Stipe Miocic shut down Roy Nelson on Saturday night at UFC 161, working the Canadien fighter over in a bad way in front of his home crowd in Manitoba, Winnipeg. It was a big win for Miocic, but he wasn’t the only fighter who came out of the big event with positive momentum.
The main event pitted Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson. Evans won a split decision, thanks to an improved effort in the third round, as noted by the UFC:
While Evans and Henderson headlined the event, some of the earlier fights on the card proved to be more exciting for the fans.
These fighters came away as the biggest winners of UFC 161.
Stipe Miocic Dominates Big Country
Nelson was supposed to put on a show in this fight in order to secure bargaining power for a new contract in the UFC, as noted by Case Keefer of LasVegasSun.com.
Instead, it was Miocic who came out of the fight looking like the guy with a bright future ahead of him with the growing company.
Miocic absolutely dominated the action from the start, landing big punches like this one, courtesy of Esther Lin:
Nelson was slow and out of shape compared to the ripped Croatian fighter, who wore out the hometown hero before the bell sounded to end Round 1. In the end, Miocic had landed 90 strikes to Nelson’s 19, via ESPN.com, and won a unanimous decision for his efforts.
Shawn Jordan Drops Pat Barry
This fight was over before it ever took off.
It took less than one minute for Jordan to log an impressive TKO against Barry, who didn’t stand a chance in this fight. As noted by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, Jordan assaulted Barry with some gorgeous uppercuts to earn the win:
The official stats, via ESPN.com, show Jordan needed just 10 significant strikes to win this fight, while Barry landed just one.
Jordan is developing quite a reputation as one of the most impressive strikers in the heavyweight division. He’s now won by way of knockout in his last three victories, and he has 11 knockout wins out of 15 total.
James Krause Makes an Excellent First Impression
In his UFC debut, James Krause didn’t disappoint, winning by way of submission (guillotine choke) over Sam Stout in the waning moments of the third round.
For Krause, the man who was knocked out of TUF 15, his victory represents a fresh start.
Though he had just two weeks to prepare for the fight (h/t Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com), Krause was in excellent shape for this fight. He landed 110 strikes, via ESPN.com, compared to Stout’s 81.
Rather than let the judges decide the winner, he took matters into his own hands at the end of the fight, as he told Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com:
It was an excellent showing by Krause, who likely earned a shot to make a name for himself in the UFC. He earned “Fight of the Night” honors and a well-deserved $100,000 paycheck for his work.
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