As reported earlier this week, Jose Aldo has continued to show interest in a lightweight fight with the UFC champion Anthony Pettis. Also TJ Grant was the rightful man to a title shot before having to pull out of two title fights. This week another curve has been thrown into the mix of the UFC Lightweight Championship; Gilbert Melendez has stated that he is ready again to take the title that he feels already belongs to him. The following questions are now raised:
- Who will the UFC give the next title fight to after the Pettis-Thomson fight?
- Who stands a better chance of taking the title from Pettis?
- Will Grant still be considered the number one contender upon his return?
- If Aldo fights Pettis what happens if he fails to capture the title?
- Also what will it take for Henderson to get back in the title picture?
- Does Thomson have what it takes to pull the upset over newly crowned lightweight king, Pettis?
The UFC has a line of elite competitors all waiting to get their hands on Pettis and some important decisions to make as to the future of their Lightweight Division. The answer to the first question is one that I do not have the answer to, but as soon as I do, you will all be the first to know. In my opinion I would prefer to see Aldo or Melendez over Grant at this point. I was anticipating the fight between Aldo and Pettis at UFC 163 so that is the match that makes the most sense to me. The answer to who stands a better chance against Pettis is a debatable question, but if I had to pick one of the three to beat Pettis I would have to say that the man to stand the best chance is Gilbert Melendez. I feel that Gilbert has the better gas tank of the three and an ability to be sharp and effective throughout a five round war if necessary. Gilbert Melendez has a cerebral approach to fighting that has led to many victories and titles in the Strikeforce and WEC in the lightweight division. He is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and has the ability to not walk right into Anthony Pettis' game plan.
In regards to TJ Grant, I feel that he has now lost his spot as the next guy in line for the title. I think that he will have to return and win another fight before he gets back in the spot due to the delay in his return. He will need a tune-up fight to get him in prime position to challenge for the UFC title. Or the UFC wanted to put things back to the way that they should've been, they could still put together a match between TJ Grant and Ben Henderson for a number one contender's spot against the winner of the Pettis and Thomson match up. Sure both men aren't fighting for the title as originally scheduled but this provide's the UFC the opportunity to put together the match that was meant to take place at UFC 164. I think if this match was put together, the winner could justifiably ask for a title shot.
Though I think Gilbert has the best chance of beating Pettis, I also think that Aldo possesses what it takes to defeat Pettis as well. Despite feeling that Aldo could beat Pettis, we must ask ourselves what would happen if Aldo were to lose against Pettis? The UFC and internet forums are just assuming the current UFC Featherweight Jose Aldo will make his move to the lightweight division, take Pettis' title and continue the rest of his MMA career as a lightweight in the UFC. Longtime followers of MMA know very well that anything can happen in MMA and it is very possible that Anthony Pettis could find a way to defeat Jose Aldo if they were to clash. If this were to happen what would that mean for Jose Aldo? If he loses there are two options that are possible: he could go back to 145 and continue to defend his belt or he could stay at 155 so then he wouldn't have to continue to cut so much weight to defend his UFC Featherweight Championship. Jose Aldo has annihilated most of the featherweight roster in the UFC or in his time in the WEC; it would be interesting to see how he would handle the UFC's Lightweight roster. I think Aldo could hold his own in the lightweight division as well, but I think that he will be challenged more by the slightly larger fighters in the division. I think that Aldo will perform even better than we've seen him if he isn't cutting so much weight before getting in the cage.
The biggest question to ask would be can Thomson beat Pettis and the answer is yes! When discussing anyone of these guys in this post, we are talking about the elite of the elite in the UFC, so anyone of them COULD beat the other guy, but it becomes a matter of who came into the fight with the best game plan. I think Thomson definitely has the potential to beat Pettis and ruin all title fights discussed above. Thomson could spoil all potential title fights involving Pettis and making us start thinking about Thomson vs. Aldo-Melendez-Grant-Henderson. Also if this were to occur would Pettis still have a shot to face Aldo at 145 lbs? Also what if there is someone else that the UFC has in mind to fight for the title next? Ladies and Gentleman, we have a very interesting UFC Lightweight Division and I can't wait to see what happens.
