Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Covington, Holloway, other UFC 245 losing fighters?

Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Covington, Holloway, other UFC 245 losing fighters?

After every event, fans wonder whom the losing fighters will be matched up with next.

With another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker for UFC 245’s most notable fighters.

Those fighters include Colby Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who felt short of the welterweight title in a fifth-round TKO loss to Kamaru Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) in the main event, Max Holloway (21-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC), who dropped his featherweight belt in the co-main event, as well as Germaine de Randamie (9-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC), Jose Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Urijah Faber (35-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC).

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Urijah Faber

Should fight: Rob Font

Why they should fight: Faber wanted to see where he belonged in the UFC bantamweight division, and in the roughest of ways, he found out in a brutal third-round knockout loss to Petr Yan.

The UFC Hall of Famer, who came out of retirement in June, said he wanted the biggest test available. That’s because if he passed, a title shot would be on the horizon. Yan showed Faber those aspirations might be too lofty, though, and now the 40-year-old has a decision to make.

Faber got a sweet new contract ahead of the booking against Yan, and now that he’s finally making the money he wants to fight, it’s hard to walk away. That’s why another retirement feels unlikely right now.

If Faber continues to fight, he will do what he always does: Take a top name at 135 pounds. It shouldn’t be someone quite on Yan’s level, but a name like Font (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who is coming off a “Fight of the Night” win over Ricky Simon at UFC on ESPN 7 this month, would be a good fit for “The California Kid” if he insists on continuing to compete.

Jose Aldo

Should fight: Pedro Munhoz

Why they should fight: Although the decision was debatable, Aldo’s bantamweight debut will go down as a loss after his narrow split decision defeat to Marlon Moraes.

There was plenty of criticism about Aldo’s drop to 135 pounds, including from yours truly, but he did not look out of place once inside the octagon. The weight cut didn’t look good from an outside perspective, but Aldo says differently, so we’ll have to take his word for it.

Getting to that weight took sacrifice, though, and if Aldo wants to put himself through that again, there’s a lot of fresh and interesting matchups for him at 135 pounds. With all the potential contenders at bantamweight and flyweight, it’s laughable UFC president Dana White is considering Aldo for a matchup with dual-champ Henry Cejudo. And we’re going to proceed as if that illogical idea doesn’t materialize.

Aldo could very much belong in the title discussion, he just needs a single win. Fighting someone like Munhoz (18-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who may not be the biggest name but is very good and has a style that matches up well with Aldo, could be his opportunity to put on a statement performance.

Germaine de Randamie

Should fight: A top 10 bantamweight

Why they should fight: Much like the first fight against Amanda Nunes, the ground game of de Randamie was simply no match and ultimately was her downfall in a unanimous decision loss to the women’s bantamweight champion.

This title shot, quite honestly, felt like a gift opportunity to de Randamie. No one would’ve expected to fight for a UFC title again after she was stripped of the women’s featherweight strap in 2017. She got the chance because there was no more obvious contender, but could not overcome the dominant force that’s Nunes.

At this point it really doesn’t feel like de Randamie will fight for a title again, and at 35, she will have some decisions to make. There’s a good chance we don’t see de Randamie back anytime soon, as she’s been known for long layoffs. However, she likely has a couple more in her, and whatever the division looks like when she gets back, it’s sure “The Iron Lady” will get someone in the top 10 rankings.

Max Holloway

Should fight: Alexander Volkanovski

Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Holloway should rematch Volkanovski (21-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) next after his title victory.

Colby Covington

Should fight: Tyron Woodley

Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Covington should fight Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) next.