What's next for the fighters from UFC 200

Not the usual title because there are so many question marks surrounding so many of these guys.

Nunes (and Pena) - with Nunes not having any kind of rivalry with Rousey and Pena's win over Zingano who holds wins over both Nunes and Miesha, there's a clear top tier of 4 fighters at BW when/if Ronda comes back assuming Holly beats Schevchenko. Since I don't think Holly will have a great performance vs. Valentina, I'd book Nunes/Pena but any combination of the 4 sets up a little mini-tourney that should only help the division.

Brock - really doubt he fights again because all of the top guys will want a shot at him because of his name and I don't really see him beating any of them. Maybe Werdum. And they could always finally bring Fedor aboard and that would sell.

Hunt/Browne hasn't happened yet. Doubt Hunt wants to go out on a loss but I'd be fine if he wanted to which brings us to the biggest subject: How many of last night's fighters will call it a career?

Anderson? Doubt it. Still too much of a draw and looked good. I'd watch him vs. almost anybody but my top 3 choices would be: Machida, Rockhold, or a Vitor rematch.

DC? Really doubt this but it would be a good slap in the face to the ridiculous fans.

Edgar? Again, really doubt this but he's earned the right to walk away. Basically too many options for him. Go to BW, fight Cruz at FW or 140, go back to LW, still one of the all-time greats and p4p best imo.

Hendricks? This is the first guy I would say should retire. Just hasn't looked the same and has resorted to making pathetic excuses like blaming Vegas judging?!? If not a fight with Rory would give him a shot at redemption however small. The only fight I could see him realistically taking would be GSP because that fight would be right up GSP's alley: a(n) (seemingly) easy fight.

Diego please retire.

Lauzon? Almost definitely not but he's a long way from title contention and would probably only be used to help young contenders get there so he could be a great example of how to go out on a high note. But since that's doubtful I'd match him up with Kevin Lee.

Gomi. Would love to see him get a sendoff win but who is there without giving him a gimme? The best I could come up with would be Burkman or Abel Trujillo and I don't see him winning either. Maybe Matt Wiman? Should probably just hang 'em up.

Jim Miller - see Lauzon

Can't imagine Cain not getting the next title shot.

Miesha vs. Cat 2 seems like the best for both of them.

DC vs. winner of Rumble/Glover

Kelvin - need to wait for 202 results before making WW matchups.

TJ vs. Dodson or Caraway. Please don't make the Dom rematch yet.

Assuncao/Faber 2

Mousasi vs. Brunson, Romero. or Whittaker

Santos vs. Natal, Tavares, or Hall

And now for my completely off-the-wall crazy-ass prediction: Conor beats Nate (not that I'm sure it will happen but it helps this storylne so go along with it), then uses his influence with the UFC/a possible Aldo injury from the Edgar fight (remember this a like a dream sequence)/Eddie Alvarez's call-out to fight Eddie 1st and take the LW belt before defending and losing the FW belt back to Aldo thus setting up the trilogy fight at LW for a supermegacolossal fight. Oh and if Aldo isn't injured (sure as hell didn't look or fight like it) he could give Holloway a shot at the (interim) FW belt while Conor fights Eddie. Even if he were to beat Aldo, that wouldn't dampen the excitement of champ vs. champ much just make it a little less likely for the need of a trilogy.

Ok now wake up :D

I agree that there are a lot questions surrounding the fighters coming out of UFC 200.

1) Dana said last night on the post-fight show, that Ronda will fight for the title if and when she comes back. If Ronda comes back in time for UFC 205, then you book Nunes vs. Ronda. Ronda doesn't have a rivalry with Nunes or really Pena like she does with Tate and Holm. If Holm finishes Shevchenko in the main event on FOX and Ronda is not going to be ready by the end of the year, then I think you book Nunes vs. Holm.

2) Who knows if Brock Lesnar will fight again in the UFC. My guess is that I think he does. However I think it'll be another one fight deal, so I don't think they'll be giving him someone close to the title.  My gut tells me that the UFC gets a deal done with Fedor and they book Fedor vs. Brock at MSG.

3) It makes scenes that the winner of Rumble/Teixeira fights for the LHW title. One thing is clear is that the LHW division needs an infusion of new talent. I think some guys in the MW division (which is crowded with contenders) should consider coming up and getting themselves in line to challenge for the LHW crown. Mousasi and even Anderson Silva come to mind as guys that should move up.  

4) Who knows what Conor will want to do following his fight with Nate. Right now he says he wants to go back to FW and defend his belt, but of course he has to say that if he doesn't want to be striped. Conor will go where the money is. I think an Aldo fight would drum up a lot of interest again. Aldo won't want a quick turn around after last night so this fight might fit into his timeline well.

5) Cain looked amazing. However I don't trust him continue to stay injury free. However Sea Level Cain is one of the best HW's in the world and I'd like to see against the winner of Stipe/Overeem.

6) Cruz/Dillashaw II is the fight to make. I'd like to see Dodson challenge Cruz or again against Dillashaw. However he's not active enough to deserve these big fights at BW. I'd have Dodson fight the winner of McDonald/Lineker or Caraway.     

As much as I don't want Cain getting a shot off of one victory, the only guys that are really on a win streak at HW are Derrick Lewis, Ruslan Magomedov, Oleksiy Oliynyk, and Francis N'Gannou.

If Aldo fights anyone besides Conor, it should be Holloway.

DC should fight the winner of Glover vs Rumble, or maybe a curve ball of Ilir Latifi if he beats Ryan Bader impressively.

If Brock continues to fight, I personally would like to see him fight either Nelson, Bigfoot, or Rothwell.

Nunes vs either Rousey or Pena are the only fights that make sense if Holm loses to Schevchenko.

* Edited at 07.10.2016, 5:56 PM ET *

Probably none of them.

Who SHOULD retire?

Anderson has nothing to prove and hasn't had anything to prove for the last several fights. Feels like he's just showing up for a nice paycheck even though his fights have been competitive.

Even though Brock won he did not look impressive at all. His stand up is terrible and a rematch with Overeem or Cain would most likely look the same as the previous meetings. Unless he decides he feels like cashing in again for another big pay day i see no need for him to fight again

I don't think Pena should fight for the title yet. She lost the first round and two minutes of that fight before Cat gave the 2nd round away. I think they should give her Sara McMann.

Also I hope Edgar drops to BW next. However unlike his drop to FW, I don't want to see fight in five round championship bout straight off. I think giving him someone like Caraway in his debut would be a good introduction to the division.

Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey or Holly Holm
Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano 
Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Mark Hunt vs. Travis Browne 
Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson/Glover Teixeira winner
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort
Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor 
Frankie Edgar vs. Raphael Assuncao
Cain Velasquez vs. Stipe Miocic/Alistair Overeem winner
Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Ryan LaFlare
Johnny Hendricks vs. Patrick Cote
TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz
Sage Northcutt vs. Polo Reyes
Joe Lauzon vs. Leonardo Santos
Gegard Mousasi vs. Robert Whittaker 
Thiago Santos vs. Hector Lombard
Jim Miller vs. Nik Lentz/Maribek Taisumov winner

- Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm
- Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano II

- Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko
- Mark Hunt vs. Derrick Lewis

- Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson/Glover Teixeira winner
- Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort II

- Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor II
- Frankie Edgar vs. Bryan Caraway (BW)

- Cain Velasquez vs. Stipe Miocic/Alistair Overeem winner
- Travis Browne  vs. Roy Nelson


- Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann
- Cat Zingano vs. Miesha Tate II

- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Gunnar Nelson
- Johnny Hendricks vs. Roan Carneiro (MW)

- TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz II
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Iuri Alcantara

- Sage Northcutt vs. Marco Polo Reyes
- Enrique Marin vs. "The Other" Dong Hyun Kim


- Joe Lauzon vs. Joseph Duffy
- Diego Sanchez vs. Joshua Burkman

- Gegard Mousasi vs. Yoel Romero
- Thiago Santos vs. Brad Tavares

- Jim Miller vs. Gilbert Burns
- Takanori Gomi vs. Yancy Medeiros

Cruz vrs Edgar would be interesting.

I'd love to see Brock complete the trilogy with Mir. 

Barnett would be fun too since they can both hype it pro-wrestling style. 

Gomi vs KJ Noons is a fight that make a lot of sense

Analias, Mir is gone.

Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm or Julianna Pena or Rousey
Miesha Tate vs. Sarah Kaufman or vs. Holm II if Holm doesn't get title shot

Brock Lesnar goes back to WWE
Mark Hunt vs. Derrick Lewis

Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson/Glover Teixeira winner
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort II(or retire)

Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor II or Max Holloway if McGregor stays up in weight
Frankie Edgar vs. Ricardo Lamas or drop to bantamweight

Cain Velasquez vs. Werdum/Rothwell winner
Travis Browne  vs. Barnett/Arlovski loser

Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann or title shot
Cat Zingano vs. Liz Carmouche

Kelvin Gastelum vs. Woodley/Lawler loser
Johnny Hendricks vs. Nate Marquardt (MW) or vs. Jenny Craig and possibly a sports psychologist

TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz II
Raphael Assuncao vs. Iuri Alcantara

Sage Northcutt vs. someone who won't take him down
Enrique Marin vs. Andrew Holbrook


Joe Lauzon vs. Beneil Dariush
Diego Sanchez vs. Felder/Trinaldo loser(or retire but I don't think he's smart enough to do that)

Gegard Mousasi vs. Yoel Romero
Thiago Santos vs. Vitor Miranda

Jim Miller vs. Olivey Au Bon Pain Mercy

Retire(please for the love of god): Gomi

Holm has to beat Shevchenko first. 

Shevchenko isn't a great stylistic matchup for Holly. She won't be a onto control the distance as easily against her.

But she'll be bigger and stronger than Shevchenko (who should be fighting at 125).

I don't think Shev will win but I did not think Alvarez would win either.