UFC 283 went down last night (Sat., Jan. 21, 2023) inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. In the main event of the evening, Jamahal Hill won the vacant Light Heavyweight title by defeating Glover Teixeira over the course of five rounds (see it here). In the co-main event, Brandon Moreno defeated Deiveson Figueiredo via third-round technical knockout (TKO) after the doctor stopped the fight due to “Daico’s” inability to see from a swollen right eye.
Biggest Winner: Jamahal Hill
Who had Hill becoming the UFC Light Heavyweight champion in early 2023? “Sweet Dreams” flipped the script and won the title by absolutely dominating former division king, Glover Teixeira, for five rounds to reach the top of the mountain just eight fights into his UFC career. With the win, Hill becomes the first fighter to come out of the Contender Series to win UFC gold, and he did it in record-breaking fashion, too, connecting on the most significant strikes during a 205-pound fight. Now, Hill can go home to Grand Rapids, Michigan and show his family that with hard work and dedication, dreams do really come true. And while that may sound cheesy, at the end of the day it’s true. Hill is a feel-good and unexpected story from a man who only started competing professionally in MMA five short years ago.
Runner (s) Up: Brandon Moreno and Gilbert Burns
Moreno finally put Figueiredo in his rear-view mirror after earning a third-round TKO win after the ringside doctor forbid “Daico” from continuing on as a result of an eye injury. With the win, Moreno becomes the undisputed Flyweight champion for a second time and won’t have to worry about seeing Figueiredo (or a Brazilian crowd) inside the cage anytime soon. Not only because he defeated him, but also due to Figueiredo’s decision to move up to Bantamweight. It was a great night for “Assassin Baby,” who will fly back home with the undisputed title over his shoulders.
It had been nine months since we last saw Burns compete inside the Octagon, coming up short to Khamzat Chimaev in an epic back-and-forth brawl at UFC 273. But “Durinho” didn’t skip a beat in his first taste of action since, walking through longtime veteran, Neil Magny, scoring a late first-round submission via arm triangle to secure the win. Ranked No. 5 at the moment, Burns could move up a few spots and leapfrog Belal Muhammad, which gets him closer to another shot at the title.
Biggest Loser: Shamil Abdurakhimov
Any other time I would have put Mauricio Rua and/or Glover Teixeira on this list following their devastating losses, but since both legends of the fight game retired after the event, we’re going to go a different direction as a result of a potential career-changing defeat. Abdurakhimov came into the event on a three-fight losing streak and needed a huge win to keep his UFC fighting career intact. But once the dust settled, he wound up leaving Rio with his fourth straight loss. To make things worse, he has been stopped via strikes in all four defeats, putting him at high risk of earning his pink slip once the promotion starts making its next round of cuts.
For complete UFC 283 results and coverage click here.