This card, I tell ya. We lost some really good fights to get here, and yet ended up with some decent action in the end. We still ended up with a former title challenger and a former champion in the main event, as well as an unofficial #1 contender’s match for the best women’s division on the planet. Fox cards are usually designed to be stylistically set up with matchups that promise to be exciting, at least on paper. Despite this, we got some fine action in an event that served the purpose of moving the mid-to-upper talents of their respective divisions an opportunity to advance and set some true order at the top of the mountain. As long as that’s accomplished and the fights are at least mostly fun, that’s as much as Zuffa can ask for.
Winners
Glover Teixeira – We’ll start off with some odd stuff, because after delivering the left hand of doom on Rashad’s chin, Where does Glover realistically go from here? He came in at #4 and beat #7. Does he fight Gustafsson next? Because he’s on a two-fight losing streak, while Glover notches three wins in a row after this. Does he fight Rumble next? Maybe, since he’s recovering from dental work, and if Jon Jones beats OSP as many expect, Jones/Rumble goes back on the backburner (if it happens at all). Glover beat Bader not long ago, and Bader just had a rough loss after being obliterated by Rumble. So maybe that happens by process of elimination. Good win, but the path from here just looks strange unless that’s the fight that happens.
Khabib Nurmagomedov – Now we know what it looks like the eagle is hungry. After a very lengthy hiatus he comes back to decimate a very tough and undersold opponent on short notice. You do what you can when presented opportunities like this, and he looked fantastic. Unfortunately, people don’t know much about Horcher, so it’s difficult for the average fan to get a read on how good a win this really was. Does he automatically get a title shot now? Maybe, but he still has unfinished business with surging phenom Tony Ferguson. Khabib could very well get a title shot now and fight Ferguson down the line, but it’s too early to tell. For now, we just know that Nurmagomedov hasn’t lost a step. Also, we still have to sort out the mess of what happens if Conor McGregor beats Nate Diaz, because that might strangely lead to a title shot at lightweight.
Cub Swanson – Good show, Kevin. I was worried that Cub’s large boxing focus in his camp prior to fighting Max Holloway would be a problem in both that and this fight, turns out it wasn’t. his head movement and stance are still mostly boxing-oriented, but his boxing defense looks good. It’s the kicks and everything else that seem to have some friction when phase-shifting, but this should put him back on track to the upper crust of the featherweight division.
Michael Chiesa – Well, damn. I picked against him again, and once more he pulls a rabbit out of a hat. That rabbit was the size of Mark Hunt himself, too. He managed to swarm Dariush to get the clinch in an advanced and evolved form of swing and cling to get the fight where he wanted and begin pressuring with wrestling and submission attempts. Excellent job in taking out a very promising up and comer, and a great comeback after getting styled on in the standup department in that first round. Those Washington state guys aren’t to be underestimated. Unless your name is Zane Simon, who is a sillyhead.
John Dodson – Yeah, this is a difficult one, because he knows he lost twice to Demetrious Johnson at flyweight and unless someone beats Johnson, he won’t get a crack at that belt again. Seeing as Johnson is looking invincible, it makes sense to go back to 135, and blasting the hinges off Manny Gamburyan was a hell of a welcome back statement. He’s going back to the top ten of this new(ish) division very soon, and he’s going to look really good doing it.
Rose Namajunas – A tremendous fight in the rematch against a very game Tecia Torres, and much respect to both of them here. Thug Rose could very well be getting a title shot here, and even though it was a close fight, it says more about Tecia Torres than anything else. She seemed to do some real damage in a lot of those shots, and she improves to 3-1 after losing her UFC debut against Carla Esparza. While we’re here…
Tecia Torres – I can see the case for Tecia winning, even if I disagree with it. She looked great, and kept her counter game strong with tons of leg attacks and some sharp combinations standing. She stayed busy off her back and looked like she could have gone another ten rounds. She takes her first official loss of her career (as TUF doesn’t technically count on her record) and she’s only 26. Both looked great in this fight and are better fighters than when they originally faced off, so there’s only room for improvement here for both.
Raquel Pennington – She’s not there yet, but her record is finally starting to match her potential. This was a very good win for her and while she may not get that Holly Holm rematch she wants just yet, she has now improved to 4-2 in a division that some observers thought she wouldn’t do well in.
Santiago Ponzinibbio – For all the criticism the show and format get, we must admit that the Ultimate Fighter platform has yielded some really good talent on these international shows. Something about the Brazil and Latin American editions has led to some amazing turnarounds and impressive improvements. Ponzinibbio is one of the best examples, since moving to ATT has been the best thing he’s done and he’s maximizing the opportunities so far. Now he’s 4-2 in the UFC, and despite losing to bigger names like Lorenz Larkin and Ryan LaFlare, he’s improving steadily and finished a guy that’s hard to put away.
Elizeu Zaleski showed some really good restraint and positional awareness with his striking, brutalizing Omari Akhmedov to bounce back after his UFC debut loss to Nicolas Dalby. Once he started setting up body shots against the cage, it was just a matter of time. Good to see another Jungle Fight veteran coming strong into the big leagues. Cezar Ferreira did a great job of having a more complete MMA game to control and do damage from everywhere. Michael Graves improves his undefeated record to 6-0 after choking out the very tough Randy Brown.
Losers
Rashad Evans – It didn’t have to go down like this. It’s rough to see a veteran like Rashad come back and try to go toe to toe with a better boxer like that. He didn’t exactly dictate the pace in the fight, and despite doing what he could it’s time to wonder if he should even be fighting anymore. At least at this level.
Beniel Dariush – Dariush has beaten better opposition than Chiesa in his UFC run, but still ended up losing a fight he was initially winning. That’s more of a testament to Chiesa’s durability and tenacity than Dariush’s skill, and he won’t be affected that badly by this loss. Unfortunately a loss in the undoubtedly deepest and most talent-rich division both in the sport and in the UFC, he could end up being leapfrogged in the rankings pretty easily by anyone else that nets a really good win sometime in this timeframe.
Hacran Dias – Despite his 23-4 record, every time he takes a significant step up in competition he gets his hand slapped. If the Lamas and Lentz losses didn’t do it, this loss to Swanson should be the one that shows his true ceiling. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but if he doesn’t change anything he’s going to be stuck in that lower portion of the middle of the division.
Manvel Gamburyan – That’s gotta hurt. Being finished in quick order like that is never good, especially as an established veteran. He had a nice little two win streak going, so he doesn’t fall that far back. Problem is that his overall stock does take a bit of a hit, and questions regarding both his chin as well as whether or not he should be facing retirement soon begin to resurface after a loss like this.
Court McGee – Now standing at 6-4 in the UFC, he takes a tumble after coming back in December from a very long with a good performance. He lost to a guy that’s got a lot of good things going on right now and may not affect him too badly, but
Omari Akhmedov – Ouch. Dropping to 3-3 in the UFC is one thing, getting beat up that bad in your last two consecutive outings get you the axe. He fights in an exciting manner, but eats too much damage and eschews defense to throw bombs. It was worse than being pummeled from mount by Moraes. Started as a great fight but he fell off a cliff in the second round.
Bethe Correia gets her second straight loss, but she looked rather improved in this bout against Pennington. It will be interesting to see who she fights next, and I hope she stays at AKA for a while.
Randy Brown now stands at 1-1, and the very tough Ring of Combat veteran didn’t exactly have the remedy for a wrestling-heavy pressure grappler like Graves. He has time and room to grow, so it won’t be that bad for him.
Neither
Darrell Horcher – So you’re a guy that toiled and scrounged around fighting tough guys on the regional scene, get the call to fight a returning top guy in the UFC’s lightweight division and are immediately treated by fans like you’re a sacrificial lamb. What do you do? For starters, you leverage your signing to be a multi-fight one, then try to at least survive in there against an outstanding grappler. Horcher didn’t come close to winning that fight, but he got paid and keeps a spot in the big show, at least for now. Good on him.
Honorable mention to Pat Barry. In a sport largely devoid of hype men, a truly once-in-a-lifetime one shines through. Pat gets more hype for Rose’s fights than she does, and by her very own admission, she’s very emotional. Good to see him so invested in her improvement and rise through the ranks.
Mightiest Daddy 
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