UFC on Fox 10: Could This Be the End for Thomson

After coming up short to Ben Henderson in a split decision victory, that many feel that he won, Josh Thomson has not come out and said that he is retiring, but he has hinted towards it.  At the post-fight conference Josh Thomson said that he will need to think about things before proceeding with the rest of his career. Josh Thomson stated that "this may be it" when referring to his loss to Benson Henderson.

I feel that Thomson may still be able to make a run for the title, but only if he wants to.  Sure he is 35-years-old, but Randy Couture win the UFC Heavyweight Championship for the third time at the age of 43?  Thomson is a spectacular fighter with all the tools to get to the top.  Thomson just needs to press forward with his career despite his disputable loss to the former champion on Saturday.  Thomson just needs another impressive dominate win such as the one over Nate Diaz to elevate him back to the top.

UFC on Fox 10 Results

Main Card:

Benson Henderson def. Josh Thomson via split decision
Stipe Miocic def. Gabriel Gonzaga via unanimous decision
Donald Cerrone def. Adriano Martins via first-round KO
Jeremy Stephens def. Darren Elkins via unanimous decision

Preliminary Card:

Alex Caceres def. Sergio Pettis via submission (rear-naked choke)
Eddie Wineland def. Yves Jabouin via second-round TKO
Chico Camus def. Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision
Hugo Viana def. Junior Hernandez via unanimous decision
Daron Cruickshank def. Mike Rio via second-round TKO
George Sullivan def. Mike Rhodes via unanimous decision
Nikita Kyrlov def. Walt Harris via first-round TKO

UFC on Fox 10 Weigh-in Results

Main Card:

Josh Thomson (155) VS Benson Henderson (156)
Gabriel Gonzaga (258) VS Stipe Miocic (245)
Adriano Martins (155) VS Donald Cerrone (155)
Jeremy Stephens (146) VS Darren Elkins (145)

Preliminary Card:

Sergio Pettis (135) VS Alex Caceres (135)
Yves Jabouin (135) VS Eddie Wineland (135)
Yaotzin Meza (135) VS Chico Camus (135)
Hugo Viana (136) VS Junior Hernandez (136)
Mike Rio (155) VS Daron Cruickshank (155)
Mike Rhodes (171) VS George Sullivan (170)
Nikita Krylov (218) VS Walt Harris (241)

Anthony Pettis Injured, Henderson Returns to the Octogon

With Anthony Pettis suffering with an injured knee, Anthony Pettis is being pulled out of his title fight with Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 9.  That fight is being entirely pulled from that card and will instead be headlined by Demetrius Johnson versus Joseph Benavidez II.  Since that fight was originally scheduled to be the headlining fight for the TUF 18 finale, Nate Diaz's fight with Gray Maynard will be headlining the TUF 18 finale.  Also with Pettis out of his title fight, the UFC has decided to put Thomson in a fight with former UFC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson in January 2014. This will be Henderson's first fight since losing the title in late August. 

Pettis-Aldo-Melendez-Grant

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:

1. Who will the UFC give the next title fight to after the Pettis-Thomson fight?
2. Who stands a better chance of taking the title from Pettis?
3. Will Grant still be considered the number one contender upon his return?
4. If Aldo fights Pettis what happens if he fails to capture the title?
5. Also what will it take for Henderson to get back in the title picture?
6. 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.

UFC on Fox 9 Staredown Pics

Below are the staredown pictures from today featuring headliners Anthony Pettis, Josh Thomson, Carlos Condit and Matt Brown:

Can Pettis Finish Thomson?

Prior to his UFC title fight with Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis stated that if he won the UFC Lightweight Championship that he would he the kind of Champion that would look to finish all of his challengers. Since becoming the UFC Lightweight Champion, Pettis has not changed that statement and has stated that he is looking to take out his first challenger in the first round. 

Josh Thomson will be the first man to face Anthony Pettis since the title left Benson Henderson's waist. Former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson is an MMA vet with an impressive resume including wins over notable opponents suchal as Rob McCullough, Hermes Franca, Duane Ludwig, Nam Phan, Gilbert Melendez, Pat Healy and Nate Diaz. TJ Grant was originally set to face Pettis before another injury took him out of another UFC Lightweight title fight.  Grant was quickly replaced with Josh Thomson to face Prttis at UFC on Fox 9.

Current UFC Lightweight Champion, Anthony Pettis, holds a record of 17-2. He finished 7 fights with knockouts and 7 fights with submissions. Manthony Pettis is definitely the definition of a finisher if thete ever is one.He holds victories over Danny Castillo,  Ben Henderson, Joe Lauzon, and Donald Cerrone.  Anthony Pettis won histitle impressively against Benson Henderson when he secured a tight armbar in the last half of the first round of their title fight at UFC 164. Benson Hendersonis one of the best guys at 155 lbs and Anthony Pettis was able to prove his stoppages were no flukes when he submitted the champ. Though the championis a proven finisher it leads us to wonder if he can stop someone the caliber of Josh Thomson.Thomson himselfis coming off of an early stoppage of top contender, Nate Diaz, in their recent bout on UFC on Fox.  I think that Josh Thomson has the ability to hang with Pettis and possibly defeat Pettis with a great camp in place, but we will find out in a few months at UF  on Fox 9.

UFC on Fox 9 Set for December 14

The UFC has announced that Anthony Pettis will be defending his newly acquired UFC Lightweight Championship against Strikeforce vet Josh Thomson on December 14 for UFC on Fox 9.

This fight will also feature more fights from the lighter divisions as former WEC Featherweight Champion, Urijah Faber, is scheduled to meet with Michael MacDonald. Also on the card is a bout between Ian McCall and Scott Jorgenson, who will be making his Flyweight debut.

Thomson Gets Pettis First

Minutes ago it was announced that Josh thomson would be the first man to get his hands on newly crowned UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis on December 14.

TJ Grant was originally scheduled to face Pettis first, but Grant is still not 100% health wise so the fight could not commence.  Josh Thomson was then moved in to take his place.

What Should Happen Next For Henderson

After Ben Henderson's title loss to new UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis we are left with the question of who Benson Henderson should fight next.  I think that there a few fights that make sense for the UFC to put together.

I think that a fight with current #4 ranked UFC Lightweight Josh Thomson would be the fight that I want to see the most.  Josh Thomson is coming off of a knockout finish over Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 7 in April.  Josh Thomson has been considered an elite lightweight fighter for many years.  In his UFC return he proved that the bright lights of the UFC place no extra pressure on the MMA vet.  I think that this match up is one that makes the most sense.  Thomson is on his way to the top and knocking on the door of his title shot and a win over Henderson would be a good way to secure a shot.

On the inverse it is also a beneficial match for Henderson as well.  Henderson has demolished most of the UFC's top lightweights upon his entrance into the UFC.  Now that Strikforce has been absorbed  by the UFC there are more options out there for Henderson to face.  If Henderson could defeat Thomson he could cement his elite status by defeating a very respected MMA vet who still has a lot of fight left.  Josh Thomson has many victories in Strikeforce and has challenged for the Strikforce title on three occasions.  Josh Thomson could arguably be considered the second best Lightweight fighter to come out of Strikeforce, following Gilbert Melendez.  If Henderson wins it means that he can still beat the UFC's best-of-the-best in the 155lb weight class.

Another option is the possibility of a Henderson-Cerrone III.  There's nothing that fans love more than a good trilogy.  Both men are coming off a defeat within the last two weeks and need a win.  Like Thomson, Cerrone has been a long time contender in the Zuffa organization.  Donald Cerrone has fought for the WEC Lightweight Championship on three occasions.  His first title fight was with Jamie Varner and his next two were with Benson Henderson.  Cerrone is a one of the UFC's best lighweights and a great match up for Henderson to produce a war.

In October at UFC 166, the king of the Strikforce Lightweight Division, Gilbert Melendez, will be facing the original Ultimate Fighter, Diego Sanchez.  If Ben Henderson were to face the winner of the Melendez-Sanchez it provides UFC fans with two beautiful options: a rematch that allows Gilbert Melendez to avenge his split decision loss to Henderson earlier this year or a fresh match between two of the UFC's biggest stars whose paths have yet to cross.

Other options: Rafael dos Anjos, Gleison Tibau, Gray Maynard and BJ Penn if he chooses to pursuit his fight career again.