What's next for T.J. Dillashaw, Daniel Cormier as well

T.J. Dillashaw has defeated Renan Barao for the Bantamweight Championship at the MGM Arena on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He was a 8-1 underdog and may have just created the biggest upset in title fight history.

So, now that he is the champion, what's next?  There are actually a few possibilities and all of them would make sense. 

Assuming Urijah Faber beats Alex Cacares at UFC 175 in July, he'd be ready for another title shot at Bantamweight gold, though, would he want to take it from his own teammate?  Another option is an immediate rematch with Renan Barao.  I don't think they will set that up considering the win wasn't a fluke and Barao was demolished.  In my eyes, Barao is still one of the best fighters ever, but he should at least have one fight before a title shot. 

Raphael Assuncao was supposed to fight Renan Barao for the title.  He couldn't fight due to injury and T.J. Dillashaw, who most believed didn't earn the shot, came in and became the champion.  So T.J. vs. Raphael is another good possibility, because he said after UFC 173 that he should be fully recovered in 8 weeks.

Then there's former UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.  He was stripped of the belt early this year because of such a long layoff due to multiple injuries.  This is when Barao became the champion.  Who knows when Cruz will be able to fight again.  Likely though, T.J. will make his first title defense at UFC 178 or UFC 179, as those are the only PPV events of 2014 without a main event.  The question is: Will Dominick be ready to fight by then, and also will he want the title shot right away? 

If he wants the shot and will be able to fight, he'll get it.  If he wants a warm-up fight as a return, he may get Urijah Faber, meanwhile Raphael Assuncao fights T.J. Dillashaw. 

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In the co-main event earlier this evening, Daniel Cormier stopped Dan Henderson via submission.  This fight earned Cormier a title shot, which he will likely get if Jon Jones beats Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 177.  Keyword there, if.   Although I believe Jon will beat Alexander, no way of knowing for sure. 

If Gustafsson becomes the champion, Jones will likely get an automatic rematch as he is a long time champion and Pound-for-Pound kingpin. 

So meanwhile, Jones will fight Gustafsson for a third time, which is when Cormier would've fought Jones if Jones won.  So, Cormier may have to fight one more time before getting his deserved crack at UFC gold.  Who against? 

I say either Rashad Evans or Glover Teixeira.  Both are currently injured, but Daniel Cormier announced he has a knee injury a week before his fight tonight, so that may sideline him for a little while. 

Rashad Evans is coming off of a win over Chael Sonnen and Glover Teixeira is coming off of a loss to Jon Jones. 

Daniel Cormier was originally set to fight Rashad Evans in the co-main event of UFC 170, but Evans pulled out a week before the event due to injury and was replaced by Patrick Cummins who was defeated by first round TKO. 

This is a big IF but if Gustafsson beats Jones, Cormier will likely have another fight, and whoever his opponent is with determine the next challenger for the Light Heavyweight belt. 

Just as I am finishing up this post...I just thought of Anthony Johnson.  He is coming off of a decision victory over Phil Davis.  He is set to fight Lil' Nog at UFC on Fox 12.  If he wins, he could fight Cormier if Cormier needs another fight before the title shot?

So many matchups that could be made, this is why MMA is such an interesting sport.

Nick