Next up at the top of the lightweight division: The Devout Christian vs. The 209 Bad Boy.
Whether or not you felt Frankie Edgar deserved the decision in his UFC 150 lightweight title fight against Ben Henderson on Saturday night -- and that's exactly how many people felt -- the 155-pound division is moving on.
And for Henderson, who won a controversial split decision in Denver to retain the belt, that means a bout with Nate Diaz is up next.
After Diaz defeated Jim Miller in the main event of May's UFC on FOX 3, UFC president Dana White stated that the Stockton, Calif. native would get the next shot at the title after the Henderson-Edgar rematch. At Saturday's post-fight press conference, White was mattter-of-fact in reiterating that Diaz will get that shot.
"Yup, Nate Diaz is getting the next shot," he said.
While it's far too soon to say when and where the bout will be contested, it's not too soon to talk about the matchup itself. Diaz has been on a tear at 155 pounds over the past year, as he ran over Takanori Gomi, handed Donald Cerrone his only loss in his past nine fights, and manhandled one of the toughest fighters in the game in his second-round submission victory over Miller.
And, oh yeah, there's the little matter of the alcohol-free, smoke-free, drug-free Henderson meeting up with one of MMA's most rough-and-tumble crews, something even Henderson acknowledged on Saturday night.
"God bless him. It should be a fun fight," said Henderson. "I know he likes to go into his fights getting guys worked up in the head a little bit and stuff, so you know, his camp, everyone involved in that 209 stuff, you know, God bless ‘em. My hat's off to him, he's a tough fighter."