Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Junior Dos Santos and UFC 211's other losing fighters?

(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for UFC 211’s winning fighters?)

UFC 211 on Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas was perhaps the best UFC card of the year so far. That won’t matter to the five losing fighters from the pay-per-view lineup, however, because they were all fell short of victory.

Junior Dos Santos (18-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) once again failed to capture the UFC heavyweight title, this time against Stipe Miocic (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC). In the co-headliner, Jessica Andrade (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) was unable to unseat strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), and to round it out, Jorge Masvidal (32-12 MMA, 9-5 UFC), Yair Rodriguez (10-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and Krzysztof Jotko (19-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) all were beaten by their foes.

After every event, fans wonder whom the losing fighters 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 211’s losing fighters.

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Krzysztof Jotko

Sam Alvey

Should fight: Sam Alvey
Why they should fight: Jotko laid an egg in his first chance to compete on the grand platform of a UFC pay-per-view, falling short to David Branch by split decision in a largely forgettable middleweight affair.

Prior to the bout, Jotko had won six of seven UFC fights and 19 of his 20 career contests overall. He was hardly manhandled or decisively beaten by Branch, which, if he’s looking for positives, are takeaways he can try to build off.

The problem for Jotko, though, is how it took him a five-fight winning streak just to be paired in a fight with Branch. It could take years to get back in the same position, depending on what type of fights Jotko is booked in going forward.

A shortcut back could be to get a big win over familiar name, and Alvey (30-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC) could be the perfect dance partner. “Smile’n” is coming off a loss of his own against Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night 108 in April and has already taken to Twitter to call for a fight with Jotko. He wants it to go down at the UFC’s July event in Glasgow, Scotland, which given the proximity to Jotko’s native Poland, seems like a potential option.

Yair Rodriguez

Renato Moicano

Should fight: Renato Moicano
Why they should fight: Rodriguez’s rapid rise up the UFC featherweight ranks was knocked off course courtesy of one of the most successful fighters in UFC history, Frankie Edgar.

After putting together a six-fight winning streak to begin his UFC tenure, Rodriguez was paired with his most challenging foe to date in the former UFC champion. Edgar has only lost one non-title fight in his career, and he didn’t let that change against “Pantera,” who at 24 clearly still has a bright future inside the octagon.

Rodriguez was way out of his depth against Edgar, succumbing to a lopsided second-round TKO. The fight revealed a lot about what Rodriguez must work on going forward, but he appears to be a hard-working, mentally strong athlete who will put in the necessary time to shore up his holes.

Moicano (11-0-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is coming off the biggest win of his career against Jeremy Stephens at UFC on FOX 24 in April and is looking to establish his own presence in the division. Handing Rodriguez a second consecutive loss would be as big a statement as any.

Jorge Masvidal

Stephen Thompson

Should fight: Stephen Thompson
Why they should fight: Masvidal’s quest to eliminate every top welterweight contender faced a hiccup when he ran into the grappling freight train that is Demian Maia.

“Gamebred” called for the most difficult fight the UFC could put him in. He got it, but Maia’s current momentum was just a tad too much. The Brazilian picked up a split-decision win to earn the next UFC welterweight title shot against champ Tyron Woodley.

The loss doesn’t hurt Masvidal too much, though. After a long career of ups and downs, the one thing that can’t be doubted is his ability to bounce back.

Masvidal will surely want the toughest fight the UFC can provide for him once again coming off the disappointing loss, and former two-time title challenger Thompson (13-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) fits the bill. “Wonderboy” is coming off a loss to champ Tyron Woodley at UFC 209 and wants to get back into the divisional limelight. Beating Masvidal would help him do just that.

Jessica Andrade

Should fight: Tecia Torres
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Andrade should fight Torres (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) next.

Junior Dos Santos

Should fight: Loser of Mark Hunt vs. Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 110
Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Dos Santos should fight the loser of the UFC Fight Night 110 headliner between Hunt (12-11-1 MMA, 7-5-1 UFC) and Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) next.

For complete coverage of UFC 211, check out the UFC Events section of the site.