(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for UFC 237’s winning fighters?)
After every event, fans wonder whom the losing fighters will be matched up with next.
With another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker for UFC 237’s most notable fighters.
Those fighters include Rose Namajunas (8-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who dropped the strawweight title to Jessica Andrade (20-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the main event at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, as well as former titleholders Anderson Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC), Jose Aldo (28-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and B.J. Penn (16-14-2 MMA, 12-13-2 UFC).
B.J. Penn
Should fight: No one
Why they should fight: There is some legitimacy to the argument that fighters should be able to choose the time and place in which they retire from MMA. If Penn insists on continuing that’s his choice, but after the UFC Hall of Famer suffered his seventh consecutive octagon loss, the UFC can no longer be complicit in allowing the Hawaiian to compete on its platform.
All the outside-the-cage drama with Penn aside, he is simply not UFC caliber at this stage of his career. He had a decent first round in his lightweight fight with Clay Guida, but ran out of steam early in the second and hung on by a thread to reach the final bell for a unanimous decision loss. The former two-division champ has gone from MMA icon to one of the sport’s most concerning cases, and if he or the people around him won’t pull the plug, the UFC must do its best to try and pull it for him.
At 40, Penn has nothing left to prove. Nothing can take away from his accomplishments, but the scope of his legacy is being damaged with every performance and there’s no valid reason for it to continue. Hopefully Penn recognizes that and the madness can finally stop.
Jose Aldo
Should fight:
Yair Rodriguez
Why they should fight: The late-career surge by Aldo was brought to a halt in a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski, and now the future events from the former longtime UFC featherweight champion have become even more compelling.
Aldo looked very impressive in his two wins prior to Volkanovski, so much so that there was discussion of him possibly getting one final title shot before hanging up his gloves. Those hopes were likely derailed, though, and now Aldo has some decisions to make about how he wants to close out his MMA career.
Given that he still has aspirations of boxing, there’s a good chance “Scarface” fights out the final bout on his UFC contract so he’s not contractually obligated to anyone. At this point the opponent doesn’t matter much, but from the UFC perspective it would be worth putting someone on the rise against him to squeeze out any final bits of name value possible from the future UFC Hall of Famer.
Rodriguez (11-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) has shown flashes of brilliance in the octagon that give him star potential, he just needs to be active and get more big wins on his record. A fight with Aldo would be massive for his career, and on paper, the matchup has the ingredients to be something spectacular.
Anderson Silva
Should fight: Uriah Hall
Why they should fight: Prior to UFC 237, Silva said his intention was to fight the final three fights of his contract before seriously considering retirement. There was even a report that surfaced claiming he was already negotiating an extension with the UFC. All those plans could be out the window given the nature of his loss to Jared Cannonier, though.
Silva was put down by a pinpoint leg kick from Cannonier that resulted in a first-round TKO and a seemingly serious injury for “The Spider.” Silva was badly limping as he left the octagon and could not do so without receiving physical support. That’s not what you want to see from a 44-year-old athlete, and perhaps this moment will serve as a wakeup call that he should bring his days of competition to a halt.
Given his history and personality, though, there’s a good chance Silva will be back for at least one more. The UFC hasn’t thrown him any gimmes during this late stretch of his career, and that would be unlikely to change moving forward. Hall (14-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC) is an opponent who the Brazilian was supposed to fight at UFC 198 and was offered the spot at UFC 237. Perhaps the third time will be the charm when it comes to bringing the two together.
Rose Namajunas
Should fight: The champion
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Namajunas should fight for the strawweight belt in her next fight – whether Andrade still holds it not – should she choose to continue her MMA career.
For complete coverage of UFC 237, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
