I have no hesitation in saying that this has been my favorite card of the year so far. For some reason, the cards that everybody is ridiculing or get decimated by injuries have a knack for displaying some of the most exciting results of the year.

Benson Henderson put on one of the gutsiest, true champion-like performances that I’ve ever seen. Brandon Thatch is a legitimate prospect at 170 pounds, he’s got great size for the division, and the talent to be a future contender one day. This loss will only help Thatch in the long run.

Ray Borg and Kevin Lee continued their impressive, young careers and displayed impressive skills for fighters of their age (21 and 22 respectively). Max Holloway was able to earn the nod against the veteran Cole Miller: Cub Swanson now awaits Holloway at UFC on Fox 15 in Newark.

Between those winners, there are plenty of interesting matchups to make if you’re Joe Silva and Dana White. We’ll do our best to read their minds.

Ray Borg vs. Zach Makovsky, Kevin Lee vs. Evan Dunham

For brevity’s sake, I’m going to group Borg and Lee together in this article.

Two straight wins for Borg since losing for the first time in his young career to Dustin Ortiz, two straight Performance of the Night awards for the 21-year-old native of Albuquerque. Out of all the winners on the card, Borg’s performance probably signified the biggest need for a step-up in competition and he doesn’t need to look far for it. Makovsky, by no means is a gatekeeper, I just believe Borg is good enough to warrant a fight against a top 10 opponent.

Lee would be in a no-lose situation in a fight against Evan Dunham. If you’re Lee and you beat Dunham, congrats and enjoy your next veteran opponent. If you lose, then you lost to a UFC veteran and you don’t fall very fall on the ladder.

Benson Henderson vs. Carlos Condit (welterweight) or Pettis/Dos Anjos loser (lightweight)

Toothpick, no toothpick. 155 pounds, 170 pounds. It doesn’t matter to Henderson; he’s now a follower of Donald Cerrone’s Church of Fighting Being Game.

Joe Silva now has two weight classes to try and find Smooth another fight and it doesn’t look like Benson wants to sit and wait for very long to sign his next fight agreement. Carlos Condit has said he’s targeting a May return from injury and I don’t think anybody would be bummed to hear this fight announcement. It could easily be a main event for any free card and a co-main event for a pay-per-view.

For lightweight I picked the loser of the main event for UFC 185 because of timing. I’d rather see Benson fight the winner of the possible Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez matchup, but I don’t think Benson wants to wait that long. I’m also not sure if Pettis would get a direct rematch if, by some chance, he loses to dos Anjos. A lot of this depends on timing, but there’s definitely plenty of routes for Smooth to take after his win against Brandon Thatch.

About The Author

Blane Ferguson
Associate Editor/Senior Staff Writer

Blane can trace his MMA roots, like many others, to the finale of the first Ultimate Fighter season between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. After watching that incredible fight and cleaning the local Blockbuster of any recorded UFC pay-per-views they had, Blane was hooked on watching the sport and he carried that passion with him to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Blane is a four-year broadcasting veteran of ASU's campus radio including a founder and co-host of the station's combat sports show, The Final Round.