Upsets and a retirement were the story out of Stockholm as the UFC action produced a clear cut line of delineation.
The return to UFC action saw an upset filled weekend from Stockholm, Sweden, with Alexander Gustafsson’s retirement being the big news. Of course, that may not have been the case had he been able to overcome the proverbial underdog Anthony Smith, but we’re not here to talk about what-ifs. We’re here to talk about Aleksander Rakic’s epic KO of Jimi Manuwa. We’re here to talk about the charisma of Makwan Amirkhani. We’re also here to talk about more unpleasant things as opposite every winner, is a loser. It was a pretty straightforward weekend in those terms, but here we go….
Winners
Anthony Smith: You’d think a guy would no longer be the underdog when all he does is keep winning, but Smith once again found himself in that situation against Gustafsson. You’d think those of us in the MMA community would eventually learn our lesson. Nope. Gustafsson spent most of the contest on his bike while Smith was the aggressor. A botched trip attempt from Gustafsson turned into Smith taking his back, flattening him out, and eliciting a tap. Many had derided Smith’s lack of a signature win. Outside of a title win, how much more signature does it get than the proverbial #2 guy in the division? Outside of a rematch with Jon Jones, Smith probably shouldn’t be the underdog at 205 anymore.
Alexander Gustafsson: I understand that he lost a fight he was heavily favored to win. That alone should put him in the loser’s column. However, he also appears to be walking away from a sport that can take more away from you than it gives before it starts to do that. Gus stated he has a family, a gym, and other business ventures thanks to the sport of MMA. If he can walk away with that intact before this sport takes a further toll on him, good on him. I will admit the fan in me believes he still has more in the tank and could produce some great contests, but I’m happy for him. Of course, there is the flip side that this is MMA and it’s unusual for the first retirement to be the only retirement, but we’ll proceed as if it is… for now.
Aleksander Rakic: I think the UFC found its new highlight head kick KO for the next generation, replacing Rashad Evans taking out Sean Salmon. I was unable to fully enjoy how awesome it was because of my concern for Manuwa. That says something about how awesome it was. I was hesitant to raise Rakic to the hype levels of Dominick Reyes and Johnny Walker, but there’s no denying he deserves to be there now. I fear pitting him against one those other rising light heavyweights, but we may not have a choice due to the lack of options.
Makwan Amirkhani: Mr. Finland is a joy to watch. His high energy and enthusiasm for fighting oozes off the television screen and often makes people think they are looking at a future star. His performance against Chris Fishgold perfectly captured that, sinking in an anaconda choke off a botched guillotine from Fishgold. The biggest obstacle to Amirkhani’s rise has been himself as he only fights once a year. Now 30, Amirkhani seems poised to do that. Here’s hoping he does.
Christos Giagos: I had a few people calling me an idiot for picking Giagos over Damir Hadzovic, but who’s laughing now!? Just don’t look at the rest of my picks for the card…. Beyond Giagos being a bad stylistic matchup for Hadzovic, he showed a lot of improvement in his striking, staggering the durable Bosnian on several occasions. It’s looking like Giagos could carve out a nice role as a gatekeeper.
Daniel Teymur: The elder Teymur finally got his first UFC win. It only took four tries and an opponent who was unwilling to throw first… but it was a genuine win over Sung Bin Jo. Plus, it was a lot of fun. While it does little to change my opinion on Teymur – he was still extremely reckless – he deserves his spot in the sun this time.
Sergey Khandozhko: I’m being generous putting Khandozhko here as I didn’t see anything that makes me think the Russian has a bright future. What I did see was a lot of heart, making for a fun contest with his opponent, Rostem Akman. That’s enough for me to say Khandozhko should bask in the light while he can as the road only gets more dangerous from here.
Lina Lansberg: While Tonya Evinger looked washed up, Lansberg deserves some credit for her improved wrestling. Never did I think Lansberg would get the better of several wrestling exchanges with Evinger, but that’s exactly what happened. Perhaps more promising is the damage Lansberg did both in the clinch and on the ground. I don’t see Lansberg making a massive run up the standings, but I do see her hanging around longer than I previously expected.
Leonardo Santos: I’ll have whatever Santos is taking. This guy just doesn’t age. I’m not even necessarily talking about his performance in the cage, though his one-punch KO of Stevie Ray was impressive. I’m talking about Santos’ attitude towards the fight game, showing unrivaled enthusiasm one he secures the finish. No doubt that attitude plays a part of his success. Keeping in mind this was his first appearance in almost three years too. Yeah, I’d say Santos has found the Fountain of Youth.
Frank Camacho: Easily the best performance of Camacho’s career, it turns out the move to Team Oyama was a brilliant move for Camacho. He didn’t overwhelm Nick Hein out of the gate, methodically picking his spots before gathering steam and bulldozing the tough German in the end. Some may be disappointed it wasn’t the crazy brawl we’ve all come to expect out of Camacho, but these type of performances will extend Camacho’s career.
Bea Malecki: Malecki’s performance was nothing special. However, I have to credit the striker for picking up the win over Duda Santana via submission. Malecki still has a LOT to do before anyone will look at her as a player, but the raw ability is there.
Devin Clark: I was tempted to put Clark in a different category as this wasn’t the most impressive performance against Darko Stosic. However, given he emerged with a W when most were picking against him ensured I had him a winner. Clark was the more active of the two, showing he can dig deep when he needs to. That energy management still needs a lot of work if he wants to gain any meaningful traction, but I suppose we should credit babby steps.
Joel Alvarez: There are still plenty holes in Alvarez’s game, but there were also plenty of signs that he’s doing what he can to fill those holes. Known as a submission artist, Alvarez picked up just his second stoppage due to strikes when he swept Danilo Belluardo and pounded out a finish. I still believe he’d be better off on the regionals at this stage of his career, but this provides hope he could hang around long enough to reach his full potential before getting cut.
Rostem Akman’s body hair: If MMA doesn’t work out for Akman, he can always be a body double whenever they decide to remake the Wolfman. Seriously, the mane on the Swede made it difficult to even tell he had tattoos. That’s freakin’ awesome!!!
Losers
Jimi Manuwa: After a KO like that, I seriously wonder if we’ll ever see Manuwa in a cage again. I know many will point to Alistair Overeem continuing to come back from scary KO’s, but he’s the exception to the rule. I mentioned Sean Salmon earlier when he was KO’d by Rashad Evans. He was 9-1 heading into that contest. He finished his career with a record of 18-21. That’s a record of 9-19 after that KO loss. Throw in the fact that it already equals Manuwa’s fourth loss in a row at the age of 39 and it’s hard to see him making any sort of real noise at this point. I can see the UFC bringing him back as there isn’t much depth in the division, but I wouldn’t if I were them.
Chris Fishgold: You make one mistake in a sport like basketball or football, you usually have a chance to make up for that mistake. In MMA, you usually don’t. Though I’m sure Fishgold is aware of that better than most – as any fighter would be – he learned that lesson the hard way when he didn’t secure the guillotine on Amirkhani. The sheen is completely off Fishgold at this point. Instead of being a rising prospect, he feels like another face in the crowded featherweight division.
Damir Hadzovic: I enjoyed Hadzovic’s KO of Polo Reyes as much as anyone. His beatdown of Nick Hein was nice too. But both of those opponents were willing to stand and trade with Hadzovic. Giagos foundation is wrestling. Hadzovic hasn’t done nearly enough to remedy his poor takedown defense. If the UFC matches Hadzovic with the right opponent, he’s as fun as they come. Matching him against a ground based opponent and you get, well, a drubbing like he received from Giagos.
Sung Bin Jo: While I wouldn’t label Jo the biggest loser of the night – I’ll reveal that in a moment – I would say he was the most disappointing. After an early firefight with Teymur, Jo refused to throw first, leading to Teymur easily outpointing the young prospect. That had never been a problem for Jo before. Whether it was jitters or losing his nerve after the first hard punch landed, Jo wasn’t the same guy he was on the regional scene. Here’s hoping it’s just an aberration.
Tonya Evinger: I would say Evinger is the biggest loser on the evening. Manuwa can at least say he just got caught. Evinger was dominated for 15 minutes. She just doesn’t have it anymore. Two years ago, she would have trucked over Lansberg like she was nothing. I had attributed her winless UFC stint to tough opposition in Cyborg Justino and Aspen Ladd, but it’s looking more like her torn ACL is a bigger factor. There’s no explosion to her anymore, her only offense consisting of holding her opponent against the cage. That isn’t going to win her any fights. I expect she’ll be cut.
Stevie Ray: I thought this was going to be a breakout performance for Ray. Santos was coming off a long layoff and Ray should be in his prime. I’m sure Ray saw it the same way. Instead, Ray had his lights turned out before the opening round was out. Not only is that the third loss in four contests for Ray, it leaves open the durability of his chin. It’s plausible we’ve already seen prime Ray… or that we never will see it.
Nick Hein: I think it’s safe to say we’ve reached the end of the line for Hein. This was his third loss in a row and it’s not like his fights have been known as barnburners. He just doesn’t have the durability he once did. Don’t expect to see him in the UFC again.
Darko Stosic: I had hopes Stosic could emerge as a major fixture in the light heavyweight division. Those hopes are now completely dashed. Stosic’s gas tank appears to be as shallow as a kiddie pool, looking gassed about midway through the opening round. Stosic should still hang around for a while due to his power, but I have no confidence in him being more than an all-or-nothing action fighter at this point.
Danilo Belluardo: The one thing that Belluardo did for the majority of the contest with Alvarez was maintain top control. The sad thing is that it was his inability to hold onto top control is what cost him in the end. Belluardo doesn’t seem to have the finishing instincts to make himself a fixture. Even worse, this was about as favorable of a contest as he was going to get.
Leon Roberts: I get the impression Roberts was waiting for Hein to hit the mat before he stopped the contest. That’s a mistake that seems to happen to often as Hein was out on his feet taking way too much unnecessary damage. Bad mistake for Roberts.
Me: I was terrible in my picks. I went 3-9. Not a proud moment, but I also feel obligated to own my poor performance and call myself out. I could promise to do better next week, but it’s not like I’m giving myself a high bar to clear. Nonetheless, I promise I’ll do better next week.
Neither
Rostem Akman: I’ve already given props to Akman’s body fur, but his performance wasn’t too bad either. The youngster showed poise in the cage that belies his experience and was in the fight until the very end. Not bad for someone taking the fight on short notice. I still need to see more before I’m sold on him, but at least he still has me intrigued.
Duda Santana: I’ll admit I’m going easy on Santana, but I saw enough out of her to make me think she could have a future. A lot of that has to do with the lack of depth at women’s bantamweight and featherweight, but that isn’t her fault. It was a dumb mistake on her part that got her mounted by Malecki, but those type of mistakes should be eliminated as she gains experience.