What’s Next For UFC 100′s Winners

Now that UFC 100 is over and done with we can begin to look ahead and see what is in store for the winners of Saturday night’s historic main card fighters. Let’s begin with the main event and work our way down.

Brock Lesnar- Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion:

With a resounding performance against the only man to have defeated him in his young mixed martial arts career Lesnar is sitting pretty right now. In such a short time he has proven that he can not only learn from his mistakes but that he can now finish his fights. Having beaten his last two opponents, both of whom were former UFC heavyweight champions in Randy Couture and Frank Mir, Lesnar has shown his ever improving arsenal. He is no longer just a stand-out wrestler with great speed and tremendous strength, he also possesses great control and patience as well.

What’s next for Brock? I would tend to believe that the winner of the Shane Carwin-Cain Velasquez bout scheduled for UFC 104 will be next in line. Both of those fighters are also championship caliber wrestlers but that is where the similarities end. Carwin has shown that he can finish anyone by either knockout or submission. He has very good stand-up and a solid chin. Velasquez is still young and has so much to learn, there is no doubt he will be a dominating heavyweight for many years to come. As evidenced by his fight with heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo last month he needs to work on finishing his opponents. Also, Carwin has already planted the seeds to a bout with Lesnar when he called him out on his post-fight behavior via twitter.

As far as the other contenders go there is the winner of the Couture-Noguiera match-up as well as the winner of the Mirko Cro-Cop vs. Junior Dos Santos bout which is scheduled for September. My money is on Carwin vs. Lesnar as long as Carwin can get by Velsaquez. If Cain is able and defeats Carwin he will more than likely get the next crack at Lesnar.

Georges St. Pierre- UFC Welterweight Champion:

Another fight and another strong contender reduced to rubble. Thiago Alves came into this fight with GSP on a roll and looking stronger than any other fighter that GSP has faced in recent times. He was taken down at will and beaten by a fighter whom many consider to be the world’s best pound for pound fighter. Take nothing away from Alves he made GSP work and he will be back but I am just trying to prove a point. No matter how big, how strong or how technical an opponent is, GSP makes them look human and breaks their will.

He has defeated the bulk of the UFC’s welterweight contenders including Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes (2x), and Matt Serra. I have heard rumors that the winner of the Mike Swick-Martin Kampmann bout which is scheduled for UFC 103 in September will get the next crack at GSP. I am sorry they are both good fighters with good all around skills but it is going to take much more than a good fighter to beat the great GSP. I believe if Jon Fitch gets another quality win he will eventually be given another crack at the champion. There is also the severity of the groin injury that GSP suffered during his bout with Alves. If he is out for an extended period of time it will give the UFC an opportunity to sort through the welterweight contenders. One thing I don’t see happening is a move up to 185 at this time for St. Pierre.

Dan Henderson- UFC Middleweight Contender:

With another strong win Henderson has certainly made a strong case for himself to be the number one contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title. Dana White backtracked a bit on comments he made before UFC 100 that the winner of the Henderson-Bisping bout would be next in line. He is now saying that Henderson “could be” given a rematch with the Spider. With Silva lined up to fight Forrest Griffin as a light heavyweight next month the timing makes sense for another Henderson-Silva bout.

Also in consideration for the next crack at Silva will be the winner of the Nate

Marquardt-Demain Maia fight scheduled for UFC 102 on August 29th. Marquardt like Henderson has already faced and lost to Silva. Maia, who is 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the UFC with all five wins coming via submission may be punished because of the performance that Thales Leites gave at UFC 97 against Silva. The UFC might be reluctant to put another jiu-jitsu ace in fear that the bout will be boring. Leites did no one any favors by refusing to engage with Silva as he contino

usly dropped onto his back in hopes of luring Silva to the ground.

With all the top contenders and the champion fighting within close proximity of each other it does leave the UFC with a few options. Both Henderson and Marquardt are fighters who will look to bring the fight to the champion. What I can see happening is this, if Marquardt defeats Maia then I see the UFC putting Henderson and Marquardt together to determine the number one contender. If Maia is successful then I see the UFC going straight to a Henderson-Silva rematch with Maia facing the winner.

Yoshihiro Aki

yama- UFC Middleweight:

Not much for Akiyama right now other than to build up his resume within the organization. Some believe he was given a gift on Saturday night, I was not one of them. I can not say I was overly impressed with is performance though, I felt he gassed pretty early and was very susceptible to leg kicks. He has a lot of work to do but it was his

first bout inside the octagon and he still gave a respectable showing. The UFC will probably match him up with someone like Ed Herman, Nate Quarry or maybe even Chael Sonnen. All three of them are solid fighters but will not be contending for a title anytime soon.

Jon Fitch- UFC Welterweight Contender:

Fitch is ever improving and he is not the same fighter that he was when he fought GSP back in August of last year. His striking seems a bit crisper and while he has always

been a great wrestler, he seems to have improved his jiu-jitsu. I like Fitch a lot, the man took a serious beating at the hands of GSP and kept coming, he never gave in no matter how much punishment he took. He holds an outstanding 10-

1 record in the UFC and is now 19-3 overall.

I don’t think he is next in line, as I said earlier I believe the winner of Swick-Kampmann will get the next opportunity. Fitch could possibly face Matt Hughes and gain another shot at GSP with a win over the future UFC hall of famer. Other than Hughes maybe he could face Karo Parisyan when he returns in October. That would give Fitch three months to rest and get ready for another fight. Whomever he faces if he is victorious I believe he will garner another shot at GSP. I don’t

think he can beat him but in division full of fighters that GSP has already beaten who else is left?

Tomorrow I am going to analyze the losers of the main card bouts and where they go from here. Until then, thanks for reading.