When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, UFC 163 was still left muddled by the injuries that had originally rearranged it. The otherwise-explosive champion avoided his signature leg kicks—the result of an injury to his foot shortly after the fight began—and instead elected to attempt takedowns. Not exactly what you might expect from one of the UFC’s signature strikers.
Yet in spite of a controversial co-main event and injury-based TKO in the title fight, the bouts in Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena answered some noteworthy questions and offered a few vital lessons.
Some fighters walked away with highlight-reel submissions (see: Moraes, Sergio), while others simply walked away (see: Magalhaes, Vinny). To be completely honest, an argument can be made that Brian Stann’s commentary stole the entire show.
Let’s examine the primary takeaways from UFC 163.