UFC 180 reminded fans of one truth about MMA as a sport—a fight can end at a moment’s notice. The theme was apparent throughout the night in Mexico, as four of the five main card bouts ended in the first round.
Then—in the finale—Fabricio Werdum waited until the second round to knock out Mark Hunt en route to his coronation as the new interim heavyweight champion.
But Werdum wasn’t the only fight winner who got some bling for his efforts. The card also crowned two The Ultimate Fighter champions as part of the Fox Sports 1 preliminary portion of the card. Here’s a look at the complete results for Saturday night along with analysis and reaction to the biggest stories in Mexico City.
Yair Rodriguez and Alejandro Perez Become TUF Winners
The interim heavyweight title wasn’t the only award up for grabs on Saturday night. Four fighters were also attempting to stake their claim as the latest winners of The Ultimate Fighter.
Team Velasquez products Jose Alberto Quinonez and Alejandro Perez kicked off the TUF finale doubleheader in the bantamweight division. Perez and Quinonez engaged in a back-and-forth fight throughout most of the three rounds. However, an intentional headbutt from Quinonez turned the fight toward Perez in the third frame. Heidi Fang of Fox Sports noted how rare it is to see two points being taken away from a fighter:
Once Perez earned his title, it was on to the 145ers. Team Velasquez’s Yair Rodriguez met Team Werdum’s Leonardo Morales to determine the title. Although Morales held his own in the stand-up department, Rodriguez’s impressive ground game was the difference.
According to FightMetric, Rodriguez scored two takedowns and five submission attempts, while Morales was unable to do much of anything when the fight hit the mat.
Rodriguez attempted to put into words how great it felt to win the show in his post-fight interview, per MMAFighting:
It would behoove the UFC to bring along both Perez and Rodriguez slowly. Neither fighter looked capable of making a splash in the near future. However, with the sport constantly looking for ways to improve its brand recognition in various parts of the globe, the two winners got their UFC careers heading in the right direction in a big spot.
Jessica Eye Bounces Back with Authority
Jessica “Evil” Eye’s 2014 didn’t get off to the best start. The Cleveland native lost a close split decision to Alexis Davis at UFC 170 in February. Then she had to turn around and watch Davis get a crack at Ronda Rousey (all 16 seconds of it).
But the No. 6 women’s bantamweight in the UFC rankings did a lot to get herself back on track to her own title shot on Saturday. Faced with an inferior opponent, she picked Leslie Smith apart through two rounds of action before nearly detaching Smith’s ear.
Gruesome ending aside, Eye’s striking ability really shined through in this one. As Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report noted, her athleticism was simply too much for Smith:
It’s time for Eye to once again get a Top Five opponent. She proved on Saturday that she can treat anyone below her in the rankings like her personal punching bag.
Fabricio Werdum Is the New Interim Heavyweight Champion
Obviously, the biggest story of the night was Werdum claiming the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship against Hunt.
The 37-year-old Brazilian went toe-to-toe with the Super Samoan for most of the first round. Although that would seem like a counterintuitive strategy for the jiu-jitsu wiz, it ended up paying dividends. Standing just outside of Hunt’s range in the second round, Werdum timed up a flying knee that sent Hunt tumbling to the canvas before follow-up strikes brought the end of the fight.
Werdum’s assumed next opponent—current champion Cain Velasquez—assessed the fight on the UFC Post Show, via Jeff Cain of MMAWeekly.com:
Hunt came out and stuck to his game plan pretty good; defended the takedowns and I think won most of the stand-up in the first round. He just got caught with that knee… It just shows that Fabricio does everything and he does everything well. He spins. He spin-kicks. He knees, throws elbows. He does everything well.
Now, the question is what—if anything—Werdum will be able to do against the actual champion. Velasquez is considered to be the undisputed best heavyweight in the world, but it’s been four years since he’s fought someone not named Junior dos Santos or Antonio Silva.
When the champion finally returns to the Octagon from injury, he’ll have a new challenge awaiting him. With Werdum’s ever-improving striking making him one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division, he has certainly earned his date with destiny when he finally gets his chance.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com