UFC Ottawa: Fights to make for the main card fighters

UFC Ottawa wasn’t the best card on paper and it wasn’t the best card of the year, but it was a solid event with some amazingly fun fights and some amazingly not fun fights and a whole bunch of late finishes. The most important part however, is that we got some divisional sorting done and some new fights can get made. We’ve got a new title challenger at 170, a recovered action fighter at 115, and a host of other stuff to sort out.

As always, I’ll be following the Silva/Shelby methodology: winners vs. winners, losers vs. losers, and similarly tenured fighters fighting one another. When needed I’ll switch things up, if there’s just no better fight out there for a specific fighter, but I want to try and predict the future, not just offer up a bunch of crazy fantasy fights. That said, let’s get to the potential matchups.

STEPHEN THOMPSON: This seems clear to me. Give Thompson the winner of Lawler/Woodley. Sure this wasn’t the most thrilling win in the history of thrilling wins, but why throw the matchup baby out with the bad fight bathwater. Lawler/Thompson would almost certainly be a totally different fight from Thompson/MacDonald and unless Condit is about to get a rematch, the only other option is Maia and you can’t claim that would be more fun. So let’s see Stephen Thompson vs. the Lawler/Woodley winner.

RORY MACDONALD: Obviously the big question is whether Rory Mac is even a UFC fighter next time he steps into a cage. Assuming he is, however, it’s time for him to take a step back. He’s had his face broken twice in a row now, he needs a fight with a little less on the line. Maybe the loser of Masvidal vs. Bahadurzada? Or maybe Ryan LaFlare when LaFlare comes back from injury. I’ll say the Bahadurzada/Masvidal loser vs. Rory MacDonald makes the best sense right now, but either way he may just need a long break.

DONALD CERRONE: Cerrone is doing exactly what he did best at 155 lbs, only now he’s doing it at welterweight. Take whatever fun action fight is in front of you, whenever. I mean, maybe this just seems simplistic or too easy, but why not fight Neil Magny. Both dudes are workhorse fighters known for facing any and everyone, they’ve got to fight sooner or later at the pace they keep. Why not now? Donald Cerrone vs. Neil Magny.

PATRICK COTE: This was a bad loss for Cote. He’s been beat before, but this is probably the first time I can remember in his career where he’s just looked totally outclassed everywhere… Maybe his loss to Thompson, but he never gave Thompson enough opportunity to finish him, and he got few licks in. Cerrone just put the screws to him for two rounds, before handing him the first TKO loss of his career. On that note, it’s probably best to keep him on the silver circuit, I’m saying Cote vs. Sexyama is the fight to make.

JOANNE CALDERWOOD: “Bad Mofo JoJo” was in full form for the first time in her UFC career, and it was a great thing to see. I still have doubts about her ability to compete for a belt, but her grit and her offensive creativity can’t be denied. She’s a bit of a strawweight Matt Brown, with all the ups and downs associated. A fight with PVZ would be good, but VanZant is coming of a pretty crushing loss. I’d definitely be down to see her fight the Kowalkiewicz/Namajunas winner, but if she just wants to jump right back in (or can afford too) then a fight with Justine Kish would be a fun way to kill time. Calderwood vs. Kish is my pick.

VALERIE LETOURNEAU: Letourneau was doing pretty well for a lot of this fight, but when it came to a test of will… and a test of body strikes, Calderwood had her number. There’s no need for Letourneau to turn right around and face another super tough out. I’d like to see her take a step back against someone a little less dangerous. Juliana Lima would be a great fight, as Lima both possesses a solid takedown game for Letourneau to worry about, but none of the power striking she’s dealt with in her last two fights. Valerie Letourneau vs. Juliana Lima.

MISHA CIRKUNOV: Cirkunov looks like he’s ready for a bigger test, but it’s hard to get much bigger without suddenly being neck deep in the LHW division. Marcos Rogerio de Lima is probably the best next step. He’s got lots more high end experience than Cirkunov, but is very much the same kind of action brawler Cirkunov has been beating. Pezao vs. Cirkunov would be great.

KRZYSZTOF JOTKO: Well, Thiago Santos is already booked, so that’s out of the potential matchups for Jotko coming off his biggest career win. Still, that does leave Derek Brunson once Brunson recovers from injury. That would be a fantastic fight and a big test for Jotko. If that can’t get made, the winner of Boetsch vs. Samman would be less of a step up but a very fun fight for the Pole. I’ll say try the Jotko vs. Brunson fight first.

TAMDAN MCCRORY: Barncat done gone and lost a life. And while that takes some of the steam off his career resurrection, there are still plenty of fights I’d like to see him in. If Hector Lombard is still in the UFC after his loss to Dan Henderson, Lombard vs. McCrory would be an awesome fight. If one or both of them need a lot more time off to recover from TBI, then I’d say McCrory vs. Caio Magalhaes, when he returns from injury. Still,McCrory vs. Lombard is my first choice.

ELIAS THEODOROU: Theodorou did what he had to do and got himself back on the winning track in a cautious decision win over Sam Alvey. The question now becomes, does he get another slow footed plodder in Dan Kelly, or a really dangerous fight against Magnus Cedenblad. I’m actually going to go with a third option and say, match Theodorou up with the winner of Anthony Smith vs. Cezar Ferreira. Both men are powerful strikers and fast enough to track Theodorou down, but have some durability issues that should make for a more interesting fight. Theodorou vs. the Smith/Ferreira winner.

ALI BAGAUTINOV: Ali B. got the win he had to get over the young prospect Geane Herrera and now it’s time to throw him back into the deep end. John Moraga is getting a similar softball matchup against Matheus Nicolau. Assuming Moraga solves that riddle I’d say this is the perfect time to do a Ali B. vs. Moraga fight.

OTHER BOUTS: Bosse vs. Henrique da Silva, O’Connell vs. Barroso, Aubin-Mercier vs. Dober, Saggo vs. Ray, Silva vs. Proctor, Cutelaba vs. Wilson, Soto vs. A. Perez, Markos vs. Rawlings, Jones-Lybarger vs. Ansaroff, Covington vs. Taleb, Meunier vs. Chagas, Herrera vs. Benoit