Where are the winners of The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale headed?

Where are the winners of The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale headed?

Here are some of my thoughts on who I would like to see the winners from last weekend’s TUF 12 Finale fight.

Jonathan Brookins- Won a solid 29-28, 29-28, 29-27 decision over Michael Johnson to become the Ultimate Fighter season 12 winner.

Brookins showed once again his ground prowess while completely controlling Johnson in rounds 2 and 3. To say he needs some work on his standup is a bit of an understatement. I’d like to see him fight a guy a little more on his level on the ground since Johnson didn’t offer much. I’m not entirely sure if he is remaining at 155 or if he is returning to 145. If he stays at lightweight let him have a shot at Aaron Riley. If he’s going back to 145, how about a rematch with Jose Aldo? Just kidding. He is apparently out for a little while, so the winner of Chan Sung Jung aka The Korean Zombie and Rani Yahya would work.

Stephan Bonnar- All three judges gave him a 29-26 score for the win. Controlled the fight that involved both fighters losing points for illegal strikes.

2 straight wins for Bonnar now so I’d like to see him fight a guy that’s not on the verge of getting cut. I wouldn’t mind a rubber match with Krzysztof Soszynski, but I don’t think the UFC is interested in that fight right now. A matchup with Karlos Vemola would make an exciting fight.

Demian Maia- Won a methodical 29-28 decision over Kendall Grove. Grove had a hard time keeping it on the feet and Maia couldn’t get a submission.

He has now fought two straight fighters that are nowhere near title contention. For a guy that is 8-2 in the UFC with his only losses to Anderson Silva and Nate Marquardt—he needs to be fighting better competition. A rematch with Marquardt doesn’t make too much sense, although I am curious to see how the fight would play out sans 20 second knockout. Banking on Michael Bisping defeating Jorge Rivera at UFC 127, I’d love to see these two meet up.

Rick Story- Pulled off what was an upset win over undefeated wrestling star Johny Hendricks.

His trainer has said he should only be fighting top 10 opponents from here on out. I agree with him considering he has 4 straight wins. Assuming that Diego Sanchez is fighting at 170 again, this is a fight I would like to see. I think their wrestling would cancel out for the most part and both like to swing like crazy.

Leonard Garcia- Nearly made the internet shut down after his controversial split decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-30) had a large portion of fans and media in an uproar. Rounds 1 and 3 went to Garcia on the judges in question cards.

He said he was open to a rematch with Nam Phan and I’d like to see it as well. Garcia took this fight on very late notice. It would be nice to see what Leonard Garcia with a full training camp vs. Nam Phan knowing who his opponent is would look like. Make it happen Joe Silva.

Cody McKenzie- Won by guillotine choke (again) over Aaron Wilkinson. McKenzie is a one-trick pony, but he sure can pull off his trick again and again.

He has now won 10 regulation and 12 (if you count fights on the show) fights consecutively via guillotine choke. That is an incredible streak to have. I wouldn’t mind seeing a battle of TUF 12 fighters that won at the finale take place. Kyle Watson vs. McKenzie is alright for me.

Ian Loveland- Was a late replacement and a huge underdog to Tyler Toner, but dominated the fight en route to a 30-26, 29-28, 30-27 decision. The fight was his UFC debut.

Loveland stated after the fight that he is likely going to drop to the bantamweight division so I’ll take his word. I think he should be rewarded for taking the fight on late notice and dominating. How about a fight with Charlie Valencia (coming off of a loss to Miguel Torres) for his 135 debut?

Kyle Watson- Won a unanimous decision over Sako Chivitchian, another TUF competitor.

I already wrote in the McKenzie section that I would like to see these two fight.

Nick Pace- Won via self named “Pace Choke” over Will Campuzano. He missed weight for the fight, weighing in at 138.

I would like to see him fight another guy that just lost to Demetrious Johnson. Damacio Page vs. Nick Pace makes sense to me.

Pablo Garza- Had an upset win via flying knee over Fredson Paixao. Garza was on TUF 12, but lost to Michael Johnson in his first fight.

Before the Paixao win, Garza had been submitted by Zhang Tie Quan in his WEC debut. That fight was at lightweight though. In his second featherweight fight, I would like Garza to take on Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

Dave Branch- Won a unanimous decision over last year’s TUF competitor, Richie Attonito.

There are quite a few fights that would work out for Branch here. I’d like to see him fight Mario Miranda with the loser possibly getting their walking papers. Another option would be for him to fulfill an earlier scheduled fight with Aaron Simpson.