Another event passed, and another chance to play matchmaker - here's a look at Saturday's winners, and where they go from here. UFC Fight Night 42: Henderson vs. Khabilov took place Saturday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The 11-fight card featured five lightweight match ups, two fights a piece at flyweight and bantamweight, a lone welterweight fight on the preliminary card, and a single light heavyweight pairing on UFC Fight Pass. With such a high number of lightweight fights on one card, the event will no doubt have a major impact on the 155 pound division, which is facing something of a backlog as champion Anthony Pettis rehabs from injury and takes care of a coaching stint on the Ultimate Fighter. Now, let's take a look at matches to make for the winners from UFC Fight Night 42.
11. Patrick Cummins
Scoring his first win by TKO in the second round against UFC newcomer Roger Narvaez means that Patrick Cummins, the former coffee server who was tapped to face Daniel Cormier in a co-headlining squash match in his UFC debut, gets to stick around a little longer. Cummins will likely get another two fights after this showing, and perhaps he has more of an upside than we realized - but he's still at the bottom of the UFC's light heavyweight division for now. What makes sense for Cummins, as far as the UFC is concerned, is to bring him along slowly. He did them a pretty big favour in taking a short notice fight he had no business being in, and promoting it to the best of his ability, but to be fair, his reward was getting into the UFC in the first place. If he can string together a couple wins, well that's just gravy. Cummins was originally to face Francimar Barroso at UFC Fight Night 42, however Barroso had to pull out due to injury. That's a match-up that I'd still like to see take place, however Barroso is coming off a loss, and Cummins has picked up his first win. Since the UFC likes to pair winners versus winners, a fight against newly signed 6-0 prospect Robert Drysdale could also work.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
Another event passed, and another chance to play matchmaker - here's a look at Saturday's winners, and where they go from here. UFC Fight Night 42: Henderson vs. Khabilov took place Saturday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The 11-fight card featured five lightweight match ups, two fights a piece at flyweight and bantamweight, a lone welterweight fight on the preliminary card, and a single light heavyweight pairing on UFC Fight Pass. With such a high number of lightweight fights on one card, the event will no doubt have a major impact on the 155 pound division, which is facing something of a backlog as champion Anthony Pettis rehabs from injury and takes care of a coaching stint on the Ultimate Fighter. Now, let's take a look at matches to make for the winners from UFC Fight Night 42. 