The UFC’s first trip to Brazil in 2015 will be remembered as a night of memorable upsets.
Underdogs made statements with notable upsets in every fight but the night’s first at UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs. Mir, including 37-year-old Marion Reneau, who submitted 10th-ranked women’s featherweight Jessica Andrade on Sunday.
In the same vein, a large group of favorites, like eighth-ranked bantamweight Iuri Alcantara, got knocked down a few pegs after suffering disappointing defeats.
Although the primary theme was the success of the night’s underdogs, the secondary storyline was the promotion’s decision to allow 13th-ranked heavyweight Frank Mir to fight eighth-ranked Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event.
While both men are decorated heavyweights who stay active against the world’s best, heading into the night Mir hadn’t won a fight since submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140 in December 2011. Bigfoot, conversely, hadn’t tasted victory since KO’ing Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 over two years ago.
It’s difficult to argue that Mir and Bigfoot don’t deserve to be called top-flight heavyweights, but to pit them against each other in a main event at this point in time made little sense. Truth be told, the UFC could have made a more sensible main event matchup with co-main event fighters and budding lightweights Michael Johnson and Edson Barboza.
Coming into the bout, the 12th-ranked Johnson had won six of his last eight bouts, and sixth-ranked Barboza had prevailed in five of his last six.
Did the UFC make the right decision by pitting Mir and Silva in the big show? Or should the seemingly obvious barnburner between Johnson and Barboza have gotten tabbed as the main event?
Read on to find the answers to the most significant questions that surrounded UFC Fight Night 61.