Joe Silva's Shoes: What's next for UFC 172's winners?

UFC 172 is a wrap and with two critical light heavyweight bouts at the top of the card, the 205-pound weight class now has a touch more clarity.

Jon Jones (20-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight championship for the seventh time with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira (22-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the pay-per-view headliner from Baltimore’s Baltimore Arena.

The co-headlining act saw Anthony Johnson (17-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) upset Phil Davis (13-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in his return to the UFC to establish his place as one of the top contenders at 205 pounds.

The remainder of the main card featured standout performances from Luke Rockhold (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Jim Miller (24-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and Max Holloway (9-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC).

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.

MAX HOLLOWAY
Should fight: Alex White
Why they should fight: Holloway and Alex White (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) recorded impressive victories within seven days of each other, raising curiosity about how a tilt between the two winners would go down.

Both men produced similar efforts in their respective matchups, as each finished their opponent in memorable fashion – Holloway by submission and White by knockout.

While neither fighter is hovering anywhere close to a title shot, the fight would provide an opportunity to gain more valuable notoriety in the organization and, ultimately, more experience, as both are still young in the game.

JIM MILLER
Should fight: Bobby Green or Khabib Nurmagomedov
Why they should fight: Miller was scheduled to fight Bobby Green (22-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 172 prior to a last-minute injury that forced “The King” off the card and opened a spot for Yancy Medeiros to jump in.

As expected, Miller got the job done against the inferior fighter. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much to move him further up the lightweight rankings.

Miller’s win over Medeiros doesn’t elevate him past a fight with Green, and as long as both men are healthy, rebooking the contest would be a logical decision. If not, UFC President Dana White and Miller both expressed interest in a fight with undefeated Russian prospect Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

LUKE ROCKHOLD
Should fight: Ronaldo Souza
Why they should fight: The middleweight division is more crowded than in the past several years, and despite a setback against Vitor Belfort early in his UFC career, Rockhold is on the verge of becoming the top contender after taking out Tim Boetsch.

Another fighter who has made waves in the 185-pound weight class of late is Ronaldo Souza (20-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC). “Jacare” is undefeated since coming over from the now-defunct Strikeforce organization this past year and appears to be on a collision course with Rockhold.

Even though Rockhold already holds a September 2011 win over Souza, both fighters have evolved tremendously since then and have proven to be two of the top talents in the middleweight division.

The first meeting decided who would be Strikeforce champion. Should the rematch go down roughly three years later, it’s likely that the outcome would determine the next challenger for the UFC belt.

ANTHONY JOHNSON
Should fight: Winner of Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 173
Why they should fight: While Phil Davis talked the talk in the lead-up to UFC 172, he was unable to walk the walk and was dominated by Johnson in an unlikely upset.

With a seven-fight winning streak to his name including a dominant showing against “Mr. Wonderful,” Johnson is clearly the real deal and has to be on the short list of contenders at 205 pounds. That said, he still needs at least one more win to highlight himself at the true No. 1 contender in the weight class.

The most obvious matchup for “Rumble” going forward is to fight the winner of UFC 173’s co-main event between Daniel Cormier (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Dan Henderson (30-11 MMA, 7-5 UFC). UFC officials have said the Cormier vs. Henderson winner could get a title shot, but with a jam atop the weight class, they will need to get past Johnson a solidify a shot at the belt.

JON JONES
Should fight: Alexander Gustafsson
Why they should fight: Jones dispatched of Teixeira for his seventh consecutive light heavyweight title defense and has now set up the highly anticipated rematch with rival Alexander Gustafsson (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC).

“Bones” and “The Mauler” put on arguably the best fight of 2013 with their five-round war at UFC 165. Gustafsson tested Jones unlike any fighter before or after him and nearly took the belt from around the champion’s waist back to Sweden.

Ever since that night in September of this past year there has been a significant amount of buzz surrounding a second fight. With each man posting an impressive victory since the original contest, the rematch will be next and it could go down as one of the marquee bouts in 205-pound title history.

Jones has never fought an opponent twice throughout his career. With his first-ever rematch coming against a man who pushed him to his limits the first time, it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments each side makes.

For complete coverage of UFC 172, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.