What’s Next For The Losers At UFC Calgary:

What’s Next For The Losers At UFC Calgary:

By Alex Conway

One of the best fight cards on paper largely delivered on Saturday in Calgary, with a new lightweight title contender emerging and two former champions getting back in the win column after back-to-back losses for both of them.

But for every victory in the Octagon there is a defeat and four fighters from the UFC on Fox 30 main card will have to figure out what to do next after suffering a loss.

Here is a look at the future of the less fortunate fighters from Saturday’s fight night.

Eddie Alvarez

The former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion was knocked out in the second round of his rematch with Dustin Poirier. The self-proclaimed “Most Violent” champ was involved in yet another strange fight with Poirier. The first meeting between the two ended in a no contest when Alvarez illegally kneed Poirier at UFC 211 in May 2017.

Saturday the tides were turned when Alvarez was forced to give up mount position after hitting Poirier with a 12-6 elbow to the shoulder and Poirier was able to quickly finish the fight on the feet once both fighters were stood up.

Alvarez is a free agent, since the Poirier fight was the last on his current deal. I think Alvarez ends up back in Bellator. I obviously have no inside knowledge of why that hunch exists, but I think that’s where he goes.

If he does, a trilogy fight with Michael Chandler is the fight everyone will be clamouring for.

Jeremy Stephens

Stephens was on one of the best runs of his career but that streak has come to an end after suffering a liver shot first round defeat at the hands of the former champ Jose Aldo.
Stephens is known as an elite heavy hitter, but his time as a title contender is a fairly new consideration. He’s not out of the mix, but losing to Aldo is going to sting a little bit. This was the second time in as many trips to the cage that Stephens was on big Fox. He’s a fan favourite and he won’t be leaving the top 10 anytime soon.

I would look for him to fight the loser of the Yair Rodriguez-Zabit Magomedsharipov fight happening in Dallas on September 8 at UFC 228. The loser of that fight might need to take a step back since both are considered prospects, but if you’re looking for an exciting fight where the winner would still be in title contention, that’s a bracket to set up.

Tecia Torres

Tecia Torres dropped a unanimous decision to former strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and has seemingly hit a wall where she can’t quite crack the top 3 of the UFC’s 115-pound division.

She’s got wins over current champ Rose Namajunas as well as Michelle Waterson but the “Tiny Tornado” has now dropped two in a row including a loss to former title challenger Jessica Andrade.

Torres is a top 10 talent who needs to prove she can beat the best of the best in her division. A fight against Carla Esparza, Karolina Kowalkiewicz or Claudia Gadelha gives her the chance to fight someone with a big enough name that a win would keep her in the running for a title shot.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier

The Montreal native was coming off a big win over Evan Dunham but fell short against Alexander Hernandez when he dropped a decision to the Texas-based fighter.
Aubin-Mercier’s four-fight win streak was halted and now it’s back to the drawing board.

The UFC has two dates in Canada left on the calendar for 2018 and I’d be surprised if Aubin-Mercier didn’t end up on one of them.

Marc Diakiese is coming off a loss. So is Gilbert Burns, a man who Aubin-Mercier has been scheduled to fight before. Either one of those would be a fine rebound fight for the Canadian.