UFC 177 Winners: Who Should they Fight Next?
UFC 177 Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw vs. Former Champion Dominick Cruz
As long as Cruz is able to return to form against Takeya Mizugaki there is no reason he should not be fighting for the belt. He is undefeated at 135 and no one is truly going to be a champion unless they can beat him. He did not retire; he was hurt. Rafael Assuncao may spout off all he wants, but the truth is the Dillashaw they performed this weekend at UFC 177 is a different fighter than he faced in their fight. Dillashaw is the champion but has to beat Cruz it really put his mark on the division.
Joe Soto vs. Johnny Eduardo
Soto put up a valiant effort but ultimately he fell short at UFC 177. Eduardo just came away with a huge win against Eddie Wineland, but he has been inconsistent, only fighting three times since 2011 due to injury. Usually a fighter off a win and loss do not get matched up, but after stepping up from the under card Soto deserves the chance to show he belongs in the top ten instead of fighting nobodies on the undercard.
Tony Ferguson vs. Edson Barboza
Ferguson came away with the win at UFC 177 but it was not pretty. None the less at 6-1 in the division he deserves to see if he belongs in the top 10 to 15. Barboza has been hot and cold as of late, but he has beaten anyone outside of the top ten fighters he fights. Barboza will be the litmus test that Ferguson needs to pass before moving on to bigger fights in the division.
Bethe Correia vs. Sarah Kaufman
Correia and Rousey may want the fight each other after UFC 177, but the issue is that it is just not going to happen. Cat Zingano earned her shot a long time ago and may prove she deserves it with a win next month again. Kaufman is a consistent fighter who has only ever lost to the best. She will make sure Correia has a complete MMA game which any fighter needs to prove a threat to Ronda Rousey. Correia did well on the ground against Baszler but she is not on the level of most of the fighters in the division.
Carlos Ferreira vs. James Vick
The bottom line is both fighters are undefeated, have a win over the same fighter and need more experience before facing any bigger names. Only two fights into their respective UFC careers, it is time to show who is ready for the next leap.
Derek Brunson vs. Ed Herman
Brunson has done well so far in his UFC career. Given his fight with Larkin at UFC 177 was not the most exciting, but the bottom line is he did what he needed to win. He got too loose when facing Yoel Romero and paid the price by getting TKO’d. Herman has been around for a long time and picked up a pretty good win over Rafael Natal earlier this year. He still needs to prove he belongs and sometimes that means fighting up and comers. That is what Brunson will provide for Herman.
Anthony Hamilton vs. Todd Duffee