UFC 144 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Edgar vs. Henderson

On Saturday, there was a great night of fights that went down in Japan. For the first time in more than a decade, the UFC returned to Japan, and they brought an incredible card with them.

Every fight on the card had fireworks, and there were great submissions, outstanding knockouts and stellar fights all across the board.

When all was said and done, we were left with several huge upsets, and a new lightweight champion of the world—Benson Henderson defeated Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision.

Let's have a look at the real winners and losers from UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson.

Loser: Takeya Mizugaki

To open up the preliminary card on FX, Takeya Mizugaki faced off against Chris Cariaso. After 15 minutes of fighting, almost everybody had the fight scored for Mizugaki.

However, when the scorecards were read, it was not Mizugaki's name that got called out. Chris Cariaso took the unanimous decision, 29-28 on all judges' scorecards.

Although Mizugaki got stuck with the loss on his record, he was still paid his win bonus, so it wasn't all bad.

Loser: Kid Yamamoto

Unfortunately for Kid Yamamoto's, he isn't a loser because of a bogus decision. He's just a loser because he lost his fight, and potentially his UFC career.

Yamamoto is now 0-3 inside the Octagon, and has lost five out of his last six fights overall.

Not only that, but he was submitted—and stopped legitimately—for the first time in his MMA career. 

Winner: Vaughan Lee

Kid Yamamoto was submitted for the first time in his career, and of course, there is someone responsible for that.

Vaughn Lee deserves all the credit in the world, as he was able to rock Yamamoto standing up, which led to the fight-ending submission.

In a beautiful display of jiu jitsu, Lee switched from a triangle choke to an armbar, which forced Yamamoto to tap out in the first round.

Winner: Takanori Gomi

Takanori Gomi was able to get back on the winning track on Saturday, as he TKO'd Eiji Mitsuoka at the 2:21 mark of the second round.

After getting beat in the first round, Gomi was able to come back and finish off Mitsuoka in the second round with ground and pound.

Gomi has now avoided the dreaded three losses in a row, and is 2-2 in his last four, with both his wins being finishes.

Winner: Hatsu Hioki

With Hatsu Hioki's three-round beatdown over Bart Palaszewski, he proved that he is one of the top featherweights in the world.

After his UFC debut—an unimpressive decision win over George Roop—many were questioning whether or not Hioki was all he was hyped up to be.

He showed that he is a top fighter, as he absolutely schooled Palaszewski on the ground, and earned the unanimous decision victory over the wily veteran.

Loser: Joe Lauzon

Joe Lauzon came into the fight on Saturday night with a solid amount of steam behind him.

His striking was showing improvements, his ground game was as good as ever and he had recently derailed the Melvin Guillard hype train.

However, with one kick, the Joe Lauzon hype train was derailed. Lauzon lost via first-round knockout, and was on the wrong end of the knockout of the night.

Lauzon's two-fight winning streak came to an end, and he'll have to get to the back of the line in the stacked lightweight division.

Loser: Cheick Kongo

This was a lose-lose fight for Cheick Kongo, and he lost big.

Kongo came into the fight at 3-0-1 in his last four, and was being looked at by many as being on the precipice of being a top contender once more.

In just over two minutes, that all changed. Kongo fell to the ground and his fight was stopped.

With that loss, Kongo—perhaps—becomes the official gatekeeper of the heavyweight division.

With wins over Pat Barry and Matt Mitrione, and losses to Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, he certainly fits the bill for a gatekeeper.

Loser: Yoshihiro Akiyama

On Saturday, Yoshihiro Akiyama showed off his incredible takedown defense and his outstanding judo throws, but they weren't enough to earn the decision over Jake Shields.

Akiyama dropped a 30-27 decision on all three judges' scorecards, and with that, he has now lost four fights in a row.

This was Akiyama's debut in the welterweight division, so he'll likely get one final shot with the organization, but he would have been better off without having to put his back to the wall.

Additionally, the loss in front of the Japanese fans couldn't have been what Akiyama was hoping for—obviously.

Winner: Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt is 8-7 in his MMA career, and he's just getting better and better.

With the knockout win over Cheick Kongo on Saturday night, Hunt has won three fights in a row, including two (T)KO victories.

Not only did he earn the TKO over Kongo, but he also jumped into the Top 10 heavyweights in the UFC, and proved that he is taking his MMA career seriously.

Hunt even came out of his fight unscathed, and told Dana White that he wanted to fight in Australia—on Friday.

Loser: Yushin Okami

It was Yushin Okami's night for 10 minutes. Then, it wasn't.

For the first two rounds of Okami's fight, he controlled the action, and looked to be on his way to another victory. Everything changed in the third round.

Okami was swarmed in the third, and was hit with head kicks and countless punches, Just 54 seconds into the round, the fight was over, and Okami was left on the canvas while his opponent celebrated victory.

Okami was the No. 3 middleweight going into the evening, but that has certainly changed.

Winner: Tim Boetsch

For as much as Yushin Okami was a loser, Tim Boetsch was an even bigger winner.

Boetsch was getting beat in the first two rounds of the fight, and for 10 minutes, he was out-boxed and simply outclassed by Okami.

But then, in the third round, and knowing he needed a finish, Boetsch came out and swarmed the former title challenger.

With his incessant pressure, he finished off Okami just 54 seconds into the third round, and catapulted himself into the top 10 middleweights in MMA.

Winner: Ryan Bader

Ryan Bader had the biggest win of his career on Saturday, as he was able to defeat the former UFC light heavyweight champion by unanimous decision.

Not only did Bader win the decision, but he won all three rounds from Rampage handily—he scored 30-27 from all three of the judges. Bader used superior wrestling to control Rampage on the ground, and once the fight hit the ground, Rampage wasn't able to get up.

Bader has now jumped back into the elite of the division.

Loser: Rampage Jackson

Aside from this slam that Rampage Jackson landed on Ryan Bader, the former light heavyweight champ didn't have much to offer the Season 8 winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

It simply hasn't been a good few days for Rampage.

First, he missed weight for the fight, as he weighed in at 211 pounds. Then, he was controlled by Bader and lost the fight.

Rampage fought where he wanted to, in front of the fans he wanted to but he simply wasn't able to deliver the way that he wanted.

Loser: Frankie Edgar

Frankie Edgar is, without a doubt, the biggest loser of the event on Saturday night.

And no, he's not considered a loser just because he lost the fight. It was an outstanding fight which could have gone either way. The reason that Edgar is a loser is because he will not likely receive an immediate rematch at Benson Henderson.

Edgar had to do two immediate rematches in fights he won, to BJ Penn and Gray Maynard, but the one time he needs the rematch, it doesn't look like he'll get it.

Winner: Anthony Pettis

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis scored a huge knockout over Joe Lauzon, and reminded the entire lightweight division that he is a dangerous kickboxer.

It was a huge night for Pettis for several reasons. First, because he got a win over Joe Lauzon. Second, he won knockout of the night and got an extra 65K. Third, he will now likely be next in line for a shot at the lightweight title.

Anthony Pettis is arguably the biggest winner of the night, but if you were to argue it, the other option would be the next man up.

Winner: Benson Henderson

Benson Henderson had a huge night.

He defeated Frankie Edgar and won the lightweight title. Then, he earned fight of the night—and an extra 65K.

Finally, if Anthony Pettis is given the next shot at the belt, then "Bendo" will get a chance to avenge one of the losses on his record.

Ever since he lost to Pettis, he has been a man on a mission. For the time being, that mission is complete. But as Henderson said in the post fight press conference via MMA Weekly, he wants to defend the title as many times as Anderson Silva "plus one."

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on twitter @TimMcTiernan.