While fighting fans were mostly tuning in to UFC 182 for the matchup between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, there were plenty of intriguing matchups throughout the evening to keep them entertained. And that meant there were plenty of big winners in the proceedings too.
Below, I’ll take a look at the five biggest winners from Saturday’s event. Spoiler alert: The biggest fight provided the biggest winner. Duh.
5. Shawn Johnson
For his first-round knockout of Jared Cannonier, Shawn Johnson took home a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. So he quite literally was one of the biggest winners of the night, wasn’t he?
4. Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone was a big winner on the night, but at least in the hearts and minds of UFC fans, he could have been a big loser, as his fight against Myles Jury was a pretty dull one throughout.
While Cerrone won a unanimous decision, there were actually boos during the cagey encounter. Cerrone was clearly affected by the crowd’s response and responded late in the fight with several vicious leg kicks on Jury while the latter was downed, which might have endeared him to the crowd again.
“I’m upset with my performance, and I’m going to go watch the tape and figure out what I need to do to capitalize if that happens again,” he told MMA Junkie after the fight. “I’m very upset for the performance I put in tonight, and I apologize to everyone that was watching and the hype that was behind all that.”
Still, it’s important to remember two things about this fight—Cerrone held off the previously undefeated Jury, a huge result for him going forward, and his late display of aggression certainly gave the fans something to remember him by on the night.
MMA fans were expecting more from this fight, yes. But Cerrone survived it while managing to leave his mark at the end on an otherwise dull display.
3. Cody Garbrandt
If first impressions go a long way, Cody Garbrandt certainly introduced himself to the UFC in the most memorable way possible, earning a TKO against Marcus Brimage at the 4:50 mark of the final round. Better late than never, right?
Garbrandt is now 6-0 in his professional fighting career, and none of them have gone the distance. The disciple of Urijah Faber showed Saturday night that he has the potential for a big future.
2. Paul Felder
Paul Felder‘s fight against Danny Castillo wasn’t the most anticipated fight of the night by a large margin, and it wasn’t even the best fight of the night (more on that below). But after flooring off Castillo with a spinning backfist knockout, it was certainly the most memorable finish to a fight on the evening.
Felder wasn’t even originally supposed to be at UFC 182, as he was scheduled to fight Johnny Case at UFC Fight Night 59, but he jumped at the chance to take on Castillo after Rustam Khabilov had to drop out of the match.
Boy, was that a good decision. Felder now has a contender for Knockout of the Year, made quite a few new fans on the evening and earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Not too shabby, eh?
1. Jon Jones
Jones’ eighth title defense may have just been his most impressive one yet.
Facing off against a stiff challenger in Cormier—the former Olympic wrestler who was undefeated in his MMA career coming into Saturday night—Jones was incredibly impressive, holding off Cormier‘s attempts to press against him and get inside his guard while actually finishing with five more takedowns than the former wrestler.
In the end, Jones was awarded a 29-26 unanimous decision and more than lived up to his billing as the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world, a distinction he should continue to hold for years to come. After the fight, he offered a glimpse of what could be to come, per Nancy Gay of UFC:
After he handled Cormier, it would probably be wise to bet on Jones no matter who he fights.
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