UFC Fight Night 62, like all UFC events, has a group of fighters coming off losses and another group officially on a career upswing. And, like all UFC events, people who never set foot in the cage can be touched by any given fight.
The biggest winners this time are the Brazilian UFC fans. Brazil is home to a great many passionate, patriotic UFC fans, and the promotion panders to that, stacking each card with fights featuring a Brazilian facing an overmatched foreigner. Brazilians went 9-1 on the night in these matches, and as you’d expect, the crowd ate it right up.
The biggest loser is a bit tougher to peg, since there was very little on the line from a title perspective and the UFC had very little rooting interest on the card. That said, the biggest losers would likely be the UFC welterweight Top 10.
The awkward pile-up of fighters near the top of the division is tough to sort past the champion, Robbie Lawler, and the top contender, Rory MacDonald, who face off at UFC 189. The on-paper next-in-lines (Hector Lombard, followed by Jake Shields) currently find themselves indisposed. Worse yet, fellow contenders Johny Hendricks and Tyron Woodley are in awkward positions where they need to either wait a year or more for a title shot or risk weakening their claims to the throne by taking on a dangerous opponent.
That’s tough, right? Well, Demian Maia just jammed his foot into the door and made things even more complicated. While he isn’t on the short list of contenders quite yet, another win will make him tough to brush off.
Who else won the night? Who didn’t? Read on and find out!