Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez in the headline fight of UFC on Fox 7 in controversial circumstances, with a close and hard-fought match finishing in a split points-decision victory.
However, there were several other thrilling fights from San Jose this weekend, with plenty of big talking points and takeaways to emerge from the action on Saturday—many of which will have profound impacts on the UFC as a whole.
Read on to see some of the biggest takeaways from UFC on Fox 7.
Big Victory for Josh Thomson and Strikeforce
Thomson walked away from San Jose with a huge victory to his name, after becoming the first-ever man to finish Nate Diaz by strikes. He executed his game plan perfectly and wasn’t drawn in to playing Diaz’s style—emerging victorious from the fight as a result.
The fact that this was Thomson’s first fight in the UFC in over eight years is simply phenomenal, and he has shown himself to be a genuine top-10 contender.
The win showed that Strikeforce’s best are capable of mixing it with their UFC counterparts and are more than capable of chalking up wins in the process.
It’s a big win for Thomson and Strikeforce on the night.
Jordan Mein Not as Dominant as Expected
Mein was a fighter on the way up, heading into his fight against Matt Brown this weekend, but he quickly saw that rise come to an end with a thrilling defeat this weekend.
The Canadian will head back to the undercard after an avalanche of elbows from Brown saw him finish off his highly favored opponent—giving Brown a huge victory, but perhaps more importantly, showing that Mein still has some serious work to do to be considered an elite fighter.
Mein was second-best to Brown for the majority of the fight and wasn’t able to break down his opponent on the night. He’ll likely spend plenty of time reliving what went wrong and trying to correct that for his next undercard opponent, whilst Brown could well try his hand against the top 10—something he’s shown he’s more than capable of competing with.
Mein has a promising future ahead, but he definitely took several steps backward this weekend.
Benson Henderson: Double-Winner, But Bad Timing
Benson Henderson emerged from UFC on Fox 7 with a close, difficult victory to his name—and he also emerged with a fiancee, making him somewhat of a double-winner on the night.
Benson won a split decision against Gilbert Melendez which saw key moments for both fighters, and he could well have walked away with defeat in this one—such was the close nature of the fight that many had falling the other way on the night.
A big win for Henderson to erase some of those doubters, though it’s hard to say he did himself any favors with his post-fight actions.
Well, other than becoming engaged, that is.
There just seemed to be a serious lack of judgment from Henderson and a very bad case of bad timing. Despite the fact, he was on Melendez’s home turf and the recipient of a questionable split decision, he proposed, and the crowd quickly let him know what they thought about the actions, with 15,000 boos reigning down on the “winner.”
At least she said yes, I guess. It could have been worse.
Hit me up on Twitter for more sports goodness: Follow @dantalintyre
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com