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(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Rafael dos Anjos and UFC on FOX 26’s other winning fighters?)

Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler had a rough setback in the UFC on FOX 26 main event Saturday when he experienced his first non-title loss since returning to the UFC.

Lawler (28-12 MMA, 13-6 UFC) came out on the wrong end of a lopsided unanimous decision vs. Rafael dos Anjos (28-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC), closing out a four-fight main card that went down at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and aired on FOX.

Prior to Lawler’s disappointing loss, Ricardo Lamas (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC), Mike Perry (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Misha Cirkunov (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) also failed to get their hands raised in crucial bouts for their respective weight classes.

After every event, fans wonder whom the losers will be matched up with next. And 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 on FOX 26’s losing fighters.

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Misha Cirkunov

Corey Anderson

Should fight: Corey Anderson
Why they should fight: After a thrilling winning streak to start to his UFC career, Cirkunov is now sitting on consecutive losses after Glover Teixeira stopped him by first-round TKO.

Cirkunov was quickly knocked out by Volkan Oezdemir earlier this year. He got another tough fight immediately, and the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Teixeira was too much, as well.

Fortunately, Cirkunov is still a rather young fighter for the 205-pound division. He’s in a must win situation going into his next fight, and “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner Anderson (9-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is in a similar position. Anderson is coming off two tough losses to Ovince Saint Preux and Jimi Manuwa, and he would see a good chance to get back on track against Cirkunov.

Mike Perry

Yancy Medeiros

Should fight: Yancy Medeiros
Why they should fight: Perry fell short in the biggest fight of his career against Santiago Ponzinibbio and was placed back to the drawing board with the unanimous decision defeat.

Ponzinibbio was able to avoid the incredible power of “Platinum” and pick up the win, temporarily icing some potentially big matchups for Perry in the near future. He was trending toward top-ranked opponents, but now Perry will likely have to take someone with a lower placement at 170 pounds than the one he just faced.

Medeiros (15-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) certainly wouldn’t be an easy fight, though. The Hawaiian is unbeaten in the UFC at welterweight and is coming off a memorable “Fight of the Year” candidate with Alex Oliveira at UFC 218. Medeiros will probably need a few months to recover, but once he’s ready to go, a fight with Perry would be fireworks.

Ricardo Lamas

Shane Burgos

Should fight: Shane Burgos
Why they should fight: Lamas suffered arguably the most damaging setback of his career so far when he suffered a massive upset knockout loss against unranked, short-notice opponent Josh Emmett in the featherweight co-headliner.

Former title challenger Lamas was originally scheduled to fight Jose Aldo at the event. He lost that matchup when Aldo was inserted into a UFC 218 championship bout with Max Holloway, leaving Lamas as the odd man out.

Lamas rolled the dice in accepting a high-risk contest with Emmett, and things didn’t go his way. “The Bully” still is a top contender, but he’ll need a few wins to rehabilitate his position in the weight class. Burgos (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is another step down in name value, but Lamas would surely be heavily favored against the unbeaten up-and-comer.

Robbie Lawler

Should fight: Jorge Masvidal
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Lawler should fight Masvidal (32-13 MMA, 9-6 UFC) next after his main-event loss.

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 26, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, Videos