Luke Rockhold needed a big performance in his sophomore appearance in the UFC cage.
After migrating to the organization as the final Strikeforce middleweight champion, carrying a great deal of hype and promise, the American Kickboxing Academy-trained fighter lasted half a round with Vitor Belfort in his debut. In a year where “The Phenom” iced a trio of opponents with devastating headkicks, Rockhold was the man in the middle, and had to have a strong bounce-back performance in order to regain some traction in the suddenly deep middleweight division.
Wednesday night in Duluth, Georgia, the 29-year-old made a statement in his second trip to the Octagon, putting away durable veteran Costas Philippou with a pair of heavy kicks to the body one tick passed the midway point of the opening round.
In turning aside Philippou in such definitive fashion, Rockhold reestablishes himself as one of the top competitors in the middleweight ranks, but unfortunately for him, there is a line starting to form at the top of the division, and he’s a little ways back.
With Belfort positioned as the next challenger for Chris Weidman, and Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi likely battling for the opportunity after that, Rockhold is going to have to win at least one more tough tilt before his number is called.
The most likely scenario is Rockhold squaring off with the winner of the upcoming bout between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Francis Carmont, which serves as the co-main event to next month’s Fight Night show in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, headlined by the Machida-Mousasi contest.
Carmont has won all six of his UFC appearances – and 11 straight overall – while Souza has earned back-to-back stoppage wins since moving to the UFC, and hasn’t lost since dropping the Strikeforce belt to Rockhold in September 2011. Depending on how things shake out, the winner of this potential pairing would have to be considered the front-runner for a title shot, one that would likely come in early 2015.
Here’s a look at some potential pairings for the rest of Wednesday’s main card winners.
Brad Tavares vs. Thales Leites
Tavares has won five straight, and seven of eight fights in the UFC, but he’s still not going to be hustled into the Top 10 any time soon. Part of the problem is that there are already a number of match-ups put together or pending with the bigger names in the weight class, but it’s also that the surging Hawaiian is more methodical than “Man, I can’t wait to see him fight again!”
There is no question that Tavares looked great in picking apart Lorenz Larkin Wednesday, but he’s likely going to remain on the fringes of contention for one more fight while the upper tier gets sorted out. That makes a meeting with Leites a real possibility, as the Brazilian has earned consecutive victories since returning to the organization, but also falls into the “doesn’t move the needle” category at this time.
TJ Dillashaw vs. Eddie Wineland / Yves Jabouin Winner
The Team Alpha Male representative turned in his most impressive performance yet in earning a unanimous decision win over Mike Easton in Georgia. Dillashaw has now won five of six since losing the to John Dodson in the Season 14 bantamweight TUF Finale, and that one setback was suspect.
But he’s stuck for the time being, as his mentor, training partner, and good friend Urijah Faber is fighting for the bantamweight title next month, and his positioning at the top of the weight class limits Dillashaw’s opportunities.
A match-up with the winner of next week’s bout between Wineland and Jabouin seems like a good fit. Wineland remains in the thick of the chase and would be one fight removed from fighting for the championship, while an upset win for Jabouin would elevate the Haitian-born Canadian into the title picture.
Yoel Romero vs. Tim Boetsch
Romero was down 0-2 on most scorecards before storming back to finish Derek Brunson to earn his third straight stoppage win since moving to middleweight. Now it’s time for the former Olympic silver medalist to be tested against stiffer competition, and Boetsch fits the bill nicely.
“The Barbarian” is the type of fighter that will make Romero pay for taking it easy and taking portions of rounds off, and has the power to put the Cuban away if he’s not careful. At the same time, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Romero wins the fight to climb higher up the rankings. It’s precisely the type of fight the 36-year-old prospect needs at this point in his career.
John Moraga vs. Zach Makovsky / Josh Sampo Winner
Moraga is in a tough spot because he’s already been turned aside by Demetrious Johnson, but the division is too shallow for him to fall too far down the rankings.
In earning the split decision nod over Dustin Ortiz, Moraga kept himself in the mix at the top of the flyweight division, and would be the perfect opponent for the winner of the upcoming bout between new arrivals Makovsky and Sampo. Both have one UFC win under their belts, and a second moves them that much closer to contention, where a showdown with a former title challenger becomes the logical next step.
Cole Miller vs. Conor McGregor
While he called out “Cowboy” Cerrone on Wednesday night, Miller called out McGregor before that, and with “Magrinho” now dealing with a broken hand, a showdown with the trash-talking Irishman in September when the UFC returns to Dublin looks like a sound target for a return.
Miller looks to have turned the corner in his career, and would be a stiff test for “The Notorious” as he returns from knee surgery. There is really no need to rush McGregor back before the Octagon arrives in Dublin, so giving both men ample time to ramp up for what should be a fun little fight makes perfect sense to me.