UFC 179 provided fans in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a little bit of everything on Saturday night.
The card—which featured a heavy Brazilian flavor—saw some history made, a few upsets and yet another successful title defense by one of the country’s most beloved fighters.
In all, 11 fighters had their hands raised in victory by the end of the night. Here’s a look at the results, plus a closer look at the best performances of the night.
Most Impressive Performances
Neil Magny Enters the Record Books with TKO Win Over William Macario
Welterweight Neil Magny entered 2014 on the heels of a disappointing two-fight losing streak. Fast forward 10 months and the 26-year-old is now a UFC record-holder.
According to the UFC’s official Twitter feed, the Brazilian tied Roger Huerta for the most victories in a calendar year. His impressive TKO victory on Saturday was his fifth victory in 2014:
Granted, Magny‘s victories haven’t been against the best of competition. Macario came in as a 23-year-old The Ultimate Fighter runner-up with a 1-1 record in the UFC. But a five-fight win streak in one year is impressive regardless of competition.
Matt Erickson of MMAJunkie even posited that Magny should receive a post-fight bonus for the feat:
After this win it may be time for Magny to get a shot at some real competition. At 6’3″ he’s an incredibly long welterweight who has shown he can dominate lesser competition.
Phil Davis Manhandles Glover Teixeira to Unanimous Decision
It was deja vu all over again for Phil Davis on Saturday night. For the fourth time in his last five fights he found himself going against a Brazilian who was favored to win.
For the fourth time in his last five fights, Davis proved everyone wrong.
The former All-American wrestler used his superior grappling to ragdoll Teixeira throughout the three-round bout. Michael Carroll of FightMetric provided some insight into Davis’ career day:
Coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Anthony Johnson, Davis had his back against the wall going against the No. 4 light heavyweight in the UFC rankings. But picking up the win over Teixeira in Brazil should have him in line to continue his rise to the top of the heap at 205 pounds.
So what did Davis do after pulling off the upset in front of a raucous Brazilian crowd?
Call out the highest-profile Brazilian fighter of them all, of course:
Jose Aldo Successfully Defends Title against Improved Chad Mendes
The recent success of Demetrious Johnson has led Mighty Mouse to climb the pound-for-pound rankings. It’s also begged the question, who is the UFC’s best little man?
At UFC 179, Jose Aldo emphatically reminded everyone that he is.
Despite a commendable effort from a vastly improved Chad Mendes, the 28-year-old champion outpointed his challenger throughout five rounds. While Money was able to take Aldo down once, the fight mostly took place on the feet.
And that’s where Aldo set a career high of his own, according to Carroll:
Just when you think that Aldo has maxed out his skills, he goes and puts on a performance like the one he delivered on Saturday. That’s why he will remain near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings for the foreseeable future.
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