Who's Next?!

In light of Frankie Edgar's incredible title defense at last night's UFC 136 against Grey Maynard, the question of who's next for the champion lingers on the mind of every MMA enthusiast.

The Lightweight devision is unquestionably the most talent rich devision in the UFC and possibly all of MMA as well. While fans and fighters alike waited for a definitive outcome to the Frankie Edgar-Grey Maynard saga, the devision was unfortunately put on hold to conclude the trilogy.

Looking back all the way to December 2010, when the UFC and WEC merged together and Anthony Pettis defeated Ben Henderson to win the WEC Lightweight Championship via the now infamous “Showtime Kick” he put himself in position to face the winner of UFC 125's Edgar vs. Maynard II.

The draw ultimately took away Pettis' looming debut title opportunity and instead put him inside the cage with UFC veteran Clay Guida. Guida overwhelmed Pettis with his aggressive wrestling based attack, ultimately winning a unanimous decision and derailing the Pettis hype train.

In hindsight, Guida defeating the young and relatively inexperienced Anthony Pettis was the best thing to happen to fight fans and Pettis himself. Taking nothing away from Pettis, but putting him inside the cage with one of worlds pound for pound best fighters in Frankie Edgar for his debut fight would have been very detrimental to the up and comers career.

The matchup with Guida was the right move and I applaud the UFC for making that decision. Guida is an upper echelon fighter who has been on the cusp of a title shot for a long time now and he exposed the holes in Pettis' game. Guida's constant in your face, nonstop attack and wrestling prowess taught Pettis a lesson and was possibly the best thing to happen to Pettis as it showed him exactly what he needed to work on.

Like all great fighters, Pettis went back to the drawing board and brought in 2008 Olympic wrestler and current Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren and made the changes he needed to make.

Pettis was in action again last night for the first time since his UFC debut loss to Guida and showed the progress and evolution of his overall game as he earned his first UFC victory by defeating Jeremy Stephens via split decision.

Pettis used excellent ground control, outworking Stephens who in his own right is a very dangerous opponent. While I still do not believe Pettis will garner a title shot any time in the near future, last night definitely proved that Anthony Pettis is improving as a mixed martial artist each and every day.

So if the UFC does not go with the man who previously held the honor of facing the champion next, the question still remains, who will the UFC deem worthy enough to offer the championship opportunity too?

There has been rumblings the past week or two about bringing over current Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez for a title unification bout. While this is without a doubt the sexiest matchup to make at the time, I do not believe it is the best choice to make.

Gilbert Melendez is arguably the best fighter not fighting within the UFC promotion. Fighting out of Cesar Gracie's camp and training with athletes such as Jake Shields and both Diaz brothers consistently, Melendez is ranked as high as number one on some MMA ranking scales. On top of that, Melendez is currently on a five fight winning streak and has not lost a fight in three years. With notable victories over Shinya Aoki, Josh Thompson and twice over Tatsuya Kawajiri in his career, Melendez certainty holds the credentials needed to fight for the coveted UFC title belt.

The reason I feel he should not get the title opportunity however, is due to him never fighting under the big stage and bright lights of the UFC. While this is not his fault, fighting under the UFC umbrella is a whole different game and has crumbled more experienced fighters than Melendez.

It has been seen time and time again that when a big name with a lot of hype enters the UFC, they fail to impress. Back in 2007 when former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua debuted within the promotion he was thought to be the best fighter on the planet. However, when the fight started Shogun looked nothing like the destructive dominant fighter that fans had been accustomed to seeing during his stint in PRIDE. Ultimately, Shogun was submitted by Forrest Griffin with seconds remaining in the third and final round, giving Griffin the biggest win of his career thus far.

The same also happened to Melendez' training partner and friend Jake Shields. Shields came over to the UFC a year ago in October at UFC 121 and faced Martin Kampmann. Although, Shields walked out that night with a split decision victory, he looked nothing like the athlete who had dominated fighters at both Middleweight and Welterweight for years prior. In fact, it could be argued that Kampmann lost the fight more than Shields won since Kampmann did not engage and decided to play Shields' game abandoning his own game plan.

While these lackluster performances may not happen to Melendez, history serves that no matter how great of a mixed martial artist you are, the most difficult opponent you will ever face is the Octagon itself the first time you step inside and the cage doors shut.

I am not a fan of competitors earning a title shot upon first entrance to the UFC. I feel no matter how great your accomplishments are outside the UFC, they are still outside the UFC and you must earn and prove yourself all over again when debuting inside the Octagon. Title unification bout or not, I do not feel as if Gilbert Melendez walks right into the UFC deserving a Lightweight Championship fight.

The question is still lingering now, and if a former number one contender does not deserve a title opportunity and a current champion does not deserve the title opportunity, you are well on your way to believing at this point, that I am the only man alive who should compete for the title. Well you are not far off, but alas I do not feel as if I deserve the title opportunity either, but I did already speak about both men who I feel should next compete for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

The two men are both in-house UFC veterans and have both proven themselves within the promotion. What makes the matter even easier for me is that both men are fighting each other on November 12th and the winner I feel unquestionably deserves the next fight against Frankie Edgar. The fight I am speaking of, is no other then Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson.

Guida has been with the UFC since 2006 and has been a fan favorite ever since. The long haired wild man has been in some of the most memorable bouts in UFC history such as his wars with Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez. While Guida does not have the most amazing UFC record (9-5) he is currently on a four fight winning streak against the above mentioned Anthony Pettis, Takanori Gomi, Rafael Dos Anjos and Shannon Gugerty, picking up Submission of the Night bonus' in two of those four contests.

In my opinion, a win over Ben Henderson is more then justifiable enough for Guida to merit a title shot. Fans love him, so marketing him would not be a problem and you can count on him to deliver an exciting fight. Guida has done enough and has improved enough to warrant an opportunity and a matchup with Edgar would be a great challenge for both.

Ben Henderson on the other hand does not have the track record of Guida and has only fought within the promotion two times. The former long time WEC Lightweight Champion, Bendo has two unanimous decision victories since debuting inside the UFC this April.

His debut fight with Mark Bocek was unspectacular and goes back to fighters not looking like themselves in their debut UFC fights. However, Bendo's second fight against Jim Miller was nothing short of amazing and was without a doubt the best performance of Bendo's career.

Jim Miller came into that fight red hot and on a seven fight winning streak and was well on his way to a UFC title shot with a win. Bendo however, had other plans and completely dominated the fight both on the feet and especially on the ground. Not a lot of people had Bendo winning that fight let alone dominating and he opened many eyes to his talents.

A human Gumby inside the cage, Bendo has a unique flexibility ability as to where it is damn near impossible to submit him. Turning his body into different shapes, Bendo is able to get out of almost every opponents submission attempt and turn them into advantageous positions for himself. On top of that, Bendo is an extremely aggressive fighter with a full gas tank who always keeps a high energy pace inside the cage. His fight with Pettis was extremely close and if it were not for the “Showtime Kick” he probably would have walked out that night with the W.

The Clay Guida – Ben Henderson contest has all the intangibles of a fight of the year candidate. Undoubtably, I feel whomever should walk out the cage door November 12th with their hand raised should get the next crack at the UFC Lightweight Championship. Both competitors offer different and unique challenges for Frankie Edgar and that matchup in my opinion is the best decision that the UFC can make.