UFC Fight Night 50 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Mousasi vs. Souza 2
UFC leaders have repeatedly said they don't view Bellator as true competition. On Friday, though, their actions indicated otherwise.
In their first head-to-head time slot competition with Bellator—and for Bellator's first event under new president Scott Coker—the UFC put together a humdinger of a cable TV card for UFC Fight Night 50. Fight Night cards usually happen on Saturday, so it was telling that this particular event went down on Friday, and from Connecticut, no less, which just happened to mimic the coordinates of Bellator's little shindig.
No matter the motivation, short of a title fight, UFC fans couldn't ask for much more, especially at the price. In the main event, the next middleweight title shot may have been on the line when Ronaldo Souza and Gegard Mousasi faced off in the rematch of a bout that occurred six years ago, when Mousasi won by knockout.
In a sure-fire appeal for crowd approval, the heavyweights came out to play, with comic-book villain Alistair Overeem smirking down Midwestern slugger Ben Rothwell, and brawlers Matt Mitrione and Derrick Lewis doing battle a little farther down the slate.
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 50.
Winner: Ronaldo Souza
1 of 8
When Jacare finally got his teeth around the revenge for which he had long hungered, his jaws snapped shut with no hesitation.
Chris Weidman, are you concerned, buddy? I'd be concerned. If the champ, who was in the audience earlier in the card and very well might have been on hand for Souza's third-round submission victory over Gegard Mousasi, was not concerned, I cannot say I agree with such things. Because right now, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza doesn't look like someone who will be easy for anyone to stop.
Souza landed heavy rights and lefts throughout, but it was his grappling that really drew stares. His side control is like a boulder lying on you, and he passes guard like he's cutting hot butter. The guillotine choke was just too easy against an opponent as great as Mousasi.
"If anyone doubts it, they're completely wrong," Souza told broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage after the fight. "I'm the next title challenger."
I am certainly not one to argue. We'll see if Weidman can put up a better fight.
Loser: Gegard Mousasi
2 of 8
Gegard Mousasi, in his last fight, forced Mark Munoz to submit. That's the same Mark Munoz who teaches wrestling to other UFC fighters.
Friday night, he was manhandled on the ground by an even bigger, stronger, better middleweight.
Mousasi staved off several submission attempts but could never shift out of defensive mode, nor could he mount any serious or consistent threat on the feet. Mousasi was active from his back as well, but didn't do any damage to speak of.
It's hard to know whether the result came from A-game Souza or B-game Mousasi, or a bit of both. It was probably more the former, but either way, it was clear who the better man was at Fight Night 50, and it was not Mr. Mousasi.
Winner: Ben Rothwell
3 of 8
The big surprise of the night went to "Big" Ben Rothwell. But in the end, maybe it shouldn't have come as such a shock.
Everyone knew two things about Rothwell going in: He can knock out a large pickup truck, and he has the gas tank of a large pickup truck. So you figured he'd try to end it early.
That's what he tried, and that's what he did.
A big right hook floored Alistair Overeem in the opening minutes, and a few very lightly resisted ground strikes finished the deal.
"I'm ready to make my way to the title," the likable Rothwell told broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage after the right. "This proves that very much for me."
Though he didn't call anyone out by name, perhaps Rothwell has earned a top-contender shot. Of course, it would all be contingent on his drug test coming back clean this time. But for now, after the biggest win of his UFC career, the big guy is looking pretty good.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Loser: Alistair Overeem
4 of 8
Alistair Overeem has now lost three of his last four, and is 2-3 overall in the Octagon. Given all the hype that attended Overeem's transfer from Strikeforce, is it fair to officially label him a disappointment?
Yes, it is.
Especially given that a leaner, supposedly better-conditioned and certainly heavily favored Overeem seemed neither able nor willing to take many of Rothwell's best shots.
The only people he has now beaten in the UFC are a diminished Frank Mir and an even more diminished Brock Lesnar. The 'Reem, despite all his physical charisma and what not, may need to win his next bout if he wants to keep drawing a UFC paycheck.
Winner: Joe Lauzon
5 of 8
Joe Lauzon has taken a bit of guff in his career for absorbing a massive amount of punishment during his fights, perhaps more than was necessary, in the name of putting on a show. On Friday, he found a way to prevent that problem against Michael Chiesa: Dish out your own punishment first.
After an excellent first round that included some nifty ground exchanges, the second frame tilted in Lauzon's favor after he slammed Chiesa to the canvas. With the crowd chanting his name, Lauzon went to town with strikes. A garden hatchet of a clinch knee opened up the meat over Chiesa's eyebrow, and against Chiesa's protestations, the cageside doctor waved for the stoppage.
The scrap later earned each man $50,000 for staging the Fight of the Night. It was Lauzon's 13th post-fight bonus in 17 UFC fights. That is insane. It is also a new record.
Just a great performance for both guys and a huge win for Lauzon, whose baby son fought and defeated cancer earlier this year. If you can't be happy for Lauzon after this one, you're having a tough time in life.
Loser: Matt Mitrione
6 of 8
This guy just can't stay out of his own way.
Matt Mitrione scored a fairly impressive first-round knockout over Derrick Lewis, a guy who had challenged Mitrione by name. Mitrione showed off his athleticism by dancing well clear of his opponent's strikes and putting big power behind blows that seemed to not even land directly.
After the knockout, Mitrione took the opportunity to stand over Lewis and bark some choice words at his prone opponent, Brock Lesnar style. OK. Just letting off some steam.
In his post-fight interview in the cage with broadcaster Jon Anik, the Indiana native prattled on about how Lewis' challenge caused him to "go hood" during his training and the fight, presumably meaning it made him more aggressive. He then went on at length about how he was really a good sport, and didn't do things like stand over opponents and talk stuff about them after beating them, despite having just done those things. It's just that he went hood, you see, so it didn't really count.
Whatever. But just when it seemed like Mitrione—who was once suspended from the UFC for calling transgender female fighter Fallon Fox "a disgusting freak," among other things—was going to mercifully walk away from the mic, he congratulated his "boy" Thiago Silva for returning to the UFC.
Silva, in case you didn't know, was brought back to the promotion earlier Friday after various domestic violence charges were dropped against him. According to the Broward County attorney's office, via TMZ, the victim (i.e., Silva's wife) in that incident, which ended in an armed standoff with police, was "uncooperative...[and] likely moved out of the country."
So, no, not the best guy to name-check. Unless you're trying to distance yourself from fans, particularly women. And if that was the case, well, mission accomplished for Mitrione. Again.
Loser: Bellator
7 of 8
Bellator 123, much of which overlapped with much of Fight Night 50, went pretty well as far as action is concerned. It culminated in a main event that saw Patricio "Pitbull" Freire defeating Pat Curran to finally capture the promotion's featherweight championship.
With promising new leadership in its front office, new fighters and champions in its stable and new swagger in its step, how can Bellator be considered a loser?
It all turned quickly. During the Spike TV broadcast, the promotion announced a main event between Tito Ortiz and new signee Stephan Bonnar for a future event. But they couldn't do it like normal people. They had to bring in a masked man, and have the two men trade a bunch of labored personal barbs, then—unfortunately, this is true—engage in a very large, very fake brawl inside the cage.
This was pro-wrestling, Bjorn Rebney, old-era stuff. It was not only in poor taste and rather dumb, but harkened back to a recently bygone period that we were all hoping would stay that way.
UFC Fight Night 50 Full Results
8 of 8
Main Card
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza def. Gegard Mousasi by submission, 4:30, Rd. 3
Ben Rothwell def. Alistair Overeem by TKO, 2:19, Rd. 1
Matt Mitrione def. Derrick Lewis by KO, 0:41, Rd. 1
Joe Lauzon def. Michael Chiesa by TKO (doctor's stoppage), 2:14, Rd. 2
Preliminary Card
John Moraga def. Justin Scoggins by submission (guillotine choke), 0:47, Rd. 2
Al Iaquinta def. Rodrigo Damm by TKO, 2:41, Rd. 3
Rafael Natal def. Chris Camozzi by split decision
Chris Beal def. Tateki Matsuda by unanimous decision
Chas Skelly def. Sean Soriano by unanimous decision
Scott Harris covers MMA and other things for Bleacher Report and other places. Should you feel so inclined, you are invited to follow Scott on Twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
