UFC 150 Results: Post-Fight Stock Report

Despite Frankie Edgar’s best efforts, “The Answer” is officially out of the lightweight title picture for the first time since he earned his initial title fight against BJ Penn at UFC 112.

It’s been a long two years since Edgar last fought in a fight that didn’t feature the UFC’s 155 lb title on the line, but at UFC 150, Benson Henderson did enough to hold off the former champion and solidify his status as the best lightweight in the world, winning a close and controversial decision to send Edgar to the back of the line at 155.

While the fight between Henderson and Edgar is going to be the talk of the MMA world for the next couple of weeks, the UFC 150 card as a whole featured nearly a dozen fighters that had some sort of major impact on their career, for better or for worse.

Whose stock was raised the most this weekend? Whose fell?

Here’s the post-fight stock report for UFC 150.

Nik Lentz

Result: Defeated Eiji Mitsuoka by first-round TKO

Stock: Rising

Nik Lentz was expected to go out and take out Eiji Mitsuoka, but the way he did it and his post-fight interview are the things that got him on this list.

From the second the bell sounded, Lentz was putting the pressure on his opponent, landing nearly a handful of takedowns during the first few minutes of the opening frame.

It became obvious rather quickly that Lentz was fighting on a completely different level than Mitsuoka, and it didn’t take long before Lentz took his opponent’s back and finished the fight with punches.

After a very successful 145 lb debut, Lentz sounded like a fighter changed for the better after a rough 12 months in the lightweight division, citing a new coaching staff and his newfound strength advantage after the weight cut as his keys to becoming a champion.

Confidence can carry a fighter a long way against mid-level talent, and Lentz is going to have plenty as he begins his climb up the featherweight ladder.

Erik Perez

Result: Defeated Ken Stone by first-round TKO

Stock: Rising

You can’t argue with results, and Erik Perez is now 2-0 inside the Octagon with two very impressive stoppage wins.

While his first fight against John Albert was marred by controversy due to an apparent mishap from the referee, Perez didn’t give anyone a chance to screw up when he fought Ken Stone.

Perez landed a hard right hand in the first real exchange of the fight that sent Stone plummeting face first to the mat, as well as a few follow-up punches earned Perez the fastest knockout in UFC bantamweight history.

Not a bad way to make an impression in your first-ever televised UFC fight.

Jared Hamman

Result: Loss to Michael Kuiper by second-round TKO

Stock: Falling

Jared Hamman has the style that gives both him and his opponent an outside shot at winning a Fight of the Night bonus every time he fights, but you have to wonder how many fights Hamman has left after his last two performances.

Hamman got beat up pretty badly at the hands of Michael Kuiper at UFC 150, suffering a leg injury due to a leg kick from his Dutch opponent in the first, but it was the incredible amount of shots to the chin Hamman took before finally going down that is worrying.

Once Kuiper found his range, it felt like he was landing at will, and after getting brutally knocked out by Costa Philippou in just three minutes in his previous bout, Hamman’s UFC career is likely in trouble.

A lot of fans would love to see him stick around due to his exciting style, but if Hamman is going to keep taking punishment like this, he needs to be fighting elsewhere.

Dennis Bermudez

Result: Defeated Tommy Hayden by first-round submission

Stock: Rising

Dennis Bermudez has been looking more and more impressive each and every time he steps into the UFC Octagon.

Last December, Bermudez had Diego Brandao on the brink of defeat before getting caught by an armbar in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 14, and in his return to the cage, he absolutely rag-dolled Pablo Garza.

Against Tommy Hayden, Bermudez ran into a bit of trouble when he ate a big knee, but he recovered quickly and secured a fight-ending guillotine a short time later.

Now 2-1 inside the Octagon, Bermudez has become one of the brighter prospects in a 145 lb division in desperate need of contenders.

Max Holloway

Result: Defeated Justin Lawrence by second-round TKO

Stock: Rising

Despite coming into the fight with far less hype than Lawrence, Max Holloway proved he is the real deal with his knockout win this weekend.

After a close first round, the youngest fighter on the UFC roster nailed his opponent with a few hard shots to the body with roughly 20 seconds remaining in the second and put Lawrence away with a flurry of follow-up punches.

This is a huge win for Holloway, who has looked very good since his initial loss to Dustin Poirier in his UFC debut, and things are looking up for the 20-year-old phenom.

Justin Lawrence

Result: Loss to Max Holloway by second-round TKO

Stock: Falling

After destroying James Krause and Cristiano Marcello in his first two fights inside the house on TUF 15, Justin Lawrence instantly became the favorite to win the entire reality show.

While a loss in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Michael Cheisa ended Lawrence’s shot at winning the competition, his highlight reel finish of John Cofer at the finale in June earned “The American Kid” a pair of fight-night bonuses, and the hype behind the Blackhouse MMA prospect seemed justified.

While his loss to Holloway isn’t going to get him cut from the UFC roster, a lot of the mystique that Lawrence held as a high-level striker is likely gone after getting taken out by Max Holloway, and he won’t be able to afford another loss or two of the same nature.

Yushin Okami

Result: Defeated Buddy Roberts by second-round TKO

Stock: Holding Steady

Getting back into the win column had to feel good for Yushin Okami.

After suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Anderson Silva and Tim Boetsch, Okami was under a lot of pressure to make a statement against a relative unknown in Buddy Roberts, and he did just that.

While Roberts had a small amount of success on the feet, the second that “Thunder” was able to get the fight to the mat, things started to go in the Japanese fighter’s favor.

After Roberts was likely saved by the bell at the end of the first round, Okami threw him back down and took his back halfway through the second round, eventually ending the fight with some ground and pound.

While the win was impressive, it was expected, and Okami doesn’t really gain much as a result.

Jake Shields

Result: Defeated Ed Herman by unanimous decision

Stock: Falling

Ordinarily, a win over a tough veteran like Ed Herman is only going to help your career, but after yet another uninspiring performance from Jake Shields, it’s hard to get too excited about the former Strikeforce champion’s next fight.

Despite being the beneficiary of a ton of hype prior to his UFC debut, Shields has amassed a 3-2 record inside the Octagon and not one of his three wins could be considered an impressive performance.

The bout against Herman marked Shields’ first fight at middleweight since his highly successful title run in Strikeforce, and although he got the win, we still haven’t seen the Shields we were promised when he joined the UFC roster.

MMA fans are far from patient, and at this point, even the most loyal Shields supporters have to be doubting his ability to make it to the top of the 185-lb division.

Donald Cerrone

Result: Defeated Melvin Guillard by first-round KO

Stock: Quickly Rising

An over-aggressive and possibly a bit overconfident “Cowboy” rushed into battle against Melvin Guillard, and he almost paid for it in front of his hometown fans.

Cerrone got rocked by one of the sledgehammer like right hands of Guillard just seconds into the fight, and after trying to avoid punishment while he was dazed, Cerrone was able to land a solid head kick that turned the tables on his former sparring partner.

The kick sent Guillard stumbling backwards, and a follow-up right hand left “The Young Assassin” unconscious.

Cerrone has looked incredible since entering the Octagon in early 2011, and despite a loss to current No. 1 contender Nate Diaz last December, “Cowboy” is a legitimate threat to earn a title fight in early 2013.

Melvin Guillard

Result: Loss to Donald Cerrone by first-round KO

Stock: Slightly Falling

Melvin Guillard was a pretty sizeable underdog heading into the bout with Cerrone, and after taking such a big fight on barely a month’s notice, it seems cruel to dock Guillard too many points.

But, despite an inspired performance and a near victory for “The Young Assassin," his stock is still falling a little bit after the first knockout loss of his career.

Guillard has always been known for his enormous amount of potential, but after nearly 50 career fights and coming up short against nearly every high-level opponent he’s fought, it’s becoming safe to assume that Guillard may never live up to the high expectations fans have for him.

Benson Henderson

Result: Defeated Frankie Edgar by split decision

Stock: Slightly Rising

As controversial as the decision was, you can’t deny that Benson Henderson’s stock will go up at least a little bit following two straight wins over a former champion.

Whether fans scored the fight for the champion or not, he walked out of Denver with the lightweight title and now he can finally look past Frankie Edgar and defend his title against a new challenger.

Nate Diaz will be next up for “Smooth”, and in arguably the most stacked division in the UFC, Henderson better get used to close fights if he wants to keep his title.

Frankie Edgar

Result: Loss to Benson Henderson by split decision

Stock: Holding Steady

I’ll be honest: I scored both the UFC 144 and UFC 150 bouts for Frankie Edgar.

For that reason, I can’t drop his stock even though he just lost his second straight title fight.

Edgar did better in the rematch than he did in the initial bout against Henderson, avoiding the big shots that damaged him in their first encounter, but in the end, the judges scored the fight in favor of Henderson.

Now sitting far outside of the lightweight title picture, it may be time for Edgar to finally take up Dana White’s offer to move down to 145 lbs.

It may not be his ideal scenario, but more than anything Edgar wants a UFC belt around his waist again, and another title shot at 155 isn’t coming anytime soon.