Black Belt
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First batch of fights I'd like to see, keeping in mind not being able to use TUF 4 fighters until October or so. These to build up future contenders if they win, and build up some newer fighters in the UFC.
Tanner/Doerksen.
Loiseau/Silva.
Marquardt/Vitale.
Lister/Prangley.
Terrell/Mayhem Miller.
Swick/Semenov.
Leben/Baroni (unless he's back in Pride's ww grand prix, though I think the Misaki fight was supposed to be the last on his current contract with Pride) or Lawler. If Leben wins after improving his standup technical skill, He'll gain a ton of confidence back.
Fiorvante/Santiago.
Salaverry/Sonnen.
Lindland/Lawler.
The UFC should try and get Salaverry (they easily can), Vitale, Frank Shamrock, Horn (too bad he was the victim of an injury and Tanner's bout with depression), and Lindland back within the next year if they keep up the good work. They'll probably get Lindland back win or lose against Rampage, give him at least 1 fight before fighting Franklin. Try and snag Villasenor and Oliviera (he can easily cut, just let him get more fights under his belt), and Jacare (also needs more fights under his belt) to the UFC too. I'm sure Lawler, Baroni, and Miller may take a fight with the UFC here or there even though they are getting paid well elsewhere.
Ok if Marquardt wins he definitely gets next title shot. If he loses the title shot I'd love to see Tanner (if he wins), fight Marquardt to see who gets back into one of the top contender spots.
If Swick and Leben win, they fight; if Leben wins that he'll have at least 3 or 4 more matches before getting a shot. If Swick wins, he'll need at least good 2 more matches with well known fighters before his shot, one of those well known fighters would need to be a good technical standup fighter (and both top 10 fighters) like Loiseau.
Silva wins, he gets the shot after Marquardt, probably fighting a fighter that is good on the ground, but not too much of a threat to him in the process before the fight. If Loiseau wins expect him to rematch Rivera and probably give him another 2 fights before he gets another shot.
If Lister, Salaverry, Lindland, and Miller (especially if he beats Lawler) or Terrell win, I'd expect Lindland to get the shot after Silva if he wins, though probably after the TUF 4 winner fights Franklin. The winner of Terrell/Miller fights Salaverry, and Lister faces the TUF 4 loser.
All of my matchups assuming they can get Lawler, Miller, Baroni, Salaverry, Vitale, and Lindland back now and then or for good. Baroni, Vitale, Lindland, and Salaverry being the easier grabs, as Lawler and Miller are making big cash in ROTR, though I'm sure they can get them to fight periodically sort of like they can with K-1 fighters. I'd fully expect Franklin, Marquardt, Tanner, Terrell, Silva, and Lindland to be the big guns there for a while. I'm still tough on Loiseau (probably not for a good reason) because of the dominant loss to Franklin and losing to Tanner before the cut. Lister needs some 185 fights before I can judge whether he'll get there. Not sure if Salaverry can break the cusp of the 6, but he has a definite shot against Silva with his good all around and excellent ground skills. Swick needs more fights under his belt before I can judge him, especially with higher ranked fighters. Riggs was a good test, Semenov would be another before he can fight someone like Loiseau or Salaverry and then one of the big 6. If the UFC can bring in Sakuraba, besides wanting to see Sak/Shamrock 2, Sak/Frank Shamrock, Sak/Horn (if they can get him back). Sakuraba would eb a gopod fight for any of the UFC's top 10 (in the company) 185'ers. Sak/Terrell, Lister, Salaverry, and Swick would all be nice matchups.
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"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass....and I'm all out of bubblegum."
-Nada/aka The Man (They Live).
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