What’s Next For The Losers At UFC 227?

What’s Next For The Losers At UFC 227?

By Alex Conway

UFC 227 probably won’t do great numbers on PPV whenever those totals are revealed, but the action, at least in the two title fights, certainly delivered plenty for fight fans to talk about after the event went off the air.

We saw T.J. Dillashaw retain his bantamweight title and for the first time in history we have a UFC flyweight champ not named Demetrious Johnson because Henry Cejudo was able to pull off the upset and unseat the king.

Now that UFC 227 is in the history books, let’s take a look at what’s next for the fighters who didn’t get their hand raised in Las Angeles.

Cody Garbrandt

The risks for Cody Garbrandt were obvious heading into his bantamweight title rematch with T.J. Dillashaw. If he lost he would be placed in title shot purgatory for as long as Dillashaw held the belt because historically the UFC will not give a third crack to a twice defeated title challenger against the same opponent.

That is now the reality that Garbrandt inhabits as he has dropped back-to-back title fights to Dillashaw. Garbrandt claims he can make the flyweight 125-pound limit, but that doesn’t seem realistic long-term. It also seems unlikely that he’ll jump to featherweight either.

The good news is that Garbrandt is still going to remain popular even if he orbits the title picture without being able to fully enter it. He’s a hard-hitting fighter that has a way of antagonizing his opponents. Inside the hardcore bubble there are few fighters with a more recognizable face than Garbrandt.

Garbrandt just needs to fight and win, because a rematch between Dillashaw and former champion Dominick Cruz might not be far off, even if it’s not necessarily the next title fight to make. If Dillashaw drops the belt, Garbrandt will be on the short list of guys that the UFC will push to get a title shot, but he’s got to win and stay relevant.

I like Garbrandt to fight the winner of Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson. Those two square off at UFC 228 next month in Dallas.

Demetrious Johnson

This one should be obvious. Few deserve an immediate rematch more than a champion like Demetrious Johnson who had defended his belt a record 11 times before losing a split decision to Henry Cejudo on Saturday.

Johnson had broken the record before the fight, he took a scorecard from one of the judges during the fight and he holds a first round knockout over Cejudo from his win at UFC 197 in 2016. People will be interested in a third fight because it will introduce doubt into a flyweight title for the first time in a long time.

Can Johnson get his belt back and how will he respond after losing for the first time since 2011? Can Cejudo do it again or would it look more like their first fight?

The UFC, assuming DJ is healthy, should do nothing other than run this fight back a third time.

Cub Swanson

WEC might never die but it is getting older. The last member of the WEC to make his UFC debut, Cub Swanson is now riding a three-fight losing streak after losing to Renato Moicano at UFC 227.

Swanson’s losses are nothing to sneeze at. He’s dropped fights to current No.1 contender Brian Ortega, perennial title contender Frankie Edgar and now Moicano.

The loss to Moicano is a little troubling. It might signal that Swanson is finally hitting the downslope of his career. He’ll be relevant for a while, but this could be a signal that his elusive title shot may remain just out of arms reach.

I’d like to see Swanson fight Myles Jury next. Jury last was seen getting knocked out by Chad Mendes in July. Jury is another guy that has a little mystery around just how far he’s going to go in this sport. A win for either Swanson or Jury will get them moving in the right direction, while putting the loser in a position of gatekeeper status.

Polyana Viana

The Brazilian couldn’t get it done against J.J. Aldrich. She really just needs to fight again because she’s only 26. We don’t know much about her ability to compete at this level just yet, so let’s find out by pitting her against another unproven strawweight like Ashely Yoder.

Kevin Holland

That was a fun little debut for Kevin Holland. Coming off the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series, Holland was thrown in against a monster in Thiago Santos.
Holland was short on experience and cardio against the Brazilian vet, but he showed gall and talent en-route to his unanimous decision loss. He was creative in the first round, going for a flying submission attempt and he could inject some life into the 185-pound division.

I’d have him fight Marvin Vettori next. The Italian Vettori was last seen losing to Israel Adesanya. A Holland-Vettori fight would pit the young fighters in a fight that could propel the winner into bigger and better things.