title. That'll leave Menjivar needing a new opponent, so who better to step up than Yves Jabouin?

Jabouin proved that he's too good for the Jeff Houglands of the world on Tuesday night. Menjivar represents an acceptable step up in competition, while also providing plenty of fireworks. It's an interesting style matchup and would bring the violence.

Isn't that what we all want to see at the end of the day?

Igor Pokrajac vs. Stanislav Nedkov

Many readers laughed at me when I said that Pokrajac was good enough to beat Fabio Maldonado. They aren't laughing now. Pokrajac is a tough, resilient fighter who can apparently absorb a ton of punishment, as witnessed in his close win over Maldonado at UFC on Fuel 3. 

He's not quite deserving of top-10 competition. Not yet, anyway. That's why Stanislav Nedkov is the perfect next opponent for Pokrajac. You're not throwing him in the deep end against top competition, but you're giving him another tough test and another chance to prove himself. 

Tom Lawlor vs. Ronny Markes

Tom Lawlor's a weird fella. And we really didn't see what kind of skill level he's progressed to last night, because his knockout win over Jason MacDonald was one of those deals where MacDonald simply got caught with a punch behind the ear and briefly lost consciousness and his balance, at the same time.

Lawlor can be an entertaining character for the fans, so you don't want to push him too far up the ladder. Ronny Markes is the perfect next step: a tough Brazilian with the kind of skills to really push Lawlor and either bring out the best in or beat him.