Questions on your mind about recent happenings in MMA or the sport in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week it’s @MikeBohnMMA to answer:
- What is Michael Chandler’s ceiling in the UFC? Can he become champion?
- With Anthony Johnson back in the USADA testing pool, who should he fight in his return?
- Is it fair for Colby Covington to be such a big favorite over Tyron Woodley at UFC on ESPN+ 36?
Those are answered in the video above. You can also read on a few more topics below.
****
Who should Marlon Vera fight next?
about ufc vegas 11, if cowboy beats price, who should he fight next?
— skyler whetsel (@SkylerWhetsel) September 17, 2020
I don’t know exactly what UFC has in store for Marlon Vera, but I know it needs to be big. He’s on a six-fight winning streak in the bantamweight division and would be on a seven-fight streak overall had a questionable decision with Song Yadong in a featherweight bout gone his way.
The win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 252 in August was massive for his career, whether O’Malley wants to recognize it or not. Vera told MMA Junkie in the aftermath of that fight that he’d enjoy a showdown with former UFC champ Jose Aldo. That actually seems pretty fitting.
Aldo has still yet to register an official win since dropping down to 135 pounds from his longtime home at featherweight. He hasn’t definitively declared whether he’s going to stick around at bantamweight in the wake of his title-fight loss to Petr Yan, but if he does, fighting someone on the rise, such as Vera, would be a good gauge for both.
What’s on the horizon for ‘Cowboy’ if he wins this weekend?
about ufc vegas 11, if cowboy beats price, who should he fight next?
— skyler whetsel (@SkylerWhetsel) September 17, 2020
I don’t want to disrespect your question by not picking a specific name, but I think that’s what’s going to happen here. It’s just too hard to think about Donald Cerrone’s next fight until he gets through this one with Niko Price. It would be great to see him snap this four-fight losing skid and prolong his run, but it’s on him to make that happen.
If Cerrone succeeds and gets back in the win column, he can honestly fight anyone. Perhaps the UFC actually goes to this Khamzat Chimaev fight if both win (I really hope not), or maybe the UFC tries to pull one more big fight out of Cerrone and make him the return opponent for Nick Diaz. There are options, and it also depends if it’s at welterweight or lightweight.