Joe Silva’s Shoes: What's next for Tony Ferguson and UFC Fight Night 98's other winning fighters?

On Saturday UFC wrapped up its first of five November events when UFC Fight Night 98 took place at Mexico City Arena in Mexico. The card aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Tony Ferguson (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC) topped former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (25-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) in the main event by simply outperforming and outpacing his opponent over the course of five rounds for what was a thrilling unanimous-decision victory.

The main event may have won “Fight of the Night” honors, but there were other solid performances on the card. Diego Sanchez (27-9 MMA, 16-9 UFC), Ricardo Lamas (17-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC), Beneil Dariush (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and Alexa Grasso (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) all picked up key wins.

Additionally, Martin Bravo (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was also crowned the Season 3 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.” With just one UFC fight to his credit, matchmaking opportunities are nearly limitless for the lightweight.

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 98’s winning fighters.

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Alexa Grasso

Felice Herrig

Should fight: Felice Herrig
Why they should fight: The long-awaited, highly anticipated UFC debut of Grasso went acceding to plan. She bested a tough Heather Jo Clark by unanimous decision to start her UFC career on the right foot and further push the notion she’s the future of the strawweight division.

Grasso has a real chance to be a breakout Mexican star for the UFC, but at just 23, there’s absolutely no reason to push her quickly. Grasso shows flashes of brilliance when she fights, but there’s just a need for more refinement in her skillset, which is something that will come with time and octagon experience.

Fighting Clark was a perfect first step, and Grasso’s next opponent should be someone with a similar ranking and position in the 115-pound class, a description that perfectly fits Herrig (11-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

Herrig has a spot just outside the top 15 in the UFC and has produced mixed results in recent years. She’s been used as a barometer for other prospects in the company, including Paige VanZant and Kailin Curran, so being pitted against a heavily hyped fighter like Grasso would be nothing new for the veteran.

Beneil Dariush

Francisco Trinaldo

Should fight: Francisco Trinaldo
Why they should fight: Dariush continued to impress in the UFC lightweight division when he stopped the lengthy winning streak of Rashid Magomedov with a unanimous-decision victory. With eight victories in his 10 octagon appearances, Dariush has been very good in the UFC, but he still operates under the radar when it comes to 155-pound title contenders.

A fighter in a similar position is Trinaldo (21-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC), who has put together an impressive seven-fight winning streak over the past few years and is looking to break into the top of the division as soon as possible.

Fighting Dariush would certainly give “Massaranduba” that chance. And for Dariush, it would be another tough fight on the road to positioning himself as a someone who could one day challenge for UFC gold.

Ricardo Lamas

Frankie Edgar

Should fight: Winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens at UFC 205
Why they should fight: Despite an extended training camp, an overweight opponent and fighting in the grueling Mexico City altitude on short notice, Lamas managed to overcome the obstacles in front of him to defeat Charles Oliveira by third-round submission.

Oliveira missed weight by a whopping nine pounds, but that didn’t deter Lamas from completing the task at hand. He found an opening to lock in a guillotine in the final frame, which put him back in the win column after a disappointing performance against Max Holloway at UFC 199 in June.

Lamas has alternated wins and losses over his past five UFC appearances and needs some consistency if he wants to earn another shot at the UFC title like he did in early 2014. It’s tough to achieve that when he’s fighting the best 145-pound competition every time out, but that’s what it takes to get to the top.

Although he’s already fought many of the best, Lamas has yet to encounter Edgar (20-5-1 MMA, 14-5-1 UFC) or Stephens (25-12 MMA, 12-11 UFC), who fight Saturday at UFC 205. Both are top contenders, and in Edgar’s case, a former champion. Lamas facing the winner would give everyone involved a chance to strengthen his case for a title shot.

Diego Sanchez

Ross Pearson

Should fight: Winner of Ross Pearson vs. Stevie Ray at UFC Fight Night 99
Why they should fight: After being truly finished by strikes for the first time in his previous outing, Sanchez showed UFC newcomer Marcin Held what the octagon is all about when he picked up his 16th UFC win in the form of a unanimous-decision victory.

Sanchez avoided the dangerous submission attacks of Held and picked up enough points to win on the scorecards, making his 25th UFC performance a successful one. Although Sanchez has visions of returning to top-contender status and fighting for the belt like he did earlier in his career, at this point it seems as if he’s destined to fight mid- to upper-tier competition for the remainder of his career.

There’s no problem with that, and in a lightweight division with more than a hundred fighters, there’s no shortage of options for Sanchez’s next fight. The best option, however, is to take a look at the upcoming fight between Pearson (19-12 MMA, 11-9 UFC) and Ray (19-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 99 on Nov. 19, especially if Pearson wins that fight.

Pearson and Sanchez crossed paths once before in what many consider one of the worst decisions in UFC history. Pearson was clearly the deserving winner when they faced off at UFC Fight Night 42 in June 2014, but two of three judges felt differently and awarded the split decision to Sanchez.

Since Sanchez, Pearson and Ray aren’t close to a divisional ranking, putting a fight together would make sense and have a compelling storyline.

Tony Ferguson

Should fight: Winner of Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 205
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Ferguson should challenge the winner of UFC 205’s main event between Alvarez (28-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) for the lightweight belt.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Events section of the site.