Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back at it again last night (Sat., March 2, 2019), as UFC 235 went down from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event saw Jon Jones cruise his way to a unanimous decision win over Anthony Smith to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight title (highlights). In the co-main event, Kamaru Usman took it to Tyron Woodley, upsetting “The Chosen One” to win the Welterweight title (see it again here).
Biggest Winner: Kamaru Usman
“The Nigerian Nightmare” promised he’d put a good old fashion butt-whooping on “The Chosen One,” and he did just that, dominating the fight from the opening bell, out-wrestling Tyron for five rounds and having his way with him on the feet. By keeping the pressure on consistently, Woodley couldn’t pop off any offense. I mean Usman made it look easy. What’s even more impressive is that he was in a walking boot a week before the fight with a small fracture. With the win, Kamaru becomes the first UFC fighter from Africa to hold a company strap and extend his win streak to 14. On top of that, he sets up a title defense against his bitter rival Colby Covington, which should be an entertaining ride, even before the fight.
In the meantime, Usman can enjoy the spoils that come with being a UFC champion; which includes higher pay, bigger sponsors and a bigger spotlight. Indeed, it seems so long ago that this happened.
Runner Up: Pedro Munhoz
Don’t look now, but bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw now has another legit threat gunning for his title, as Pedro picked up the biggest win of his combat career by knocking out Cody Garbrandt in a wild, one-round brawl.
Prior to the showdown, Pedro was soaking it all in, embracing and enjoying the shine that comes with facing a former champion on a big card, which just so happened to be his first time being invited to the special pre-fight events. And though he seemed like a choir boy during toward Cody prior to the fight, he was anything but once the hands started swinging, going toe-to-toe with one of the hardest hitters at 135 pounds, eating some blows himself before delivering the finishing touch. It was a great win for Munhoz, and one more like that could put him on the fast track to a shot at the division title.
Biggest Loser: Cody Garbrandt
After suffering back-to-back knockout losses to TJ Dillashaw, Cody looked to bounce back against Munhoz. Unfortunately for “No Love,” he was once again lured into a rock em’ sock em’ robot-style exchange toward the end of the opening round, ultimately costing him the fight after Pedro clipped him with a hard right hand, setting him up for the knockout finish.
It pretty much mirrored his second loss to “Viper.”
While many are quick to criticize Cody for once again going balls to the wall and throwing caution to the wind, that is what took him to the big dance to begin with. After all, some habits are just too hard to break. Where Cody goes from here after three straight defeats is anyone’s guess, but it seems like going back to the drawing board and starting from scratch is first on the agenda. He’s still a talented man, but perhaps tweaking his style a little bit — even if it did work for him before — should be up for consideration.
For much more on UFC 235, including highlights, recaps, breaking news and much more, head over to our “Jones vs. Smith” live story stream by clicking here.