Last Saturday’s UFC 132 card was one of the more exciting and entertaining cards that the promotion has run this year, and was far superior to last month’s pay per view. The highlight of the evening by far was Tito Ortiz’ shocking first round submission victory over Ryan Bader. It was his first win in five years and first time finishing someone NOT name Ken Shamrock in ten. Tito needed a win to keep his job with the UFC and with the Las Vegas fans firmly behind him, levelled Bader with an uppercut and finished him with a guillotine within minutes of the opening bell. The main event of Faber and Cruz was an exciting technical affair, but as someone who was rooting for Faber I was disappointed. This wasn’t because he lost, as I had expected him to lose by decision, it was that he really blew a winnable fight. There were several instances where Faber should have followed up with some strikes after getting up from a takedown or busting in and out of the clinch, but did not. He didn’t push the pace at the times when he needed to and instead was tagged by Cruz’ smart boxing and crazy footwork. In other news from the card, PRIDE again took a blow as Wanderlei Silva was annihilated in 27 seconds by Chris Leben. I’ll go into this some more in a minute, but I don’t necessarily think that this fight should be the end for Silva. He just fought in a profoundly stupid fashion and it cost him. With that being said, let’s get down to what should come next for the winners (and some of the losers) from UFC 132.
Dominick Cruz: The UFC Bantamweight Champion looked good in his first fight since the WEC closed shop. His herky jerky footwork and angles he throws strikes from makes it very difficult to score any points against him, but it also makes it nearly impossible for him to throw any power strikes hard enough to finish an opponent. He showed great takedown offense and defense against Faber, who has very strong grappling skills, and his performance in that department should halt a lot of criticism against him. Look for him to take on former WEC Bantamweight Champ Brian Bowles and/or Demetrius Johnson before hooking up with Faber for a rubber match.
Urijah Faber: Faber didn’t look awful in this loss, but he should realize that this was a fight that he could have won if he showed some more urgency. He still performed better than anyone else has against Cruz to date and within one to two more matches, I would expect him to get another shot for the belt. A fight with fellow fan favorite Miguel Torres could be fun and makes a lot of sense for both men.
Chris Leben: The Crippler brutally finished Wanderlei Silva and has managed to eliminate some of the negativity surrounding him after his loss to Brian Stann back in January. He’s probably 2-3 fights away from a middleweight title shot, but the odds of him being able to avenge a loss to Anderson Silva are nil. I would suggest Mark Munoz, but he’ll likely be paired off with Stann for his next fight. I would like to see him take on Vitor Belfort, assuming Belfort beats Akiyama at UFC 133. That could be exciting.
Wanderlei Silva: I’m in the minority of people who think that Silva could potentially continue his career. I think with a change in his strategy, he could fight a couple more years (barring any more massive knockouts). His biggest problem in the Leben fight was that he charged like a bull and reacted poorly. Instead of backing up and taking a second to recover before going back on offense, he kept fumbling for a clinch that he had no momentum and leverage for and received several vicious uppercuts to the grill for his trouble. If he had fought more like he had in the Bisping fight last year, he wouldn’t have been laid out quite as badly. What worked for him in PRIDE won’t work for him anymore and if he wants to keep fighting, he needs to learn to cope with that fact. I would let him get started on that trail by putting him up against Demian Maia. Maia doesn’t wade into firefights and his punching power isn’t going to put Silva away, but his striking is solid and his ground game is top notch and it could push Wanderlei into a new direction that doesn’t involve major head trauma.
Carlos Condit: The Natural Born Killer looked fantastic in knocking out Dong Hyun Kim with a flying knee and a flurry of punches in the first round. He showed better ground defense than he has in the past as well, getting up quickly from a takedown. I would say that he is one more fight away from a title shot. If BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have their rematch and Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger still face off in September, then Condit should either face a returning Josh Koscheck in the winter. If that isn’t an option, then put him up against Diego Sanchez if Sanchez beats Matt Hughes. If Penn-Fitch 2 doesn’t happen, put him up against Fitch in a number one contender bout. It would be the best way to see if Condit is ready, as Fitch is clearly the second best fighter in the division and if someone can beat him, that man is very deserving of a title shot.
Melvin Guillard: The Young Assassin scored a brutal knockout win over the hopelessly outmatched Shane Roller and is poised to be a contender for the lightweight title in the next year. The only problem is that the title picture is gridlocked until Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard settle their business. If Jim Miller beats Ben Henderson next month at the UFC on Versus, then Miller is the top challenger and Melvin should take on Dennis Siver. If Henderson wins, I would pair him off against Guillard for a title eliminator and put Clay Guida up against the winner of Edgar-Maynard III (whenever that happens).
Ryan Bader: Bader has fallen so far, so fast this year. He went from being mentioned in the same breath as Jon Jones for the future of the light heavyweight division to being tooled by Jones and nearly KOed and actually choked out early by Tito Ortiz in a fight that was supposed to be a gimme for him. Bader has some serious soul searching and work to do. Although he has good power, his striking has never been as good as he thought it was and it’s come back to bite him in the ass. His strongest suit is wrestling, so he should probably go back to that a bit more while he shores up his standup technique and submission defense. A fight against fellow wrestler/mediocre striker Matt Hamill makes a lot of sense for him, since he’s in no danger of being on the receiving end of a guillotine again and it is apparent that neither man can hang with the upper echelon of the 205 lbs weight class right now.
Tito Ortiz: Tito gave the fans one of the best moments in recent memory in the UFC with his win over Bader. The emotion from the fans in the arena, as well as the emotion from himself combined with the vicious uppercut that floored Bader and the guillotine that finished him made for a riveting experience. Tito went from being forced into retirement to having new life in the UFC. He wants the winner of Shogun Rua and Forrest Griffin, but I think that both those guys are a little out of his league right now. The fight that makes the most sense for him would be against the winner of Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Despite this win and what he may think, Tito is at best a top 20 ranked light heavyweight. If he beats one of the aforementioned guys, then a fight with someone on the lower half of the top ten would make sense.
That’s it for this piece. If there are any fights coming out of UFC 132 you think should be made, or you have thoughts to share on the event, have something you would like to say, then feel free to leave a comment or post on facebook.
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