UFC 161 Results: Most Impressive Performances from Saturday's Undercard

Before Rashad Evans stepped into the ring with Dan Henderson at UFC 161, the pay-per-view event hosted four intriguing undercard fights.

Not as sexy as UFC cards of the past and presumably the future, UFC 161 had received a bad rap from non-diehards in the weeks leading up to the event.

But those who really love the sport saw this card's potential, and even if it wasn't the most exciting event we've ever seen, some fighters did well to improve their stock.

Here are three UFC warriors who looked the best before Saturday's main event:

Stipe Miocic

The clear winner of Saturday's undercard and perhaps the night as a whole, Stipe Miocic dominated the highly respected Roy Nelson from bell to bell.

Nelson has been underestimated for his entire career. He looks like a retired lumberjack with a drinking problem. Standing next to cut, muscular specimens like Stipe Miocic, his Santa Claus gut makes him look outclassed.

Usually, though, that's part of Nelson's mystique. He's a skilled grappler and puncher who often beats down his more ripped opponents. After beating Miocic, he was supposed to be on the road to a title fight.

But Miocic would have none of it. He recorded a 30-27 unanimous decision, and any other result would have been an affront. He made Nelson look as old and slow as he looks for the first time.

Especially in the second round, Miocic nailed Nelson with some clean punches—punches that, if not thrown against the legendary chin of his opponent, might have resulted in a knockout.

But as far as Miocic is concerned, as he made clear in his post-fight interview, as long as he won, he's happy.

Shawn Jordan

Jordan entered the Octagon with his good friend, Pat Barry, in what was supposed to be a slow entrance to the night. The two fighters liked each other, neither man had too much on the line, and not much fanfare was anticipated. Good way to ease into the bigger stuff, right?

Jordan had other plans.

If this undercard fight were to feature a knockout, Barry was expected to land it. He was a slight betting favorite and had knocked out two of his last three opponents.

But he had also been on the receiving end of knockouts twice in his last five fights, and Jordan took advantage of Barry's lapses. And this one came early. A flurry of punches, followed by a massive uppercut, forced Barry to congeal into a ball, and from there it was pretty much decided.

It only took 59 seconds for Jordan to score the TKO.

Ryan Jimmo

Jimmo was disappointed in his performance—not because it was bad but because it was boring. He bemoaned his regret to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview, apologizing to the fans for fighting so conservatively and depriving them of some action.

But I loved it.

Don't get me wrong: I prefer punches and knockouts to pins on any day of the week. But what Jimmo treated us to on Saturday night was on par with any knockout. That was true technical domination.

It would have been easy for Jimmo to fold. His last fight, a unanimous-decision loss to James Te Huna, was highly controversial. Many who watched, including Jimmo, believed it should have been called a draw. But their wishes went unheard, and instead Jimmo suffered his first career loss since his first professional fight.

So to see him come out and obliterate Igor Pokrajac—a fighter who also lost to Te Huna—was encouraging, to say the least. Jimmo entered the night with questions about his mentality—about whether or not he could get back on track after a loss.

He answered those questions in a big way.