Joe Silva's Shoes: What's next for the UFC 163 winners?

“UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie” is in the books and in one of the most highly criticized pay-per-view fight cards of 2013, the UFC produced a mixed bag of knockouts, submissions, controversial judging and disfigured limbs.

A Brazilian fighter had his hand raised in four of the five main card bouts as John Lineker, Thales Leites, Cezar Ferreira and, of course, Jose Aldo, defeated their respective opponents in impressive fashion.

The lone non-Brazilian to score a victory on the pay-per-view was Phil Davis, who upset former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in a decision that had many, including UFC President Dana White, up in arms.

No matter the nature of each man’s victory, they all accomplished the ultimate goal of the sport, and that’s being declared the winner at the conclusion of the fight.

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

*****

John Lineker
Who He Should Fight Next: Ian McCall
Why They Should Fight: John Lineker has an issue on his hands. Yes, he is on an impressive three-fight win streak and rallied back from a tough first round to stop Jose Maria with strikes in the second, but he has missed weight badly in two of his four UFC fights and may simply have to accept the flyweight division isn’t for him.

It’s unknown if the Brazilian plans on moving up to bantamweight, but if he can sort out his weight issues, staying at 125 pounds would be his path of least resistance to a title fight.

If Lineker had made weight, a case could be made that he is on the short-list of championship contenders. However, there’s not a very good chance the UFC would be willing to risk putting him in a title bout unless he proves capable of making weight.

With that said, Lineker needs a win over another top-tier flyweight before competing for the gold, and Ian McCall, another star of the division who fought at UFC 163, fits the bill as well as anyone.

Lineker is No. 7 and McCall No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA flyweight rankings., and it makes a lot of sense to match them up at this point.

While Lineker’s win streak in the UFC has been impressive, he lacks a signature win on his resume, and fighting McCall would give him the opportunity to earn that.

On the other side of the coin, “Uncle Creepy” picked up the first UFC win he badly needed Saturday night and wants to begin a run of his own in hopes of earning a third fight with Demetrious Johnson.

*****

Thales Leites
Who He Should Fight Next: Ed Herman
Why They Should Fight: Former UFC middleweight title challenger Thales Leites returned to the octagon after a nearly four-year absence to completely dominate Tom Watson, looking more impressive than ever in doing so.

While he did show some of the same stamina issues that hindered him in his first UFC stint, Leites appeared to be a much more mature fighter than what he’s shown in the past and seems poised for another run up the 185-pound ladder.

It won’t be a short road back to the top for the 32-year-old, and after the win over Watson it seems fit to pair him against Ed Herman, another fighter who picked up a big win recently.

“Short Fuse” defeated UFC newcomer Trevor Smith in the “Fight of the Night” at UFC on FOX 8 in July, and while he may not be a fighter who sits in the Top 10 of the middleweight rankings, he has been in the UFC since 2006 and would be a good benchmark to truly find out how far Leites has come in the years since he last fought in the UFC.

*****

Cezar Ferreira
Who He Should Fight Next: Daniel Sarafian
Why They Should Fight: While Cezar Ferreira is the official middleweight winner from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” his victory over Sergio Moraes in the tournament final has an asterisk next to it due to the fact he was fighting against an injury replacement and not Daniel Sarafian, a fighter who dominated the competition in the house and should have fought Ferreira for the tournament crown at UFC 147 in June 2012.

There is unfinished business here, and with both fighters coming off big wins in their most recent bouts, it only makes sense to rebook the fight that should’ve happened last year and determine who the real “TUF: Brazil champion is once and for all.

*****

Phil Davis
Who He Should Fight Next: Winner of Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night 28
Why They Should Fight: While most in the MMA community may have believed that Phil Davis’ win over Lyoto Machida was purely due to blasphemous judging, “Mr. Wonderful” still recorded the biggest victory of his career and the division, Machida and himself must continue to go forward.

Despite the fact UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik announced after UFC 163 that Glover Teixeira likely will earn a light heavyweight title shot with a “strong victory” over Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night 28, it would make far more sense to have the winner of that matchup face Davis.

Then who fights for the 205-pound title after Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson go to battle at UFC 165? How about Daniel Cormier, the man who has openly shared his intentions to cut to the front of the division’s pecking order with a win over Roy Nelson at UFC 166.

Outside of the Teixeira vs. Bader winner, it’s slim pickings when it comes to potential opponents for Davis, especially since most of the Top 10 fighters in the division are either booked for a fight, coming off a loss or already have shared the cage with Davis.

Regardless of Davis’ win over the No.1 contender in Machida, no one is kicking down the door to see him fight for the belt at this time and he needs to take out a fighter like Teixeira or Bader in order to really prove his worth and get the sour taste of his controversial decision win out of everyone’s mouth.

*****

Jose Aldo
Who He Should Fight Next: Ricardo Lamas
Why They Should Fight: After improving his UFC record to 5-0 with what appeared to be yet another relatively easy featherweight title defense against Chan Sung Jung, Jose Aldo has plenty of options for his next move.

Aldo can remain at 145 pounds and continue to defend his title, or he may decide now is the time to jump up a weight class to the lightweight division.

To address the latter option first, Aldo has not made any commitments when it comes to moving to lightweight, but he has stated in the past he will eventually be forced to fight at a higher weight class, as the cut to featherweight is grueling on his body.

If the 26-year-old wants to enter the ranks of the lightweight division, he could do it at any time, but the nature of his UFC 163 win doesn’t have fans clamoring for him to move up. Also, “Scarface” announced after the fight he intends on leaving the decision up to the UFC brass.

Assuming Aldo remains at featherweight, there are a number of challengers deserving of a shot at the gold, but none more so than Ricardo Lamas, who was last seen elbowing Erik Koch‘s head into oblivion at UFC on FOX 6 earlier this year.

Lamas is 4-0 in the weight class with wins over Cub Swanson, Hatsu Hioki and Koch. Simply put, victories over those fighters are nothing to shake your head at.

Swanson has reeled off five-straight wins since losing to Lamas and is flirting with title contention himself, which should prove how significant that victory was for “The Bully.” Hioki was one win away from fighting for the UFC belt until he ran into Lamas and had his title aspirations derailed. Koch was scheduled to fight Aldo for the 145-pound strap on two separate occasions in 2012 before the fights were scrapped due to injury. Lamas knocked “New Breed” out in devastating fashion.

If that isn’t a good enough case to be Aldo’s next opponent for the championship after his foot heals up, nothing is.

For complete coverage of UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Ricardo Lamas)