UFC 256 went down last night (Sat., Dec. 12, 2020) inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, which saw Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno engage in one of the best title fights in recent memory over 25 minutes of back-and-forth action (see it here). In the end, the fight was so close it ended in a majority draw. In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira defeated former interim Lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, to earn his eighth straight win and a possible shot at the Lightweight title after dominating him for 15 minutes.
Biggest Winner (s): Figueiredo and Moreno
Figueiredo and Moreno put on one of the best fights of the year after an insane back-and-forth 25-minute war that ultimately ended up in a majority draw, meaning “Daico” went home with his belt over his shoulder. Both men put it all on the line and extra credit has to be given to both men because let’s not forget, they both fought three weeks ago, which makes their gutsy performances that much better. Moreno proved that he belonged with the elite by pushing the champ to the limit. As for Figueiredo, he silenced all of the doubters who felt he couldn’t perform in the championship rounds due to his tough weight cuts. Aside from perhaps leading in the “Fight of the Year” category, each man took home an extra $50k in “Fight of the Night” honors. After a close fight like this one, there is no other choice but to run it back.
Runner Up: Kevin Holland
Holland loves to talk, but the man can back it all up. And after last night’s performance, “Trail Blazer” has even more reason to be a chatter box. Indeed, Holland scored a dazzling knockout win over Ronaldo Souza, ending “Jacare’s” night with a some absolute bombs, which all began after he clipped his foe with a devastating right hand…from his back! Indeed, Holland tagged the long-time veteran as he was attempting to get up from a precarious position. Once he landed, a stunned Souza was the recipient of a few more follow up shots that ended his night. The win is Holland’s fifth straight, improving him to 8-1 in his last nine fights. After cracking the Top 15 last week, Holland can expect to move up a few more spots on his way to getting Top 10 competition.
Runner Up: Charles Oliveira
“Do Bronx” picked up the biggest win of his UFC career thus far after dominating Ferguson for 15 minutes to earn a unanimous decision win. Oliveira’s performance was very impressive since he had his way with “El Cucuy” from start to finish. It was just as (if not more) one-sided than Justin Gaethje’s battering of Ferguson this past summer. Hopefully Dana White and Co. do right by Oliveira and award him the next shot at the title, which will likely be against the winner of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, who are set to collide at UFC 257 in January. That’s assuming Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t come back to attempt to earn consecutive win number 30.
Biggest Loser: Junior dos Santos
After ruling the Heavyweight division years back, Junior dos Santos has had a drastic fall from the top, losing four straight (all via knockout). His latest defeat came at the hands of Ciryl Gane, who stopped “Cigano” halfway through the second round to remain undefeated at 7-0, 4-0 UFC. It’s obvious Junior’s chin isn’t what it used to be after initially getting rocked by a solid jab from Gane. Soon thereafter, a hard elbow from the French big man is all it took to end “JDS’s” night. As for where Junior goes from here, don’t be too surprised if the promotion decides to part ways with the former 265-pound champion now that he’s been stopped four consecutive times. UFC is far from done with its pre-announced purge of its roster, so dos Santos has every right to be nervous every time his phone rings come next week.
For complete UFC 256 results and coverage click here.