UFC 133 Results: What's the Best We Can Expect from Costantinos Philippou?

Constantinos Phillipou was nobody's first pick to win at UFC 133, but he did deliver as a short-notice replacement for Alessio Sakara.

Philippou took Rivera down multiple times. He seemed to get the better of the striking game at times, and of course, let's not forget that wicked omoplata.

Yes, he did capitalize on his shot against someone who was a step up from the person who was originally to be his foe, but after this fight, what can we expect out of him?

Is it possible for him to reach the top of the heap at 185 pounds, once the likes of Rivera, Sakara, Chris Leben, Mark Munoz, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann, Yushin Okami and current 185-pound champ, Anderson Silva, all are gone from the active competition scene?

Absolutely.

Philippou has a chance, as does Court McGee, Chris Weidman, Riki Fukuda, Rafael Natal and some of the young names that will come up in MMA's Middleweight scene.

Now, will Philippou actually get anywhere close to a title shot?

Maybe and maybe not, but he has the type of style and the improving fight game to argue for his future being spent somewhere in the upper echelon of the UFC Middleweight division in the next great era of Middleweight MMA.

It's clear he's no one-trick pony who cannot win if the fight goes to the ground.

He has developed a sweet, but still green, ground game, and he's shown a willingness to wear his foes down before actually defeating them on their feet.

All he has to to is adjust his game to where it's not ridiculous to see him beating a guy like Weidman or McGee, and then we can start calling him a part of MMA's Middleweight division of the future.

For right now, however, it would be better if we say what we all feel. What we all feel, is that for right now, Philippou is still a prospect and as such, we have to take it slow on the bold outlooks for the time being.

Right now, Philippou is good, but he's proven that he could be a Top 20 or Top 15 fighter, at best.

If he wants to prove that outlook as inaccurate, it's in his best interest to keep on improving as a fighter. But with the way he took on Rivera, it's not impossible to thing he can get to the upper echelon.

He just needs to take this whole thing one day and one fight at a time, that's all.