What’s Next For The Losers At UFC Hamburg

What’s Next For The Losers At UFC Hamburg:

By Alex Conway 

It was a decision heavy main card for the UFC’s return trip to Hamburg, Germany, but the main event delivered an 89 second knockout of an MMA legend that won’t soon be forgotten as a young light heavyweight prospect looks to rocket his name further up the rankings.

Let’s take a look at what’s next for the less fortunate fighters at UFC Hamburg.

Shogun Rua:

Shogun Rua was riding a three-fight winning streak going into Sunday’s event, but that came to a screeching halt at the hands of Anthony Smith.

Rua has been in the game for a long time and veteran has been showing it for a while. Smith was a short notice replacement looking to make a name for himself. Imagine what it might have looked like had Rua’s original opponent Volkan Oezdemir stepped into the cage with Rua.

The next step for Rua should be some self-reflection about what he’s trying to accomplish at this stage of his career. There won’t be any easy fights that will spare him more damage in a light heavyweight division that is starting to develop some younger talent, and is seeing an influx of middleweights like Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero entering the division that will need a name like Rua’s to feast on.

If Rua comes back, which is likely, he should be matched up with another vet. Even though he holds a 2-0 advantage over Rogerio Nogueria, a third fight between those two wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.

Glover Teixeira:

Another Brazilian added a loss to his ledger when Glover Teixeira dropped his fight to Corey Anderson. Teixeira was unable to consistently keep Anderson off him and stop the takedown. Teixeira is far from done, but his days of being a legit title contender are likely over. He’ll hover around the bottom half of the top 10 for a few more years, but fights with guys like Ilir Latifi would be a good way to proceed moving forward. Latifi was supposed to fight Teixeira this weekend, and putting that fight back together makes sense.

Vitor Miranda:

Miranda lost via decision to Abu Azaitar and that now makes three losses in a row for Miranda. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Miranda let go after this performance. However, the UFC still runs quite a few shows a year in Brazil, so he might stick around. If he does, I wouldn’t mind seeing his kickboxing go up against Dan Kelly’s grappling in a fun clash of styles matchup.

Stefan Struve:

Struve was unable to get out from under Marcin Tybura and the veteran of the UFC suffered his third loss in a row. The heavyweight division is too thin and Struve has too big of a name, especially as a European, for the UFC to cut him and let him go to Bellator.

I’d like to see Struve fight Chase Sherman next. Both guys have a penchant for getting into reckless wars when matched up properly and it feels like pairing the two could bring about a fun fight for two fighters who probably aren’t going to be title contenders anytime soon.

David Zawada:

Zawada had won seven of his last eight fights on the regional scene before dropping his UFC debut against Danny Roberts. Six of those wins were finishes, so it’s not a shock that he ended up on the UFC roster and one loss isn’t going to change that. A fight with Craig White would make sense the next time the UFC sets up shop in Europe.

Marc Diakiese:

There will always be a market for guys like Marc Diakiese. Guys that can look flashy on their feet are a favourite of MMA fans. But he’s going to have to figure out what to do when that highlight finish doesn’t materialize.

Personally, I’ve wanted to see Diakiese fight Joe Duffy for a long time.