I agree that Brinkley is far from a top-tier opponent, but, ignoring that fact that Brinkley is his mandatory, who else can Bute realistically face?
Hopkins is a high-risk, low-reward fight; Pavlik needs to start rebuilding himself in a new weight class and I doubt he wants anything to do with Bute right now; Jermaine Taylor and Jeff Lacy are shot; he's already beaten Bika and Andrade; Pascal is fighting Dawson at 175; and all the elite opponents are in the Super 6.
There's no one else for Bute to fight.
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