UFC 116: What’s Next for the Sport’s Best?

With several amazing come-from-behind victories and several all-out wars of attrition, UFC 116 may go down as the best MMA event of 2010. 116 had a little bit of everything: amazing knockouts, slick submissions, thrilling victories, and humbling defeats. Moving forward, here’s what I think the future holds for some of UFC 116’s big winners.

Brendan Schaub: Aside from a humbling TKO loss to Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub has looked like an all-out wrecking machine in the UFC. I don’t see him vaulting up the division in the same way Roy Nelson did, but I do see him being a big threat to the UFC’s middle-of-the-road Heavyweights. If Schaub can give us at least one (but preferably two) more dominating wins, he may even be ready to break into the top tier.

Stephan Bonnar: Stephan Bonnar could have easily found himself in the same unemployment line as recent UFC castoff Keith Jardine: a talented fighter that puts on great performances win or lose, but just can’t measure up to the current star power of the division he competes in. Bonnar fought like his life was on the line (rather than just his livelihood) at UFC 116, and has earned the right to stay in one of the UFC’s most dangerous divisions. Next up for Bonnar: a long uphill battle to see if he is finally ready for the best of the division.

Chris Lytle: A veteran of over 14 UFC fights, with over 50 professional MMA fights, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle has become one of my “dark horse” favorites. Lytle’s ground game continues to be under-rated, and with two back-to-back impressive submission victories, one more impressive win could give Lytle the chance to mix it up with the division’s best, something he hasn’t done since 2008 when he lost a decision to Josh Koscheck.

George Sotiropoulos: George Sotiropoulos continues to show flashes of brilliance in his constantly-improving UFC outings, and may in fact only be a couple of fights away from a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship. In a Lightweight division that was blown wide open when current UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar defeated former champion BJ Penn, Sotiropoulos as champion is a very real possibility. Next for George: either an all-out brawl with Clay Guida or a highly technical showdown with Kenny Florian.

Chris Leben: Chris Leben earned the respect and admiration of many when he showed up on two week’s notice to take on the world-ranked Yoshihiro Akiyama. Only something as amazing as the thrilling submission victory by UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar over former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin could have stolen the spotlight from Leben’s thrilling come-from-behind victory via triangle choke. Moving forward, I think Leben will get his wish in the form of a fight with Wanderlei Silva, but it’ll be later rather than sooner. Silva is one of the toughest Mixed Martial Artists of all time, but I see him out for several months due to various injuries. If Leben keeps busy and keeps winning, a showdown with “The Axe Murderer” is inevitable.

Brock Lesnar: So much has already been said about Lesnar’s thrilling victory at UFC 116: how he absorbed insane amounts of damage in order to survive Round 1, his struggles with diverticulitis leading up to this mega-fight, his newfound stance as a humble champion, I could go on and on. But rather than looking at why his future is so bright, let’s focus on his future, period. Cain Velasquez may prove to be a stiffer test for Lesnar than even Shane Carwin. If Lesnar can beat Cain in the same thrilling way as he did Shane Carwin, then I truly think we’ll have entered the “Era of Lesnar”. Love him or hate him, if he keeps winning in one of the UFC’s most stacked divisions, Lesnar could one day be viewed in the same light as Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre, even Fedor Emelianenko: one of the best of all time.

So how do you have it, fans and friends? What’s next for these performers, and what fights would you pay to see them in?