Author: Timothy Rapp

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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While fighting fans were mostly tuning in to UFC 182 for the matchup between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, there were plenty of intriguing matchups throughout the evening to keep them entertained. And that meant there were plenty of big winners in the proceedings too.

Below, I’ll take a look at the five biggest winners from Saturday’s event. Spoiler alert: The biggest fight provided the biggest winner. Duh.

 

5. Shawn Johnson

For his first-round knockout of Jared Cannonier, Shawn Johnson took home a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. So he quite literally was one of the biggest winners of the night, wasn’t he?

 

4. Donald Cerrone

Donald Cerrone was a big winner on the night, but at least in the hearts and minds of UFC fans, he could have been a big loser, as his fight against Myles Jury was a pretty dull one throughout. 

While Cerrone won a unanimous decision, there were actually boos during the cagey encounter. Cerrone was clearly affected by the crowd’s response and responded late in the fight with several vicious leg kicks on Jury while the latter was downed, which might have endeared him to the crowd again.

“I’m upset with my performance, and I’m going to go watch the tape and figure out what I need to do to capitalize if that happens again,” he told MMA Junkie after the fight. “I’m very upset for the performance I put in tonight, and I apologize to everyone that was watching and the hype that was behind all that.”

Still, it’s important to remember two things about this fight—Cerrone held off the previously undefeated Jury, a huge result for him going forward, and his late display of aggression certainly gave the fans something to remember him by on the night. 

MMA fans were expecting more from this fight, yes. But Cerrone survived it while managing to leave his mark at the end on an otherwise dull display.

 

3. Cody Garbrandt

If first impressions go a long way, Cody Garbrandt certainly introduced himself to the UFC in the most memorable way possible, earning a TKO against Marcus Brimage at the 4:50 mark of the final round. Better late than never, right?

Garbrandt is now 6-0 in his professional fighting career, and none of them have gone the distance. The disciple of Urijah Faber showed Saturday night that he has the potential for a big future.

 

2. Paul Felder

Paul Felder‘s fight against Danny Castillo wasn’t the most anticipated fight of the night by a large margin, and it wasn’t even the best fight of the night (more on that below). But after flooring off Castillo with a spinning backfist knockout, it was certainly the most memorable finish to a fight on the evening.

Felder wasn’t even originally supposed to be at UFC 182, as he was scheduled to fight Johnny Case at UFC Fight Night 59, but he jumped at the chance to take on Castillo after Rustam Khabilov had to drop out of the match.

Boy, was that a good decision. Felder now has a contender for Knockout of the Year, made quite a few new fans on the evening and earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Not too shabby, eh?

 

1. Jon Jones

Jones’ eighth title defense may have just been his most impressive one yet. 

Facing off against a stiff challenger in Cormier—the former Olympic wrestler who was undefeated in his MMA career coming into Saturday night—Jones was incredibly impressive, holding off Cormier‘s attempts to press against him and get inside his guard while actually finishing with five more takedowns than the former wrestler. 

In the end, Jones was awarded a 29-26 unanimous decision and more than lived up to his billing as the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world, a distinction he should continue to hold for years to come. After the fight, he offered a glimpse of what could be to come, per Nancy Gay of UFC:

After he handled Cormier, it would probably be wise to bet on Jones no matter who he fights.

 

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Will UFC 165 finally see the end of Jon Jones’ reign of terror on the light heavyweight division when he faces Alexander Gustafsson?

No, probably not. 

While much of the pre-fight focus has been put on Gustafsson’s height and boxing ability, the truth is Jones still has the superior reach. There’s no doubt Gustafsson is a dangerous fighter and physical specimen who will test Bones, but it’s hard to see the champion losing this match.

For one, there is Jones’ wrestling. For as good as Gustafsson is on his feet, how will he handle Bones taking him to the mat? For all of his height, how will he handle the unparalleled athleticism of the champ? 

What’s more, Jones is smart enough to have studied Gustafsson from every possible angle. He’ll come into this match knowing his tendencies, bad habits and techniques. Jones may keep this fight on his feet early to prove Gustafsson’s much-publicized height and comparable reach are non-factors, but if he gets in any trouble you can bet he’ll bring the challenger to the mat. 

Really, there are only two ways Gustafsson can win this fight, and neither will be any easy accomplishment: He either knocks him out or he goes the distance and wins three of five rounds. The former is always possible and one landed punch away from coming to fruition; the latter seems highly unlikely. 

Yes, if hubris gets the best of Jones and he stubbornly tries to keep the fight off the mat to disprove his detractors, Gustafsson could build some momentum and steal a round. You can bet Gustafsson has carefully studied Lyoto Machida’s first round against Jones from 2011. 

He’s probably also studied the second round, when Jones responded to Machida’s early flurries with a standing guillotine that ended the fight. 

In the end, Jones will probably play Gustafsson’s game early, going toe-to-toe with the big Swede in the boxing department. Gustafsson will prove a worthy adversary in that regard, so Jones will turn to his grapple game and begin taking Gustafsson to the mat. 

The challenger will prove resilient for three rounds, but eventually Jones will have his victory, moving to 19-1. 

Jones will win by submission in the third round.

 

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UFC 161 may not have been the most stacked card or exciting series of fights, but there were still plenty of big winners from Saturday night’s showcase. 

No, there weren’t any championships won, but a few fighters likely put themselves in contention to either fight for a belt in the near future or further padded their resumes. 

Let’s break down the biggest winners from UFC 161.

 

3. Shawn Jordan

Well, that was fast. 

Jordan needed just 59 seconds to finish off his friend and opponent, Pat Barry. It was a disappointing if hardly shocking result for Barry, who has never won consecutive fights in his UFC career (he’s now 5-6 in the UFC). At least Barry is fun to watch, for better or worse.

For Jordan, this was his biggest victory and third in four UFC bouts (with his lone loss coming against Cheick Kongo at UFC 149). He delivered several impressive punches from the get-go, taking control of the fight and showing why his name should be one to monitor. 

While he may never be a true heavyweight contender, he proved he is a fighter worth watching moving forward. 

 

2. Rashad Evans

Not only did Evans erase a two-match losing streak by beating Dan Henderson in their three-round fight by a split decision, but he also put himself back in the title picture at 205 pounds. 

Fresh off consecutive unanimous decisions to Jon Jones and Antônio Rogério Nogueira, “Suga” needed a win in the worst way to keep his name in the running for Jones’ title.

While his victory wasn’t exactly decisive—the decision could have gone to Henderson, given how tight the fight was—Evans will surely take it. He displayed the speed and stamina to outlast Henderson, and his performance in the final round was enough to carry him to a win.

He’ll now try to ride that momentum to his next opponent.

 

1. Stipe Miocic

Did you see this one coming?

Miocic scored a huge upset, defeating Roy Nelson by tactically frustrating his opponent and earning himself a unanimous decision. While Nelson kept looking to land a killer blow with his infamous right hand, Miocic was cagey on his feet and didn’t allow Nelson to unload on him, peppering him with smart combinations.

He is now 4-1 in his UFC career and has a marquee win under his belt. For Miocic, Saturday night was easily the biggest victory of his career and could lead to higher-profile fights down the line. 

 

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