If we’re being honest with ourselves, UFC 182 will likely be remembered for one thing and one thing alone—Jon Jones’ unanimous decision over Daniel Cormier. Quite frankly, the rest of the event wasn’t terribly compelling.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t highlights or surprising results. Far from it.
Jones’ victory over Cormier wasn’t without its surprises. Despite the fact that Cormier was a two-time Olympic wrestler and based his game plan on trying to break Jones’ guard and keep the fight in close to mitigate the advantage in reach Jones possessed, it was the now eight-time defending champion who finished with eight takedowns to Cormier‘s zero.
SportsCenter on Twitter provided some of the highlights from the fight:
Donald Cerrone‘s victory over Myles Jury in the night’s next-biggest fight wasn’t necessarily surprising. What was a bit surprising was that the fight was a bit dull throughout, to the point that the crowd booed the fighters at one point and Cerrone was vocally disappointed to the point that he apologized after the match.
Still, a win is a win, and Cerrone clearly defeated Jury on Saturday evening. Plus, the crowd did get a kick out of Cerrone‘s late leg kicks as Jury lay in his guard on the mat, clearly done in frustration after the dull spectacle. It may not have been pretty, but one would guess the next time Cerrone steps into the Octagon he’ll make things more memorable.
Hector Lombard was a huge favorite over Josh Burkman, so it was pretty surprising that Burkman gave Lombard all he could handle and then some. In the end, Lombard earned the victory, but it was far from the dominant display folks were expecting.
Paul Felder and Shawn Jordan not only provided major highlights at UFC 182, they were also rewarded for their efforts, each taking home a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus. Felder floored Danny Castillo with the ever-rare spinning back-fist, while Jordan ended Jared Cannonier in the first round with a right hook.
Cody Garbrandt, meanwhile, quite literally saved his best for last, earning a TKO against Marcus Brimage at the 4:50 mark of the final round. Garbrandt is now 6-0 and hasn’t been in a fight professionally that went the distance, so it would have been a bit surprising had he not finished off Brimage as well.
He wasn’t about to let that happen, however, even if it took him the entire fight to earn his stoppage.
Nate Marquardt’s rather dramatic decline, meanwhile, continues to be a surprising development in the UFC. The fighter has now lost three of his four matches after losing to Brad Tavares in a unanimous decision and might be sliding his way right out of the UFC. His fall from grace has been a huge surprise that continued on Saturday night.
All in all, the most surprising development from UFC 182 was probably the fact that the card didn’t deliver on the hype that surrounded it. Outside of the Jones vs. Cormier match, this ended up being a disappointing card rather than the introduction in 2015 of several exciting events to come. Yes, UFC 182 had its highlights, but all in all it was expected to be much more than it delivered upon.
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