UFC 180 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Werdum vs. Hunt Fight Card

On a night where the top three promotions in the United States were all simultaneously clamoring for your attention, UFC 180 didn't disappoint. 

From the preliminary card on up, there were solid, entertaining fights—a near miracle, when one considers how much green talent was on the card, and the fact that the event took place 7,000 feet above sea level. Whether you like technical ground matches, big knockouts or good ol' fashioned brawls, this card had something for everyone.

So who were the biggest winners and losers on the night?

The biggest winners, of course, were the fans. All three cards—UFC 180, Bellator 131 and WSOF 13—had solid fights. The ability to switch between Dennis Bermudez vs. Ricardo Lamas, Will Brooks vs. Michael Chandler and Jessica Aguilar vs. Kalindra Faria was an absolute treat, and it's something that will hopefully happen again. When all the promotions bring out their A-games, the fans will always be the biggest beneficiaries.

The biggest losers of the night? Fringe contenders. Former high-level welterweight Jake Ellenberger, former Invicta title contender Leslie Smith and surging featherweight Dennis Bermudez all found themselves losing emphatically. For Smith and Ellenberger, it removes what little job security they had, and for Bermudez, it nullifies what should have been a title-shot-worthy winning streak.

Who else won the night? Who else came up short? Find out here.

Real Winner: Bottom-Level MMA

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Result

Marco Beltran def. Marlon Vera, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Real Winner

Bottom-level MMA. The few folks who watched The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America agree: The show was short on talent but big on fun. This fight was precisely that. Beltran and Vera rumbled, bumbled and stumbled for 15 entertaining minutes with Beltran earning the unanimous 29-28 nod. 

Analysis

This was the sort of fun scrap you see in regional shows. The kind you find in slots-only casinos and venues that are labeled as "Halls" rather than "Arenas" or "Centers."

It was ugly for the technically minded fan. Kicks with no setup. Poor submission attempts. No knowledge of how to make use of hooks.

This, however, is what the "JUST BLEED" fans dream about, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun watching it.

Real Winner: Hockey Fans

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Result

Henry Briones def. Guido Cannetti, submission (Round 2, 1:44)

Real Winner

Hockey Fans. After catching a couple kicks to the liver, Henry "Bure" Briones was in deep trouble, riding his bicycle around the cage for minutes on end as Guido Cannetti stalked him along the fence. Briones would survive the round, but Cannetti was already confident...too confident. After some back-and-forth action early in the second round, Cannetti lunged with an overhand right, only to be met with a sexy uppercut followed by a fight-ending rear-naked choke. 

Analysis

Henry "Bure" Briones, nicknamed after 1990s hockey star Pavel Bure, scored an impressive win.

As with the last fight, this wasn't exactly a high-level, technical affair. It was a bit better, sure, but you won't be seeing any Jack Slack breakdowns of either fighter anytime soon. With the UFC looking to get some footholds into Mexico, though, this was a picture-perfect fight.

Real Winner: Sticking with It

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Result

Gabriel Benitez def. Humberto Brown, submission (Round 3, 0:30)

Real Winner

Sticking with it. From the opening seconds of his fight, Gabriel Benitez's plan to beat Humberto Brown was clear. He wanted to sink in a guillotine choke, and he wasn't going to stop trying no matter how many times Brown defended it.

In the third round, Benitez dug in deep. He wiggled and jiggled his arm until he found that perfect elbow-under-the-trachea angle that functions as a human off-switch. Brown was out cold from a rare standing guillotine choke. 

Analysis

Another fight between TUF: Latin America fighters, another entertaining match. What more can I say about it? The night didn't produce any title contenders, but it produced loads of footholds for the UFC's push into Mexico.

Real Winner: Eyes, Not Ears

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Result

Jessica Eye def. Leslie Smith, TKO (Round 2, 1:30)

Real Winner

Eyes, Not ears. Jessica Eye put the beating of a lifetime on Leslie Smith. Eye, one of the best talents in the UFC's women's bantamweight division, came out swinging from the get-go, peppering Smith with combinations she just couldn't react to. Then Smith's cauliflower ear exploded, sending blood about 10 feet into the air.

While the doctor didn't wave things to a close immediately, things went Vincent Van Gogh early in the second round. Referee Herb Dean pulled the plug shortly after.

Analysis

If you want to see the super-gross picture, check it out here (graphic content, obviously).

While that image is what fans will remember the most, this truly was an impressive performance by Eye. She showed strong boxing and demonstrated a level of athleticism Smith simply couldn't compete with. Those are precisely the things you want to excel in the 135-pound division these days.

Eye is getting better with every fight. While she won't necessarily be knocking off Ronda Rousey anytime soon, she is an X-factor in an otherwise stale division.

Real Winner: Mexican Fans

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Result

Alejandro Perez def. Jose Quinonez, unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 28-27)

Real Winner

Mexican Fans. In the TUF: Latin America bantamweight final, Alejandro Perez put on a surprisingly solid performance. From the get-go, he tagged his former teammate, Jose Quinonez, and generally controlled him in the cage. The fight went on like that, and with the exception of a late offensive effort by Quinonez mired by a blatant headbutt, it was a generally solid performance by Perez.

Analysis

The question always worth asking at the end of these international TUF seasons is "how many guys can these dudes actually beat?" When it came to TUF: China, for example, the fighters were so uniformly bad that it would've been difficult to name anybody they should be favored over.

Not so with Perez (and even Quinonez), however. Perez, get this, isn't the worst fighter in the UFC. That's an incredibly important first step for the UFC as it presses its way into Mexico.

Real Loser: The Other 'TUF: Latin America' Finalists

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Result

Yair Rodriguez def. Leonardo Morales, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Real Loser

The other TUF: Latin America finalists. After Quinonez and Perez combined for a solid bantamweight finale, Yair Rodriguez and Leonardo Morales entered the cage and...I don't know...fought, I guess? In a battle of Hail Mary submission attempts and mediocre clinch work, Rodriguez took a unanimous decision win.

Analysis

Well, maybe the fight wasn't that bad. I mean, we have seen much, much worse this year in the UFC. Still, this is not the kind of tilt anybody was looking for, and it's clear which TUF winner will get the stronger push in the coming months.

Worse yet, while this fight was going on, Bellator was already full-steam ahead, and put on exciting fights built up with their WWE-style walkouts. It was tough to keep the TVs tuned to Fox Sports 1, frankly.

Real Loser: Everyone That Watched the Opening Fights of UFC 180's Main Card

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Result

Augusto Dodger Montano def. Chris Heatherly, TKO (Round 1, 4:50)
Hector Urbina def. Edgar Garcia, submission (Round 1, 3:38)

Real Loser

Everyone who watched the opening fights to UFC 180's main card. Saturday was just packed with MMA. By 10 p.m. ET, the UFC, Bellator and World Series of Fighting were all going head-to-head with their main cards. But while the UFC was rolling out no-namers, Bellator featured an insane kickboxing match in Joe Schilling vs. Melvin Manhoef while WSOF flaunted Jessica Aguilar, possibly the best 115-pound female fighter in the world. The UFC, frankly, got badly outgunned during this time.

Analysis

Hector Urbina vs. Edgar Garcia and Augusto Montano vs. Chris Heatherly weren't bad fights, really. It's rare that you'll have an excuse to complain about a first-round stoppage...never even mind two.

But line up the individual fighters next to one another and pick which one you want to watch. I don't think many folks are going to pick out the anonymous welterweights over in the UFC.

Granted, this was a special night with Bellator and WSOF both trying to outshine the UFC. It won't happen every weekend. 10 to 10:40 p.m. ET, however, was not necessarily the best time to be a diehard UFC fan.

Real Loser: Dennis Bermudez

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Result

Ricardo Lamas def. Dennis Bermudez, submission (Round 1, 3:38)

Real Loser

Dennis Bermudez. Where Ricardo Lamas stood in the division was up for debate after working his way to a title shot off flimsy competition and getting dispatched with ease by Jose Aldo. He faced a true test in young hotshot Dennis Bermudez, and passed with flying colors. In a brilliant display of all-over-the-cage skills, Lamas timed a perfect jab that rocked Bermudez and, from there, locked up a slick guillotine choke that forced his foe to tap.

Analysis

I could keep going about how great things are for Lamas and how impressive this performance was. The real story, however, is that Dennis Bermudez just had a seven-fight winning streak end abruptly. That's unfortunate.

Bermudez accomplished something special and, alas, has nothing to show for it. It is hard not to feel bad for him here.

Real Loser: Jake Ellenberger

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Result

Kelvin Gastelum def. Jake Ellenberger, submission (Round 1, 4:46)

Real Loser

Jake Ellenberger. The UFC 180 co-main event was going to take two contenders and leave the UFC with one. Former hotshot Jake Ellenberger faced current hotshot Kelvin Gastelum. In the end, youth won out as Gastelum got Ellenberger down, spun to his back and sunk in a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds of the first round.

Analysis

Jake Ellenberger may have just crashed following one of the worst career tailspins in MMA history. Ellenberger, really, was Johny Hendricks before Johny Hendricks was Johny Hendricks—a powerful wrestler with fearsome knockout power who could theoretically be the one to take down Georges St-Pierre.

Then, for some reason, he lost to Rory MacDonald in one of 2013's worst fights. Then he lost to Robbie Lawler in an embarrassingly lopsided affair. Now this.

I have no idea what happened with Ellenberger, but it has been sad to watch.

Real Loser: #RallyForMarkHunt

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Result

Fabricio Werdum def. Mark Hunt, TKO (Round 2, 2:27)

Real Loser

#RallyForMarkHunt. For a round-and-a-half, Mark Hunt was in the zone. He was keeping Fabricio Werdum at the optimal range, landing hands and avoiding Werdum's scary guard. Then, the Brazilian threw a picture-perfect flying knee right to Hunt's chin...and that was that.

Analysis

For all the Mark Hunt fans out there, this was a sad turn. Hunt's fan-friendly style, quirky personality and body that doesn't make me feel self-conscious are such an awesome part of the heavyweight division. Alas, it seems as though a belt just isn't in the cards for him.

Sure, Hunt has already achieved amazing things in combat sports; he did before he even set foot in a cage, courtesy of his K-1 success. At times, though, Hunt's fans have been more invested in his MMA career than he was, and because of that, they find themselves a bigger loser in this than Hunt himself.