Joe Silva’s Shoes: What's next for Dominick Cruz, UFC Fight Night 81's other winners?

The recent trend of UFC belts changing owners continued on Sunday at UFC Fight Night 81 when Dominick Cruz captured the bantamweight title from T.J. Dillashaw with a split-decision win at Boston’s TD Garden.

Cruz (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was stripped of the UFC belt two years ago but managed to overcome a tumultuous run of injuries to regain the gold from Dillashaw (12-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in the FOX Sports 1-televised main event.

While “The Dominator” was obviously the biggest winner on the card, several others also picked up crucial victories. Eddie Alvarez (27-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Travis Browne (18-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) and Francisco Trinaldo (19-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) made successful trips to the octagon.

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 and Sean Shelby’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker for UFC Fight Night 81’s winning fighters.

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Francisco Trinaldo

Bobby Green

Should fight: Bobby Green
Why they should fight: At 37, Trinaldo continued his ascent up the lightweight pecking order with a unanimous-decision win over “The Ultimate Fighter 9” winner Ross Pearson for his fifth consecutive octagon victory.

Trinaldo showed off his improved striking against a veteran opponent and came out on the winning end. With the third longest active winning streak in the division to his credit, the Brazilian is likely to get another step up in competition.

Beating an opponent like Green (23-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who has been out of action with an injury since a November 2014 loss to Edson Barboza, would allow “Massaranduba” the opportunity to crack the top 15 of the division and begin to build credit as a potential title contender.

Travis Browne

Junior Dos Santos

Should fight: Junior dos Santos
Why they should fight: Browne earned his first victory in more than a year when he stopped Matt Mitrione with strikes in the third round of an odd and foul-filled heavyweight affair.

After a knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 187 in May, “Hapa” opted for a more cautious and methodical approach against Mitrione. It worked, and he found his way into mount and finished the fight in the final frame.

Browne remains one of the top heavyweights on the UFC roster and has only fought the best in the division over the past several years. That’s not going to change after beating Mitrione, but his next fight will come down to the availability of fellow top-ranked opponents.

Dos Santos is coming off a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC on FOX 17 in December. The former heavyweight champ is still an elite fighter in the weight class and will be eager to get back on track against someone like Browne.

Browne and Dos Santos are in a very similar positions, and more importantly, they’ve yet to cross paths in a division where most have already faced off at least once.

Eddie Alvarez

Tony Ferguson

Should fight: Tony Ferguson
Why they should fight: Alvarez did exactly what was required to beat Anthony Pettis when he followed a strict strategy that led to a split-decision win over for the former UFC and WEC lightweight champion.

The ex-Bellator titleholder has beaten former UFC, WEC and Strikeforce champions in his past two octagon appearances and has proven why fans wanted to see him in the UFC after a long career in rival promotions.

Alvarez has to be considered one of the top title contenders at 155 pounds, and with champion Rafael dos Anjos and featherweight champ Conor McGregor set to meet at UFC 197 in less than two months, the timing of the win couldn’t have been much better.

The outcome of the title fight is going to have a big impact on Alvarez’s future. If McGregor wins, he’ll likely defend the featherweight belt first, which means Alvarez might have to sit on the sidelines for a lengthy amount of time. And even if dos Anjos wins, there’s good chance he’ll want time off after two title bouts in less than three months.

Assuming Alvarez is forced to compete again before a title shot, the obvious opponent is Ferguson (20-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC), who is on a divisional-best seven-fight winning streak. “El Cucey” has also campaigned for a championship opportunity, and a fight with Alvarez would determine a definitive No. 1 contender.

Dominick Cruz

Should fight: Urijah Faber
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Cruz should fight Faber (33-8 MMA, 9-4 UFC) next for his first title defense.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, check out the UFC Events section of the site.