UFC on Fox 13 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Dos Santos vs. Miocic
UFC on Fox 13 hit Phoenix on Saturday night with a 13-fight card.
The four-fight main card featured three key heavyweight fights and a top-15 lightweight battle.
The main event delivered in just about every way possible as Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic battled back-and-forth in a heavyweight classic. The former champion came out with the victory by unanimous decision, but it was a close fight with an up-and-coming heavyweight who matched Dos Santos in nearly every category.
In the co-main event, Rafael dos Anjos defeated Nate Diaz with ease. The lightweight contender made his case for the next title shot at 155 pounds.
Heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Matt Mitrione knocked out their competition as they both try to make a run in the division. And in the featured preliminary bout, Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated Claudia Gadelha by split decision and moves into the role of title contender for Carla Esparza's newly won strawweight title.
There was a lot of action on Saturday, and not everyone emerged a winner.
These are the real winners and losers from UFC on Fox 13 in Phoenix.
Winner: Henry Cejudo
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The former Olympic gold medalist has been heralded as a top prospect for quite some time, but Henry Cejudo had never really shown it before in his MMA fights. Coupled with his troubles with weight cuts, the jury was out on Cejudo's ceiling as an MMA fighter.
At UFC on Fox 13, Cejudo finally looked like the prospect many thought he was.
Cejudo showed good stand-up and superior grappling, completely outclassing Dustin Kimura. Cejudo wasn't gifted a guaranteed win in this matchup, but he made it clear his skills are on a different level.
Cejudo stated in his post-fight interview he wants to go to 125 pounds before moving back up to bantamweight, but his history of making weight for flyweight is not great.
Nonetheless, Cejudo is on the scene and put the flyweight and bantamweight divisions on notice.
Loser: Jamie Varner
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I could play the role of the good guy and deem Varner a winner because he chose to go out on his own terms, but I can't do that.
Why?
Because Varner lost in the most Varner way possible.
The former WEC lightweight champion is one of the most unlucky fighters in recent memory. On Saturday, Varner knocked himself out on a takedown, then was submitted by Drew Dober. It was just unlucky. Who knows how the fight plays out if Varner doesn't get knocked out.
In the end, it is nice to see Varner hang them up before taking a lot of unnecessary damage. He has his own gym in Arizona, and hopefully that proves to be a success. Nothing but well wishes for Varner in retirement. But boy is he unlucky.
Winners: Strawweights
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The strawweight division was unveiled with the announcement of the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC then signed several other top-level fighters to fight in the meantime while the cast battled it out in a tournament for the belt.
On Friday, Carla Esparza claimed the inaugural title with a dominant win over Rose Namajunas. The fight Saturday between Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk was likely a fight for the No. 1 contendership in the division.
It was a fight worthy of that distinction. Gadelha and Jedrzejczyk had an excellent high-level bout.
Jedrzejczyk was losing the first round until she dropped Gadelha with a vicious uppercut. Gadelha started to rebound in the second round, but it was a tight round on the cards because of a lack of offense in the grappling exchanges. Gadelha took the final frame, but it wasn't enough.
Jedrzejczyk won a narrow split decision and turns her attention toward Esparza and the UFC gold.
This division is exciting, and the past two days have shown that the champion and her contenders are going to be around for a long time.
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Loser: Jason Herzog
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John Moraga ended up winning the fight, but he nearly got TKO'd in the first round because of referee Jason Herzog.
Moraga took an eye poke that Herzog didn't see, and then as Moraga tried to tell Herzog, he got pelted in the face by Willie Gates. Some say it was a cheap shot, but Herzog didn't stop the fight. The failure to defend himself at all times falls on Moraga, but Herzog's failure to take control of the situation is what caused it.
Herzog needs to take control in the Octagon. He failed to do so on Saturday, and it nearly cost Moraga in this fight.
Winner: Matt Mitrione
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Matt Mitrione has had an up-and-down UFC career, but he often shows flashes of potential greatness. He is very athletic, has good power and is a big heavyweight.
Once again, he has given hope that he can spring up the ladder in his division.
Mitrione was far superior to Gabriel Gonzaga on Saturday night. He was light on his feet, in and out with good strikes and eventually put Gonzaga on the canvas with a left hook as the Brazilian entered in close. Mitrione cleaned up his work with more punching to earn the win.
If Mitrione can keep this progression going, he can make waves in the division. Is he a future champion? Not likely, but he can still enter the top 10. He has that kind of upside.
The heavyweight division is thin and old. Mitrione isn't a spring chicken, but he doesn't have near the amount of miles on his fight career as some of the others in his weight class.
Loser: Stefan Struve
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Stefan Struve finally returned to the Octagon following his recent health issues, and the UFC did him no favors by matching him up against Alistair Overeem.
It was one of the worst possible matchups for the towering heavyweight, as Struve got knocked out in the first round.
This is the fifth TKO/KO loss in his UFC career. Struve has never had the best defense in the game, and the punishment is already piling up in his 32 career MMA fights. He has even taken significant damage in his victories.
He cannot keep going at this rate.
Struve will probably stick around for a bit longer, but unless he tightens up his defense, there will likely be irreparable consequences.
Winner: A Weird Card
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UFC on Fox 13 was just a strange card.
Ian Entwistle proved that fighters can still win with one technique, Jamie Varner knocked himself silly before being choked out, and Joe Riggs injured himself on a takedown too. And that was just the beginning.
Willie Gates clocked John Moraga as he was having a discussion with the referee about an eye poke, and Claudia Gadelha took a pot shot at Joanna Jedrzejczyk after the bell to conclude the prelims.
On the main card, referee Herb Dean failed to stop the Gonzaga-Mitrione fight promptly, and Gonzaga was leveled by an unnecessary shot. Stefan Struve took a couple more punches than needed from Alistair Overeem before referee John McCarthy ended the bout.
Loser: Nate Diaz
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Nate Diaz returned to the cage after having some hard feelings toward the UFC, and he was completely outclassed by Rafael dos Anjos.
Diaz had harsh words for the UFC leading up to the bout. He went after its recent signing of CM Punk and its deal with Reebok. Justified or not in his thoughts on those situations, he said it publicly, and the UFC was likely not thrilled with him.
He needed to win on Saturday. That didn't happen. He wasn't even competitive.
What's next for Diaz? It's hard to tell. Perhaps there will be a mutual parting of the ways, or maybe the disgruntled lightweight continues on to finish his contract. But one thing is for sure: He cannot perform like this again.
The former title contender looked awful against the No. 3-ranked lightweight.
Winner: Rafael dos Anjos
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Khabib Nurmagomedov is the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division, but Rafael dos Anjos is nipping at his heels for that title shot.
Dos Anjos is 8-1 in his last nine fights with his lone loss coming against Nurmagomedov.
Dos Anjos completely outclassed Nate Diaz on Saturday. He opened with hard leg kicks that hurt Diaz, making the former title contender limp around in the first round. Dos Anjos then took the fight to the ground and beat up Diaz there, too.
Diaz had no answers. He was battered and bloodied.
The Brazilian has had an unlikely run up the lightweight ladder, and he now stands on the doorstep of a title shot. He has looked outstanding in recent outings and will be a tough fight for anyone at 155 pounds.
Loser: Junior dos Santos
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Cain Velasquez has ruined Junior dos Santos' life. Or at least it appears that way.
Dos Santos did not look like a championship-level fighter on Saturday. Stipe Miocic deserves a lot of credit for his performance, but it just didn't look like a vintage Dos Santos inside the cage.
Ever since Velasquez beat Dos Santos within an inch of his life, twice, Dos Santos has undergone a multitude of life changes. The personal and professional changes do not appear to have enhanced him as a fighter.
Dos Santos still has excellent technique with his boxing and good power, but that will only take you so far. He struggled to put together quality combinations against Miocic and ate huge punches throughout the fight. His defense failed him.
It is very sad to see how quickly Dos Santos has fallen by the wayside. Lucky for him, the heavyweight division is awful, and as such he will still be in the mix for the foreseeable future. Sure, he got the win. But the manor in which he did was almost sad to watch.
Unfortunately, it looks like we will have to watch him take heavy damage for years to come.
Winner: Stipe Miocic
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I was not planning on having a winner and loser from both the co-main and main event, but here we are. Stipe Miocic forced the hand with an incredible performance.
This is a different fighter than the one who got put out by Stefan Struve in 2012.
Miocic took the fight to the former UFC heavyweight champion for five full rounds. He came up just short on the scorecards, but it was a close fight that could have gone either way. He proved he is a force in this division, and a fighter who could challenge for the title sooner than later.
There aren't many heavyweights who could do what he did on Saturday.
Even in a loss, Miocic showed the world he is a world-class heavyweight. He stepped up on Saturday and went right after Junior dos Santos in a grueling fight. He took his best shot and survived.
One heck of a performance by Miocic makes him a winner.
Loser: The UFC
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The UFC was in the midst of its second preliminary bout when big news broke.
Brent Brookhouse and John Nash of Bloody Elbow report that several former and current UFC fighters will file a class action lawsuit against the UFC:
"We have been able to confirm that the suit will be based on accusations that the UFC has violated antitrust laws by abusing their "market power" to intentionally and systematically cripple the free market.
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More details will emerge in the coming weeks concerning the reported lawsuit and the potential ramifications, but this is not a good look for the UFC.
Fighter pay has always been a hot button issue concerning the UFC. Now, after announcing the Reebok uniform deal, it is even more of an issue. UFC fighter Brendan Schaub said on Joe Rogan's podcast (NFSW language), h/t Bloody Elbow, that he had lost six sponsors following the Reebok announcement.
This news will overshadow the event as we move toward 2015. Time will tell how this affects the sport.
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