With the passing of each major UFC card, the landscape and future of the organization is impacted tremendously. UFC 113 saw a title change hands, a title shot earned, two fighters get fired and a handful of fighters climb the ladder, while others fell off it. Here’s what the future holds for UFC 113’s headline makers.
Shogun – Automatic entry into the pound for pound top 10, and his first title defense sometime in the fall against the winner of Rashad vs.Rampage. When asked after the fight if he’s be willing to take on fellow Brazilian Anderson Silva, Rua responded “Of course, I’m a professional fighter.” Good answer. With so many fighters these days being unwilling to take on friends, fellow countrymen and training partners, its refreshing to hear that Rua will defend his title against anyone.
Lyoto Machida – Considering the UFC’s love for fight trilogy’s, Machida is probably a win or two away from a shot at the title. A fight against Forrest Griffin makes sense, as does a fight against Rampage if he loses to Rashad in a few weeks.
Josh Koscheck – A stint as coach on TUF will boost his appeal as one of the sports top villains. The extended layoff that goes along with coaching on the show will give him plenty of time to work on his take down defense as he’ll finally get his title shot against GSP towards the end of the year.
Paul Daley – A short stop on the unemployment line, perhaps followed by signing with Strikeforce. Strikeforce would have nothing to lose by signing Daley, as it could set up some nice fights with the likes of Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron.
Kimbo Slice – It looks like Kimbo will have to spend some time as an unemployed fighter as well, but this probably won’t last long. Even though he lacks skills to compete at the top level of MMA, the guy is too big of a draw. Strikeforce would be smart to sign him to fight Herschel Walker in a fight that would draw lots of mainstream attention.
Alan Belcher – This guy is extremely well rounded and is one more big fight away from the title shot. Why not have him fight Vitor Belfort this fall in a number one contender fight.
Patrick Cote – Cote put on a decent performance against Belcher, but he still has some major improvements to make. Cote vs. Demian Maia makes lots of sense with both fighters coming off of loses.
Overall, UFC 113 was a good, but not great card. I hope no one purchased the PPV in hopes of watching a great Kimbo Slice performance. The Koscheck-Daley fight also lacked the fireworks most fans expected after months of trash talk, but Shogun’s quick knockout of Machida made up for that. In a few short weeks we’ll do it all over again with UFC 114 which holds many intriguing match-ups with title shot implications.
