5 Fights To Make After UFC 117

After the settling down from the excitement of a stellar card of fights. I analysed what could be next for some fighters who featured on the card that night. So without further ado I present five fights I believe could happen after UFC 117. Some fights are almost guaranteed, others however are possibilities and others are just pure guess

Anderson Silva Vs Vitor Belfort

 

I know some people want an immediate rematch between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva but I disagree. Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva would be a stand up battle. Is Silva on the decline or was it hurt ribs and fear of the takedown that forced Anderson to land nothing of note while standing against Sonnen

Stylistically this makes for a great fight and the excitement factor would be through the roof. The two best strikers in the middleweight division teeing off.

 

Chances of Joe Silva making the match: 9/10: Barring an injury this will be Anderson's next title defense, however there is some rumbles for an immediate rematch.

 

Roy Nelson Vs Shane Carwin

Roy Nelson took some punishment and it was, at times brutal but Big Country stuck in there gallantly. With Junior Dos Santos in line for the next title shot Roy Nelson can feel no shame losing to a possible future champ.

Shane Carwin needs someone in there who can take his shots and keep firing back. I feel for Shane to progress as a fighter, he needs a three rounder and really test his cardio. With Big Country’s chin, it is quite possible Carwin could get that test.

Chances of Joe Silva making the match -7/10: Roy Nelson is definitely on the next rung of the ladder as far as challenges come. An interesting match with Cro Cop may be something to look at also. The truth there will be a range of fighters in an ever deepening pool of talent in the UFC heavyweight division and Joe Silva has the pick.

Thiago Alves Vs Kendall Grove

Thiago is just too big for Welterweight. With further issues concerning over weight at the weigh ins, it proves Thiago is cutting to much. It must be taxing on Alves cardio and strength, having to drop from 210 to 170 in a week. He is a little small for middleweight but I think a true test would be Kendall Grove.

A tall rangey fighter Grove would be a perfect introduction to see how Alves fares against middleweights and especially how he copes with the height difference. Grove has under rated striking but has been let down by a weak chin. If Alves can land cleanly his venture into middleweight division could be very successful.

Chances of Joe Silva making the match -4/10: Unfortunately not much is known on what Alves will do next although reports are he wants to stay at 170. Thiago is back on the bottom of the ladder and will not be a contender to face current division king GSP for a long time. A change of weight is in order.

Junior Dos Santos Vs Winner of Cain Velasquez/ Brock Lesnar

Dos Santos power is notorious and his boxing skills are crisp. In the Roy Nelson fight we got to see his good takedown defence, but this is an area in his game that many feel he will need to improve to beat either Velasquez or Lesnar.

Chances of Joe Silva making the match-10/10: Its next for Dos Santos, barring an injury to either of the trio of fighters.

Matt Hughes Vs John Hathaway

Matt Hughes showed everybody at UFC 117 that he still has relevance in the deep talent pool that is the Welterweight division. An amazing show of strength against a talented Ricardo Almeida. He may never challenge GSP again but he definitely has the chance to add some more wins to an already impressive resume.

John is a definite up and comer who has the added advantage of been British which the UFC like to market carefully. John has a good chance in this fight and with Matt Hughes on a three fight win streak, this makes sense to promote the talented fighter. Maybe a semi main event slot in England sometime early next year?

Chances of Joe Silva making the match -6/10: I think Hughes tore up the script they had in mind. Almeida was suppose to win and become a contender, it wasn’t meant to be though but I still think Hughes will be a “feeder” of sorts to up and coming talent.