Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Thiago Santos, Holly Holm and UFC 239's other losing fighters?

(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for UFC 239’s winning fighters?)

After every event, fans wonder whom the losing fighters will be matched up with next.

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 239’s most notable fighters.

Those fighters include Thiago Santos (21-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC), who fell short of the light heavyweight title against Jon Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) in the main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Holly Holm (12-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC), who was knocked out by women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes (18-4 MMA, 11-1 UFC) in the co-headliner, as well as Ben Askren (19-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Luke Rockhold (16-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Diego Sanchez (29-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC).

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Diego Sanchez

Should fight: Demian Maia
Why they should fight: Sanchez’s plan to finish Michael Chiesa in the first round was quickly thwarted and from there “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner was busy playing catchup, which he could never do en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Sanchez’s heart and durability were on display in the fight, but he got a dose of reality about his pre-fight talk of winning a UFC title. At 37 and with so many miles on his body, there’s many people encouraging him to retire. His UFC contract is up with the loss to Chiesa, and if the UFC wants to get out of business with “The Nightmare,” the time is now.

UFC president Dana White said post-fight he wants to continue the relationship with Sanchez, who will surely be eager to get back in and fight as soon as possible. Maia (27-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) once again expressed the desire to fight Sanchez in a possible retirement match when UFC visits Sao Paulo later this year, and it might be a fitting moment for both to hang it up, honestly.

Luke Rockhold

Should fight: Someone unranked
Why they should fight: It’s hard to disagree with UFC president White’s plea to see Rockhold retire from MMA after taking another brutal knockout loss, this time against Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut.

The concept of pushing fighters into hanging up their gloves can be somewhat uncomfortable, but int he case of Rockhold the reasoning from White is sound. Whether Rockhold agrees or not, though, is something only he can answer. It might take a while for him to get back to White, though, because Rockhold apparently broke his jaw against Blachowicz and is facing a long and difficult recovery period.

Should Rockhold opt to come back once he’s healthy, the 205-pound division still feels like the right one for him. He got a taste of the power and would likely make some adjustments based off this result. It’s far too soon to judge how long it could be until that happens, or who would be available. But Rockhold desperately needs to get his mojo back, and if that means making an example of an unranked opponent, then so be it.

Ben Askren

Should fight: Darren Till
Why they should fight: Things literally couldn’t have gone any worse for Askren in his fight with Jorge Masvidal, and now he’s in a very curious spot in terms of his future prospects.

Askren has retired once before, and it wouldn’t come as shocking to see him pull the plug after taking one of the most brutal knockouts in UFC history courtesy of a Masvidal flying knee just five seconds into the fight. Odds are he’ll be back, though, and there will be a whole different kind of intrigue around his next fight in terms of seeing how he can rebound from his first loss.

The obvious fight to make is Askren against Till (17-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC). They are both coming off crushing defeats to Masvidal, and that would’ve been the fight that happened if Till beat Masvidal back in March. Both men have taken a turn from being undefeated to being put unconscious, and now one of them has to bounce back.

Holly Holm

Should fight: Ketlan Vieira

Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Holm should fight Vieira (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC)

Thiago Santos

Should fight: Anthony Smith

Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Santos should rematch Smith (32-14 MMA, 8-4 UFC) next.

For complete coverage of UFC 239, check out the UFC Results.