Five NorCal fighters worthy of a title shot

Chad Mendes is deserving of an UFC title shot and might get it soon.

Nitesh Dutt
CSNBayArea.com


With every title defense there comes talk of who should be next to fight for the top prize in the company. There are so many fighters in Northern California, but very few hold a belt in either Strikforce or the UFC.

I have five fighters who I believe are worthy of a title shot in the near future. Ranked from “pretty deserving” to “you got to be kidding me! This guy doesn’t have a title fight” they are:

5) Nick Diaz – Yes, he had his shot at the UFC welterweight title and blew it. But let’s be real for a second, he is one of the top welterweights in the world. If he beats BJ Penn on Oct. 29th, do not be surprised if Dana White puts him back in the title picture.

4) Jake Shields – I know, I know he lost a title fight to Georges St. Pierre earlier this year, but with a track record like Shields has he deserves to always be in title talk. He has done well at welterweight and middleweight in his career. Anybody able to fight in two weight classes and hold belts in them is deserving of title consideration. A win against Jake Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night 25 will put him back on track for a title shot. 

3) Daniel Cormier – He might only have nine bouts under his belt, but he is 9-0 folks! His win over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals was quite impressive. It would behoove, look it up, the heads at Strikeforce to somehow make Josh Barnett vs. Cormier a title fight.

2) Mark Munoz – This young fighter from Vallejo is preparing to headline his first UFC card against Chris Leben at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England. He has run through competitors in the middleweight division and if he defeats UFC-vet Leben then a title shot should be in his future. The only downside to that is it’ll likely be against Anderson “the Spider” Silva. 

1) Chad Mendes – Since entering the UFC, the one they’ve dubbed “Money” has been nothing but. He was slated to challenge Jose Aldo for the featherweight title at UFC 133, but instead he fought Rani Yahya. He is still slated to face the winner of Aldo vs. Kenny Florian, which takes place at UFC 136. He is primed and ready to take on anyone for the belt and NorCal knows that “money” is the safe bet. 

Follow me on Twitter @NiteshDutt and Inside the Cage @InsideCageCSN.