Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub
After completely dominating Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121, Schaub called out former champion Mir in the post-fight press conference. It wasn’t out of malice or anything, Schaub just wants to test himself against the best and continue climbing the heavyweight ranks. Mir is among the division’s elite and a win over a fighter of his caliber would solidify Schaub as a true contender.
Some might argue that it’s too soon for Schaub to fight someone like Mir but I disagree. Schaub has proven in recent fights that he is ready for a big step up in competition. Plus, after the snooze-fest with “Cro Cop”, Mir needs to fight a young lion that can push the pace.
Donald Cerrone vs. Takanori Gomi
Former PRIDE lightweight champion Gomi is the perfect opponent, stylistically speaking, to welcome Cerrone into the UFC. Despite never holding a championship, Cerrone was one of the WEC’s premier stars. He became a hot commodity for the WEC simply based off his exciting performances in the cage so it makes sense to pair him up with fighters who can cater to that style.
Gomi may not be as great as he once was but he’s still a top ranked lightweight that’s fun to watch.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Thiago Silva
In interviews leading up to his upcoming bout with Lyoto Machida at UFC 123, “Rampage” announced that he only wants to fight exciting fighters from here on out. An aggressive Muay-Thai fighter like Silva can absolutely give Jackson the barn burner he’s looking for.
Realistically, Jackson probably loses a decision to Machida. With two straight losses in fights that presented poor stylistic matchups for Jackson, it would be time to go the opposite route and give “Rampage” a fight that favors his style.
Mike Brown vs. Mark Hominick
4-0 in his last four fights, Hominick was rumored to be next in line for a title shot against Jose Aldo at UFC 125. Unfortunately the Canadian suffered an injury after his bout with Leonard Garcia and had to turn down the title shot for the time being. When his injury heals up, an interesting fight for Hominick would be against former featherweight champ Brown.
Brown is an explosive wrestler with punching power but Hominick could pick him apart on the feet if able to avoid the takedown.
Brian Bowles vs. Joseph Benavidez
Separately, Bowles and Benavidez are known for their action packed performances so a fight against each other would surely produce fireworks. If the UFC plan on highlighting the bantamweight division at its best then this is a fight they need to make. They also both claim fame to stoppage victories over arguably the best 135-lbs fighter of all time in Miguel Torres.
Brock Lesnar vs. Roy Nelson
Both heavyweights want this fight and the fans have also showed interest in it so let’s make it happen. There have been talks of the UFC promoting a rubber match between Lesnar and Frank Mir but let’s be honest, nobody wants to see that fight. Coming off his loss to Cain Velasquez, it doesn’t make sense to match Lesnar up with a fighter he thoroughly dominated once and almost twice before in Mir.
Fans want to see if Lesnar can evolve in this sport. They want to see the former heavyweight champion face new challenges and “Big Country” is certainly a challenge.