Joe Silva's Shoes: What next for UFC Fight Night 58's winners?

Luke Rockhold

The UFC’s seventh and final stop in Brazil this year took place Saturday as Jose Correa Arena in Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil, played host to the year-ending UFC Fight Night 58 event.

In the main event, former UFC champion Lyoto Machida (22-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) returned to his winning ways when he stopped C.B. Dollaway (15-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) via TKO in just 62 seconds for the fastest victory of his career.

“The Dragon” wasn’t the only champion to notch a win. Former bantamweight titleholder Renan Barao (33-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) rebounded from a title loss earlier this year with a third-round submission victory over Mitch Gagnon (12-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC).

Four more fights filled the main card, with all but one ending in a knockout or submission.

After every event, fans wonder whom the winners will be matched up with next. And with another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Joe Silva’s and Sean Shelby’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker.

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Daniel Sarafian

Antonio dos Santos Jr.

Should fight: Antonio dos Santos Jr.
Why they should fight: What was shaping up to be a “Fight of the Night” contender between Daniel Sarafian (9-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and dos Santos Jr. (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) ended in unfortunate fashion when the latter dislocated his finger during a striking exchange.

The tough Brazilian wanted to fight on after popping his finger back into place, but referee Eduardo Herdy had already waved off the fight, giving Sarafian the TKO victory in Round 2.

Although the two fighters are former training partners and roommates, they seemed to have no problem putting their relationship aside and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other.

A rematch is in needed to determine who’s truly the better fighter.

Erick Silva

Ryan LaFlare

Should fight: Ryan LaFlare
Why they should fight: Erick Silva (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) picked up an expected victory against a slumping Mike Rhodes to put him back on track after losing to Matt Brown in a “Fight of the Year” candidate in May.

The Brazilian always shines against mid-tier competition, but it’s when he steps up to the next level of welterweights that he struggles.

That doesn’t mean he should stop trying, though, and LaFlare (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) would be a suitable opponent to determine if Silva has shored up the holes in his game that have prevented him from reaching the breakthrough win he needs.

LaFlare has been out of action since April due to injury, but he’s recently indicated he’s about ready to return to the octagon. Silva is certainly a dangerous comeback fight, but it’s not one that’s out of his depth.

Rashid Magomedov

Gleison Tibau

Should fight: Winner of Norman Parke vs. Gleison Tibau at UFC Fight Night 59
Why they should fight: Rashid Magomedov (18-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has done nothing but impress so far in his UFC run, and with just one blemish overall in his entire career, the Russian has shown he’ll be around in the octagon for some time to come.

Magomedov scored the latest finish in a three-round UFC fight when he stopped Elias Silverio with just three seconds left in the final round. He was determined to get the finish and did just that to improve to 3-0 inside the octagon.

The 30-year-old is ready to face a name opponent, and the winner of UFC Fight Night 59’s lightweight tilt between Tibau (30-10 MMA, 15-8 UFC) and Parke (20-2-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC) is just that.

While neither has the glowing record of Magomedov, they’ve each consistently faced far superior competition and, from a credential standpoint, would provide the sternest challenge “Highlander” has encountered yet.

Patrick Cummins

Fabio Maldonado

Should fight: Fabio Maldonado
Why they should fight: Patrick Cummins (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) further removed himself from a lopsided UFC-debut loss to Daniel Cormier with his third consecutive victory, this time outworking Antonio Carlos Junior for a decision win .

Cummins has just eight fights to his name, so he shouldn’t be rushed into matchups with top 10 opponents. Maldonado (22-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) sits in the No. 15-20 range in the light heavyweight division and would be a good test for Cummins.

Maldonado is one of the toughest fighters on the UFC roster. His ground game is certainly a few levels below Cummins’, but Maldonado has made a career out of allowing fighters to empty their gas tank from top position only to rally for a finish later in the fight.

Cummins has solid conditioning, so that may not be a sound strategy for Maldonado. However, the Brazilian hits harder than anyone Cummins has faced to this point in his career and is more than capable of landing a knockout at any time.

Renan Barao

Raphael Assuncao

Should fight: Raphael Assuncao
Why they should fight: Barao finished Mitch Gagnon with a third-round arm-triangle choke and proceeded to call out UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw for a rematch.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, it’s going to take more than a submission of Gagnon to get a title shot, especially when Dillashaw’s already targeted to defend his belt against Dominick Cruz next year.

The only opponent who makes sense for the former champion as he works back to the belt is Assuncao (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who is on a lengthy seven-fight UFC winning streak and has his own argument for a title shot.

Assuncao vs. Barao would be a legitimate No. 1 contender matchup in the bantamweight division. A victory over the former champion would leave no doubt to Assuncao’s title worthiness. And for Barao, he’d have the opportunity to continue to wash away memories of his UFC 177 weigh-in mishap.

Lyoto Machida

Luke Rockhold

Should fight: Luke Rockhold
Why they should fight: Machida showed why he was a massive favorite with a 62-second finish of Dollaway that placed him right back in the forefront of the middleweight title picture.

With champion Chris Weidman and top contenders Vitor Belfort, Ronaldo Souza and Yoel Romero booked for UFC 184 in February, the obvious matchup for Machida is against Rockhold (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

UFC President Dana White wanted the fight earlier this year but opted to go in a different direction when Rockhold faced Michael Bisping and Machida got Dollaway. Both of them emerged victorious in spectacular fashion, and judging from his reaction on Twitter, White hasn’t lost any enthusiasm over booking the fight.

For more on UFC Fight Night 58, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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MMAjunkie’s Ben Fowlkes reacts to Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 58 event:

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