When grappling wizards face off in the UFC Octagon, they often avoid going to the mat at all costs. Instead, two jiu-jitsu experts, knowing the other man is very dangerous on the ground, sometimes end up in an ugly slugfest, standing and banging despite a palpable lack of skill in either boxing or kickboxing.
Their own beautiful art, one they’ve spent decades perfecting, is left by the wayside.
Luckily for fight fans, that didn’t happen when two of MMA‘s best heavyweight submission artists butted heads in Fortaleza, Brazil Saturday night. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum went right at each other where both were strongest.
The result?
Some fascinating exchanges on the mat, ending with Werdum’s second-round armbar submission. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu stalwart, the first and only man ever to submit the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, will likely be next in line for a UFC heavyweight title shot, making him the night’s clear winner.
But Werdum was not alone. There were winners and losers up and down the fight card, both the official winners who will have their names written in history and the men who won the hearts and minds of the crowd with a valiant effort in defeat.
Click on for the real winners and losers from UFC on Fuel 10. Have some winners and losers of your own? Let’s hear them in the comments.