There are few spectacles more appealing in the realm of combat sports than when heavyweight fighters get to mixing up the leather. Three of the four bouts that comprised the main card at UFC on Fox 13 took place in the ranks of the UFC’s heaviest division, where six fighters ranked in the Top 15 stepped into the Octagon to handle their business.
While there were some recognizable names in that list of heavyweights, no tilt held at the event held higher stakes than the main-event bout between Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic.
The heavy-handed former champion was coming off a lopsided loss to current title holder and rival Cain Velasquez in his most recent showing and desperately needed a victory over Miocic to not only keep his title hopes alive but to also hold his place as a perennial contender intact.
On the flip side of the equation, Miocic faced a tremendous potential upside in squaring off with the former heavyweight king.
The Ohio native has been one of the division’s most highly touted prospects since joining the UFC back in 2011. The former two-sport standout from Cleveland State University had won six of his seven showings inside the Octagon coming into UFC on Fox 13, and a potential victory over a heralded fighter the likes of Dos Santos would transform that prospect tag into legitimate title contender.
With both fighters having the ability to throw bombs in their respective arsenals, there was a high likelihood the bout wouldn’t last long, and what transpired was one of the best heavyweight battles in recent memory. Both took turns exchanging heavy shots, and the tides shifted often throughout the 25-minute affair. When the final bell sounded, it was dos Santos who took the unanimous victory in the hard-fought affair.
The co-main event brought its fair share of drama as surging contender Rafael dos Anjos looked to keep his championship hopes alive when he faced former title challenger Nate Diaz in what was figured to be a lively scrap in the 155-pound ranks. RDA had won seven of his last eight coming into his bout with the Stockton native, and a victory over the Stockton native would make a pretty strong case for title contention.
As for Diaz, his fight-week antics and missing weight did him zero favors in the bigger picture, and he needed the victory over the resurgent Brazilian to keep his place in the divisional upper tier. Yet, with the younger Diaz brother publicly beefing with the UFC in the lead-up to Saturday night, no one knew what to expect when the cage door closed on the lightweight tilt.
When the action got underway, it was all Dos Anjos. The Brazilian pursued the action relentlessly as he put a beating all over Diaz. He used leg kicks to chop Diaz’s base and then opened up his eye with a sharp left hand on a counter exchange en route to picking up the unanimous-decision victory.
Outside of the action at the top of the card, there was plenty of face-punching and freaky self-imposed knockouts to be had on Saturday night. Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from UFC on Fox 13.
The Good
There were a lot of questions lingering around the main-event battle between Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic at UFC on Fox 13.
After being at the end of two extended beatings at the hands of current champion Cain Velasquez, many wondered just how much Cigano would have to give inside the Octagon. On the flip side, Miocic has been one of the divisions hottest prospect for the past two years, and the Cleveland native had the opportunity to take a huge step up in the divisional picture by toppling the former champion.
While JDS would ultimately win the bout on the judges’ scorecards, both men deserve props for hanging tough in a gritty, five-round battle. The Brazilian knockout artist chucked his signature bombs until the very end, and the former Cleveland State wrestling standout was right there with him until the very end.
That said, what this fight ultimately proved is that Dos Santos is still in the mix for the heavyweight title, and Miocic isn’t far off the divisional upper tier by taking the most feared knockout artist in his weight class to the wire.
The UFC’s lightweight division is as stacked as they come, and Rafael dos Anjos is making a strong case for title contention. While Khabib Nurmagomedov is still sitting in front of him in that particular race, the Kings MMA representative continues to add big names to his already-impressive resume.
He came into UFC on Fox 13 having scored victories over perennial contender Donald Cerrone and former champion Benson Henderson in his most recent showing and then upped the ante by dominating former title challenger Nate Diaz for three rounds on Saturday night.
While RDA has proven to be as versatile as they come inside the Octagon, he directed his offensive attack at the Stockton native’s lead leg, and that decision paid off big for the game Brazilian in the co-main event.
If he was battering Diaz with kicks, he was hammering him on the canvas from top control as he cruised to his third consecutive victory in the talent-stacked lightweight ranks.
While Dos Anjos pleaded with Dana White for a title opportunity, having a loss to Nurmagomedov on his record and with the Russian sitting in front of him in the rankings, could very well stall out those hopes. Nevertheless, Dos Anjos is proving himself to be a legitimate threat in the 155-pound fold. Cub Watson voiced his support of a Dos Anjos vs. Pettis matchup:
***No fighter on the card at UFC on Fox 13 needed a victory more than Alistair Overeem. The former Dream and Strikeforce heavyweight champion came to the UFC with high expectations and was figured to contest for the divisional title right away.
Yet, after making a successful debut against Brock Lesnar back in 2011, it’s been a hard downhill crash for The Reem in the years since. He came into his bout with Stefan Struve on Saturday having lost three of his last four and was certainly aware of the urgency surrounding his bout at UFC on Fox 13.
While Overeem is known as a striker, he decided to take his fellow Dutchman to the ground and do his work from there.
Once he had Struve boxed up against the fence, the former K-1 champion unleashed several brutal power shots down on The Skyscraper and continued to do so until referee “Big” John McCarthy stepped in (a bit late mind you) to stop the bout. With the win, Overeem not only remains relevant in the heavyweight mix, but he will also keep his place on the UFC roster as well.
***As history has proven, getting past Gabriel Gonzaga can allow entry into the elite level of the heavyweight division, and Matt Mitrione stormed those proverbial gates on Saturday night.
From the jump it was obvious the former NFL player-turned-mixed-martial-artist had a speed advantage, and that quickness ultimately became the former title challenger’s undoing. Napao was dropped with a short left hand in close quarters, and Meathead finished off the bout with a flurry of shots to a grounded Gonzaga.
The big question will be in what comes next for the former All-American football standout from Purdue University. He’s won four of his last five outings and looked more impressive with every showing, which should all but guarantee his next opponent comes in the form of one of the bigger names in the heavyweight ranks. Justin Huffman of Guardian Liberty Voice notes Mitrione “keeps climbing the ladder”:
***While he’s attempting to climb the flyweight ladder toward another title shot, John Moraga came into UFC on Fox 13 facing a difficult situation. The MMA Lab product was originally supposed to face Jussier Formiga on the card, but the Brazilian was forced out with injury and replaced by newcomer Willie Gates.
Yet, while Moraga was certainly the favorite, he was forced to weather an early storm from Whoop Ass to pull out the rear-naked choke that ended the fight in the final round. The Phoenix native not only got the victory in front of his hometown crowd, but he also picked up his third win in his past four showings in the process. Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting pointed out how much Arizona loves Moraga, highlighting his standing ovation:
***Ben Saunders has returned to the UFC as a man on a mission. Killa B marked a successful return by scoring a slick omoplata submission over Chris Heatherly back in August, and he kept that momentum rolling against Joe Riggs on Saturday night.
Riggs scored a takedown early in the fight, but injured his neck in the process as soon as they hit the canvas. With Diesel in severe pain, Saunders locked on a fight-ending triangle choke. While there was a lot of emphasis put on Riggs’ injury post-fight, that still doesn’t take away from the outstanding finish Saunders earned en route to his second consecutive victory since returning to the UFC. UFC on Fox announced Saunders’ win and provided an injury observation regarding Riggs:
***There was a big opportunity on the table for Drew Dober coming into UFC on Fox 13. He was facing a former WEC lightweight champion in Jamie Varner and had the chance to knock off an opponent with a solid name in the fight game.
Dober wasted zero time capitalizing and seizing the moment as he earned a first-round-submission finish over the Arizona-based slugger in front of Varner’s hometown crowd. It was certainly the biggest win of Dober’s career and one that made a solid statement in the process.
***Taking his UFC debut on short notice proved to be no big deal for Bryan Barberena as he outworked Joe Ellenberger to pick up the second-round finish via ground-and-pound on Friday night.
While the first round was competitive, the second frame belonged entirely to the MMA Lab representative as he battered the Nebraska native until the referee stepped in to stop the bout. It was an impressive showing for Barberena as he defeated a tough veteran in his first showing inside the Octagon.
***There wasn’t much beauty to be found in the bout, David Michaud turned the canvas of the Octagon into a blood bath, thanks to a short elbow from Garett Whiteley during their tilt on the preliminary portion of the card.
While the first two rounds of the fight were mostly spent in grappling exchanges with Michaud in top control, the final round of the tilt was a slugfest. While he gave a valiant effort, Whiteley couldn’t make up the difference of the first two rounds, and Michaud took the unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.
***After issues making the 125-pound weight limit forced him to jump up into the bantamweight ranks, Henry Cejudo finally made his official promotional debut against Dustin Kimura at UFC on Fox 13.
While the former Olympic gold medalist has utilized his outstanding wrestling to find success thus far in his brief MMA career, it was his boxing skills that baffled the normally scrappy Hawaiian. When the final bell sounded, Cejudo picked up his first UFC victory and kept his undefeated record intact.
***Although Ian Entwisle had a disastrous UFC debut earlier in the year, he came into his bout with Anthony Birchak looking to prove he belonged, competing inside the Octagon.
The scrappy Englishman wasted zero time getting that done as he latched onto his signature leg lock and forced Birchak to tap out just north of the one-minute mark in the opening round of the contest to get the victory. While leg-lock or heel-hook specialists are a rarity at the top level of the fight game, Entwisle proved once again that he’s as dangerous as they come if he’s able to drag his opponent into his world. Bloody Elbow’s Stephie D was impressed with Entwisle’s “lightning quick” win over Birchak:
The Bad
The end of Jamie Varner’s road in mixed martial arts came to an end on Saturday night.
The former WEC lightweight champion desperately needed a victory coming into his fight with Drew Dober at UFC on Fox 13 in his hometown, but that was a result he wouldn’t find.
After trying to do a lateral drop and flip his opponent, Varner was temporarily knocked out when Dober’s head smashed his chin upon impact. From there it was all Dober as he pounced on his dazed opponent and finished the bout via rear-naked choke.
While the Arizona native would announce his retirement in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, it was likely for a few good reasons. Not only did the loss to Dober make it four consecutive setbacks and five of his last six, four of those defeats came by way of the finish.
It was all but guaranteed that his loss to Dober at UFC on Fox 13 would be the catalyst for his release from the UFC—the third time he would have been let go out of a Zuffa contract—and it was obviously something he didn’t want to face.
Yet, while Varner certainly had some solid moments during his 11-year career, the end of his run in MMA was nothing short of ugly. The one-time power puncher was getting knocked out or submitted on the regular, and his body was falling apart, as was put on display in his bout against James Krause.
And where a fighter making the call to retire on his own regard is certainly commendable, getting submitted in the first round in front of your hometown crowd is a tough way to take a final bow. Al-Shatti pointed out the “dead silence,” as fans are shocked by how Varner’s career in the Octagon ended:
Another fighter whose future may be uncertain is Stefan Struve.
For years the rangy Dutchman was tagged as the “next big thing” in the heavyweight ranks, and there have been times where he’s appeared to be living up to his potential and expectation. Coming into 2012, The Skyscraper was poised to finally break through into title contention until a huge hook from Mark Hunt laid him out and broke his lower jaw into two pieces.
While that injury was devastating, it would be announced several months later that Struve was suffering from a career- and life-threatening heart condition. That said, Struve was determined to return to fighting and was set to do so against Matt Mitrione this past July at UFC 175 in Las Vegas.
Yet, unfortunately for Struve, he would faint backstage and was pulled from that card for medical reasons. It was a disappointing turn for Struve, and he was fired up to make the most of his official return against Alistair Overeem at UFC on Fox 13.
That said, his 20-month layoff from action certainly showed in the opening stages of his bout with The Reem. Struve was hesitant to pull the trigger and gave up a takedown from Overeem rather easily. While it took a bit for Overeem to get in on Struve, he eventually did and landed several huge bombs to end the fight in brutal fashion.
And while the loss was only Struve’s second consecutive setback inside the cage, the fashion in which it happened in addition to the physical problems he’s suffered, it is going to be interesting to see where Struve’s career goes from here at just 26 years old.
***It’s difficult not to feel at least a little bit bad for Anthony Birchak. The 27-year-old bantamweight was set to make his long-awaited Octagon debut against Joe Soto back at UFC 177 back in August, until former champion Renan Barao passed out trying to make weight and was pulled from the card for medical reasons.
Forced to scramble at the 11th hour, the promotion tapped a former Bellator champion in Soto to face TJ Dillashaw in the card’s main event. This of course left Birchak without an opponent, and he was bumped off the card entirely.
The Arizona native was finally given his chance to make his official debut at UFC on Fox 13 on Saturday night when he faced Englishman Ian Entwisle. Furthermore, he was able to do so in front of his home-state crowd, and the table was set for the bantamweight prospect to finally make his mark on the biggest stage in the sport.
Unfortunately for Birchak, things wouldn’t remotely work out in his favor as Entwisle caught a fight ending leg lock early in the opening round to win the bout. While Birchak is a young fighter and there will be plenty of time to bounce back, the start of his UFC run has been about as rough as they come, and that can’t be a good thing for his confidence going forward.
Matthew Roth noted Riggs, in addition to his Octagon trouble, was also having trouble “putting words together”:
***Another fighter who can’t seem to catch a break is longtime veteran Joe Riggs. Diesel was one of the young guns in the post-TUF boom in the mid-2000s, but a tough run forced him out of the organization. The heavy-handed slugger continued to throw his hands on stages around the globe and eventually found some traction when he put together a six-fight winning streak that earned him an invite back to the UFC.
The MMA Lab representative was originally slated to face Paulo Thiago back in September, but a self-inflicted gun-shot wound suffered while cleaning his firearm forced him out of the bout.
Nevertheless, he finally made his return on Saturday night and suffered another unfortunate setback as he pretty much knocked himself out of the bout against Ben Saunders when he suffered a “stinger” in his neck as he slammed Killa B on the takedown. Once again, it was another rough shake for Riggs as he attempted to earn his first victory inside the Octagon since August 2006.
Chuck Mendall noted that, sadly, Riggs’ loss was another negative outcome in a string of unfortunate events:
The Strange
If one of the Diaz brothers is scheduled to compete on a fight card, there is a rock-solid guarantee there will be mention of him in this category of the column. Whether it’s a solid-gold sound bite, or some of their signature “double birds” being thrown mid-fight, Nick and Nate simply choose to walk their own paths.
For this particular go-around, it was The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 winner who took the lead in the brotherly dance.
The brash southpaw started things off in proper Diaz fashion by no-showing the scheduled, nay, mandatory open workouts on Wednesday by saying he simply overslept.
Diaz upped the ante on Thursday by meeting with various media outlets where he lashed out at everything from the UFC’s new uniform deal with Reebok to the promotion signing CM Punk. It’s also worth noting he fiercely opposed Punk coming into the UFC and had some harsh words for the former WWE star.
While those two elements would be bad news for any fighter on the UFC roster, Diaz continued to crank it up at Friday’s weigh-ins as the Stockton native came in five pounds heavy for his bout with Rafael dos Anjos. Where most combatants are apologetic about missing the contracted weight—an offense that costs a fighter 20 percent of their purse—Diaz carried on as if all was running as normal.
Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie pointed out how the UFC dealt with Diaz during the broadcast, describing the action as burying him:
Following the rash of incidents during fight week, UFC President Dana White addressed the situation by citing that while Diaz certainly loves to complain about the money he makes fighting in the UFC, he also seems to find plenty of ways to get fined.
And while losing part of your purse is never a good thing for a fighter to experience, the Diaz brothers continue their paradoxical ways of “not playing the game,” as White is so commonly heard saying in their regard.
His antics leading up to his bout with RDA left some heavy (no pun intended) questions swirling as to how he would perform, and the UFC bashing him in the pre-fight promo didn’t help, but when the action Diaz came out with was one of the flattest performances of his career, he certainly was not helped.
Dos Anjos battered his lead leg with punishing kicks and then beat up the TUF winner when the fight was on the canvas. This process repeated for three rounds with Dos Anjos picking up his third consecutive victory.
In addition to the the Diaz situation, the strange came heavy in Phoenix on Saturday night. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter felt it was the “weirdest event” ever:
MMA is a realm where anything can happen and usually does. In the past few years, we’ve seen former champions pass out during weight cuts, ears explode inside the Octagon and a fighter come out on the losing end of a battle with a sauna. Simply put: Madness is the name of the game, and the strange certainly made it’s presence felt in Phoenix at the expense of Derek Brunson.
The Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter is a talented prospect in the welterweight ranks and was looking at his bout with seasoned veteran Ed Herman at UFC on Fox 13 as the perfect opportunity to take a solid step up the divisional ladder.
Unfortunately for the South Carolina native, he was stricken with a sudden stomach ailment an hour out from his bout with The Ultimate Fighter veteran. While these particular issues have been known to happen from time to time, it still will result in a poor turn for the former Strikeforce fighter.
When such situations arise, it falls on the UFC to decide whether or not the show portion of the fighter’s purses are paid. And if past occurrences with Renan Barao and Henry Cejudo are the example, things aren’t looking good for Brunson.
Granted, the two previously mentioned fighters failed to make weight and were forced to withdraw where Brunson stepped out due to falling ill. Nevertheless, the UFC pays fighters to show up and scrap, and Brunson’s illness permitted that from happening.
By the look of Ed Herman’s face in this picture, courtesy of Chris Leben, he seems to be as confused as everyone else who was watching the events unfold on Saturday:
There was a lot on the line with a potential shot at Carla Esparza’s newly minted women’s strawweight title when Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk stepped in to handle their business. And the two fighters certainly went at one another with the type of urgency and determination that has come to be expected in a title-eliminator bout.
Yet, while the Brazilian and the Poland-based fighter gave their all inside the Octagon, it was the ending of the fight that was downright controversial.
When the final bell sounded and the referee stepped in to separate the two women, Gadelha threw a blatant cheap shot that blasted Jedrzejczyk on the left side of her face. The last time we’ve seen such an obvious disregard for the unified rules of MMA was when Paul Daley smacked Josh Koscheck with a shot post-fight, and oh what a costly one it was.
Despite Daley being one of the top-ranked welterweights at the time, Dana White issued a lifetime ban for the British slugger, vowing that he would never compete inside the Octagon again.
Yet, when Gadelha launched her shot, cage-side commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg seemed to be trying to explain her lashing out as confusion and not knowing that the fight had ended, which is completely absent of the truth just so it’s made clear.
Jedrzejczyk landed a front push kick at the bell, and Gadelha apparently didn’t appreciate the shot as she then launched her right hand after the fight. That said, there was no immediate penalty, and Jedrzejczyk ultimately took the win via split decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Yet, it will be what happens next that will be the most interesting. If the UFC follows suit, Gadelha will be forever cast out of the Octagon, and Jedrzejczyk could very well get the next opportunity to battle Esparza for the 115-pound crown. Based upon how Paul Daley was dealt with, Mindenhall feels it could be an indicator that Gadelha’s days are numbered as it relates to the UFC:
While it is usually the fighters on the card who get pumped up to battle inside the Octagon, Ryan Jimmo showed fighters in attendance can get plenty fired up as well. The recent Phoenix transplant was apparently so unhappy with his comped seats provided by the UFC that the king of the post-fight “robot dance” began to fire off tweets at UFC president Dana White:
As it turns out, his seats in Phoenix were just slightly worse than his seats for UFC 181 last week in Las Vegas, and it was enough to tip Jimmo over the edge. The normally well-mannered Canadian had all he could take and decided to let his emotions rip over the social-media platform. Whether he still has a job on Monday morning…now that will be a much more interesting story.
Just how weird did things get in Phoenix? Well this picture, courtesy of UFC.com, should answer those questions for you. Goodnight fight fans. Until next time…
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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