UFC leaders have repeatedly said they don’t view Bellator as true competition. On Friday, though, their actions indicated otherwise.
In their first head-to-head time slot competition with Bellator—and for Bellator’s first event under new president Scott Coker—the UFC put together a humdinger of a cable TV card for UFC Fight Night 50. Fight Night cards usually happen on Saturday, so it was telling that this particular event went down on Friday, and from Connecticut, no less, which just happens to be the same state that hosted Bellator’s little shindig.
No matter the motivation, short of a title fight, UFC fans couldn’t ask for much more, especially at the price. In the main event, the next middleweight title shot may have been on the line when Ronaldo Souza and Gegard Mousasi faced off in a rematch of a bout that originally happened six years ago, and saw Mousasi win by knockout.
Before that, the heavyweights came out to play, with comic-book villain Alistair Overeem smirking down Midwestern slugger Ben Rothwell, and brawlers Matt Mitrione and Derrick Lewis doing battle before them.
As always, however, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 50.