UFC 125: The Losers Aftermath

Now that UFC 125 is in the books it's once again time to play prognosticator and see who may not be having a happy new year after all. As usual here are my predictions on what now happens to the losers with regards to their future in UFC:
Antonio McKee-Push. The fact that it was a SD plus his very long winning streak coming in probably gets him one more fight. But he's gotta finish.
Greg Soto-Gone. Normally I'd say Push but here's how his UFC fights have ended-DQ'd, UD win, 1st round tapout loss. And all against lower to mid-card talent at best. Needs more seasoning.
Mike Brown-Safe. Another tough loss, he's alternated wins & losses since dropping the WEC title to Aldo. He'll be back.
Phil Baroni-Gone. He might still have the drive and the mouth, but that's about it. Like certain other guys before him, it's time to hang it up. ANd that's 3 in a row in UFC anyway and now his career mark is .500. Name recognition might get him another fight, but it's not worth it and it's not in UFC.
Josh Grispi-Safe. Not exactly the best way to justify your nickname now, is it? All this really cost him is probably his shot at Jose Aldo. And he's gotta re-earn it, about the only good thing to say was Poirier didn't finish him somehow.
Marcus Davis-Push. Honestly I lean towards Gone because he's now 1-4 in his last 5 but this was his first fight at 155 and he was doing quite well until he just got caught. HUGE caught. Outside of the KO, may have shown enough at 155 to get one more chance, but a cut will not surprise me.
Takanori Gomi-Push. Only 1-2 in UFC but has fought only top-tier guys. Never any shame in losing to Clay Guida. Might get another chance, but has to learn to defend the choke.
Nate Diaz-Safe. But now clearly seems to be stuck in the mid-card regardless of weight he fights at. I'd suggest 145 but that may be too big a cut.
Brandon Vera-Gone. The Truth. That's 3 losses in a row and as a whole he just was never able to put it all together at 205. Maybe he should've stayed at Heavyweight even after the loss to Werdum.
Chris Leben-Safe. He probably lost his case for Wanderlei Silva next though. This probably demoted him to either PPV opener or a UFN main event for his next fight.

Yeah I think Davis might get another shot at 155 and then if he loses, then cut/retire

Davis looked great before he got caught, give him one more chance at LW Dana please!

Antonio McKee - Safe. Add in his record, split decision, and "UFC jitters" they will probably give him another chance.

Greg Soto - I think he has a 50/50 chance. They might keep him around just in case a new up and comer needs a fight, or just to fill in a prelim spot on a Fight Night.

Mike Brown - Stay. Brown is pretty popular and a lot of people thought he was robbed.

Phil Baroni - In my eyes, he's gone. I think he's overrated and hasn't looked anywhere near decent for a while. Unless the UFC pulls a Tito Ortiz, and gives him fights on name alone. Other than that, he will recieve his walking papers.

Josh Grispi - He has no worries. Fans might complain that he was cheated out of a title shot, but he was honestly saved from a beating by Aldo. Now that he has to start over it will give him more time to improve more.

Marcus Davis- He's gone. Hasn't looked good for a while now and he just can't keep up the young guns. He was getting a beating at Welterweight, and moved down a division where he should have size and power advantage, but ended up getting knocked clean out. It's time to move on or start fighting the local circut.

Takanori Gomi - Safe. International superstar with a decent knockout over Tyson Griffin. The UFC will keep him due to his huge fanbase in Japan. He just needs to train his submission defense.

Nate Diaz- Dana won't cut him anytime soon unless he ends up pissing someone off. Seems as though he's having the same issue he had at Lightweight, blows through the low level guys and can't seem to make that push to win against those near the top 5-10. I think his downfall is his brother, Nick. Nate seems to be trying way too hard to be like Nick, and it just isn't working. He now seems to concentrate all his efforts on his "Stockton" boxing and thrash talking, and not winning the fight. Wouldn't surprise me to see him try his hand at Middleweight (joke)

Brandon Vera - He should be getting some calls from Strikeforce soon, because his days as "the next big thing" are over, and he can kiss that rematch with Jones goodbye. When you get to the point where a guy feels that you can cause no damage to him and goes on to play the drums on your back, your time is done. He can't back up the smack he talks anymore.


Chris Leben - Dana knows if he cut Leben there would outrage heard around the world. He's just too exciting to let go of, win or lose. He deserves a break anyway, he won two fights in two weeks.

Antonio McKee-Push. but won't be televised or invited back if he does it again
Greg Soto-Gone.agreed
Mike Brown-Safe. one more for he is in a new weight class for the UFC
Phil Baroni-Gone. Back to international fighting....WVR maybe?
Josh Grispi-Safe.
Marcus Davis-Gone.....streak of doom will take it's toll here
Takanori Gomi-Push. but into the undercards he will most likely go, unless the UFC is really trying for that Asian market afterall
Nate Diaz-Safe. but drops to the undercards and hopefull back to LW
Brandon Vera-Gone. Agreed
Chris Leben-Safe. They call him one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC for a reason and last year was huge for him......Stann will probably get Wand and he will probably get some lower ranked wrestler.

After last night's showing by Grispi, give Poirier the shot instead. I would've liked to see Poirier finish the fight given he looked to be at least twice on the verge of getting the TKO in rounds 2 & 3 but that fight seemed more lopsided than it looked. I was very impressed with Dustin's performance.

Edit: Baroni has possibly been cut. Hinted at it on Twitter, but no confirmation yet.

after what stann did to leban i would like to see him fight wandy now.

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Posted by DCRage

Nate Diaz-Safe. But now clearly seems to be stuck in the mid-card regardless of weight he fights at. I'd suggest 145 but that may be too big a cut.

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There's no chance Diaz would go to 145. He's stated on numerous occasions that he hates the cut to 155, which is why he decided to go to 170 in the first place.

Baroni's gone. Just confirmed.

Vera is also gone.
Completely agree with that decision.
He hasn't looked impressive since forever.

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Posted by BJJHunter

He hasn't looked impressive since forever.

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He put out Frank Mir, one of only 5 men to do so, he looked quite impressive then... Oh and I remember quite a M Thai Clinic he put on Krzysztof...