The Heavy Shakeup: What To Expect Post UFC on FOX 13
The Heavy Shakeup: What To Expect Post UFC on FOX 13
The main card of UFC Fight Night 13 showcased three of the four main card matches in the heavyweight division. All of the heavyweights who fought on the main card were in the UFC’s top 15 ranking. Let’s breakdown where each fighter could possibly go from here.
Matt Mitrione / Gabriel Gonzaga – It was no surprise that this fight did not make it past round one, nor that it didn’t even make it to the halfway mark (one minute and fifty nine seconds). Mitrione has now won three straight fights all by knockout or TKO in the first round. A fun fight would be to see Mark Hunt (#5 heavyweight) square off against Mitrione. Gonzaga has now lost back-to-back fights, but he is always entertaining to watch, and the UFC could use him to keep the division deep. A match up with Stefan Struve would be interesting to see, with both fighters having their backs against the wall with consecutive losses.
Alistair Overeem / Stefan Struve – Overeem was being marked as a dead man walking if he were to lose this fight, losing three of his last four fights. Overeem overcame the pressure and showed why he was once the Strikeforce and K1 heavyweight champion, finishing off Struve in the closing seconds of round one. Another fighter reemerging in the heavyweight division is former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, winner of his last two UFC bouts. As mentioned earlier, Struve has now lost his last two UFC fights in a row, a third could put him in trouble, and the same goes for Gonzaga.
Junior Dos Santos / Stipe Miocic – This was a big fight for many reasons, including the fact that these were the second and fourth ranked fighters in the division. This was a close fight which seemed to be in Miocic’s edge until Dos Santos turned it around and won the judges’ decision. Dos Santos was once UFC heavyweight champion after stopping Cain Velasquez, and then he lost the belt back to Velasquez. With Werdum champion and Velasquez out with injury, Dos Santos should get the shot at Werdum (who Dos Santos has defeated in the past encounter). Miocic is still a top player in the division and one of the best competitors. The UFC needs to keep Miocic in the loop, and if he were to win his next fight against another top ranked fighter, he could still get a quick title shot. Travis Browne would make for a very interesting fight and makes sense.
