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UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem – Fights to make
- Updated: September 11, 2016
By this time, at the point that you’ve gone through the other post-fight analysis posts, watched the event, listened to the interviews, you know UFC 203 was weird. In some ways, it was always going to be weird. Following a string of tent-pole-esque events for the promotion, a PPV in Cleveland that included two big heavyweight fights and the debut of a pro-wrestler-turned-fighter had to be a spectacle to have any chance of standing out. And boy was it ever.
But, out of chaos comes order, as Howard Johnson so rightly says in Blazing Saddles. And so out of this chaos, we must bring some sort of order to the UFC’s fight booking future. And that is what I am here to do. I’ll be giving you the best potential matches to make after UFC 203, using the Silva (while it lasts)/ Shelby method of fight booking. Similarly experienced fighters matched together, with an eye toward winner vs. winner and loser vs. loser. Now, lets get to the fights…
STIPE MIOCIC: Werdum may want this fight badly and, hell, he may even deserve it. But, if I’m the UFC I gotta go with Stipe Miocic vs. Cain Velasquez right now. If beating Travis Browne is going to be a path to the title shot for either man, then Cain did a much more impressive job. And while Werdum has a win over Cain, that Cain vs. Stipe fight is unquestionably the most interesting matchup in the division right now. We haven’t seen it before and I’ll be damned if I’m 100% certain as to just how it’ll play out. Stipe took some big shots from Overeem, shots that, if he gave them to Velasquez, would have a lot of wrestling to follow them up. Either way it’d be a great fight. Lets get Cain Velasquez vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight belt.
ALISTAIR OVEREEM: I said it last week and I’m repeating it this week. Right now, the best fight for Overeem (especially off a loss) is Josh Barnett. If the Reem had won this fight, he’d be champ and it wouldn’t make much sense to give Barnett a title shot. But, off a loss Overeem vs. Barnett is another one of those heavyweight bouts that’s been 10 years in the making. Barnett looked very hurtable against Arlovski before turning in a big submission win and the way both men are fighting right now it’d be bound to be exciting. If the UFC can’t book that, then I suppose the could do Overeem/Browne 2, but that’s a very poor second choice. Barnett vs. Overeem is where it’s at.
FABRICIO WERDUM: If Werdum doesn’t get an immediate title shot, then the UFC has to,HAS TO, book Werdum vs. JDS 2. So, so much has changed since those two men fought 8 years ago, but here they are, both at the top of the heavyweight division, both coming …
