While I’m still in the mood to look at possible future fight matchups, let’s think about what might be next for Gabriel Gonzaga.
Gonzaga fought every well in the war with Randy Couture at UFC 74 and simply couldn’t overcome Randy’s clinch game and a severly broken nose. Regardless of the loss, I still think Gabriel has a long and very bright future in the MMA heavyweight division and I believe the UFC still sees Gonzaga as a possible future champion.
This past week, reports have surfaced that Andre Arlovski is stalled in contract negotiations with the UFC. Arlovski currently has only one fight left on his UFC contract and the UFC has always been reluctant to place their “star” fighters in the cage until a contract extension has been worked out. Arlovski has been extremely lackluster in his recent UFC fights and sports a 2-2 record in his last 4 fights. Naturally, Andre is looking for the same kind of money he got when he was still the UFC heavyweight champion. The only issue is, he is no longer the champ and, with the new influx of major talent at heavyweight, it doesn’t look like Andre will be the champ any time soon.
So, I say lets through Gonzaga and Arlovski against each other. If the UFC is looking for a way to drop Arlovski’s contract (which I honestly think they are looking for), put him up against Gonzaga and see what he has left in the tank. Arlovski can strike; Gonzaga can strike. Arlovski can grapple; Gonzaga can grapple. Throw the two in the octagon and lets see what happens.
It will be a good fight back after a loss for Gonzaga, but not an easy cream-puff fight like some fighters get after a loss. Arlovski is coming off a boring fight against Fabricio Werdum and Gonzaga will keep a fast pace and push Arlovski into action. So, I ask you; who do you guys want to see both Gonzaga and Arlovski fight next?
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Tags: UFC, MMA, Gabriel Gonzaga, Andre Arlovski
(via MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis)