What's Next for the UFC 102 Winners?

The winners of UFC 102 included veterans like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Nate Marquardt, but also youngsters like Todd Duffee and Evan Dunham.

With his big win over Randy Couture, Nogueira could be one fight away from another shot at the UFC heavyweight belt. A fight between the winner of Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell is quite possible for Nogueira unless the UFC deems Velasquez worthy of a title shot after his fight with Rothwell at UFC 104 next month.

If Mirko Cro Cop defeats Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 later ths month, a rematch with Cro Cop could also be in store for Nogueira. Nogueira defeated Cro Cop in 2003 by armbar when they were both in Pride.

Thiago Silva rebounded from a loss to UFC light-heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida, by dismantling Keith Jardine at UFC 102. Silva should fight Rashad Evans next since Evans needs a new opponent since Rampage Jackson postponed their fight which was scheduled later this year in Memphis.

Another option could be Brandon Vera. Vera also won at UFC 102 when he defeated Krzysztof Soszynski.  If Vera doesn't take on Silva next, he could face another Brazilian in Luiz Cane. Both of these potential fights could be very entertaining and full of intrigue and action.

Nate Marquardt had a hightlight-reel knockout over Demian Maia and he would like another title shot against UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. Silva defeated Marquardt once already and Silva's camp doesn't seem too interested in a rematch right away.

The UFC might have Dan Henderson take on Marquardt to see who the next challenger for Silva's title will be. The problem with that is that Henderson is said to not be so keen on that idea while Marquardt has stated he doesn't care who he fights next.

Other options for Marquardt are Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Yushin Okami.   Marquardt is ready to fight very soon since he did not have any injuries in his fight against Maia.

Jake Rosholt and Mark Munoz were also both winners at UFC 102 and they could match-up with each other next.  Aaron Simpson, who defeated Ed Herman on the same card, could also be in the mix to fight either Rosholt or Munoz. Simpson was very impressive in his win.

Todd Duffee impressed everyone with his seven second knockout of Tim Hague and he asked Dana White for a top-level opponent next.  White should give him Gabriel Gonzaga as his next opponent.

Is Duffee for real or not?  Having him match up against a veteran like Gonzaga would be a real test for him. Gonzaga defeated Chris Tuchscherer  on the same card as Duffee.

Evan Dunham had a nice win over Marcus Aurelio and the young lightweight fighter has plenty of possible opponents to fight next. A fight against other young fighters like Phillipe Nover or Justin Buchholtz  could be very entertaining.

There are a lot of interesting fights that the UFC can have later this year and early in 2010 for the fans. Are fighters like Duffee and Dunham future title contenders or just average fighters?  Will Marquardt and Nogueira get another title shot soon?

Only time will tell but the UFC has plenty of options when they book opponents for these fighters.