UFC on ESPN 69 Live Winners and Losers, Results

The UFC was back in Atlanta on Saturday night with a compelling 13-fight card, topped by the long awaited return of former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

It was Usman's first fight since a short-notice middleweight loss to Khamzat Chimaev in October, 2023, and his first in the welterweight division since March of the same year. He certainly didn't get a tune-up fight in his return. Instead, the former champ took on surging contender Joaquin Buckley who, after impressive wins over Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson, and Colby Covington, actually entered the Octagon as the betting favorite. It was a very interesting matchup, but in the end, Usman won in style, with a clear-cut unanimous decision.

The Usman vs. Buckley headliner was certainly not all fans had to look forward to on Saturday night. In the co-headliner, former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas sought another flyweight win opposite tough contender Miranda Maverick. Namajunas had some good wins in the division heading into the fight, but just as many losses, and her Atlanta matchup may have been her last chance to step into title contention. Thankfully for "Thug" and her many fans, the fight went according to plan, as she beat Maverick by decision.

Former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt will also be back in action on the bill, but ultimately lost a decision to wily veteran Raoni Barcelos. The card also featured an intriguing middleweight style clash between Edmen Shahbazyan and Andre Petroski, as well as appearances from several popular veterans and exciting prospects.

Keep scrolling for the full results of the card, and the biggest winners and losers of the night.

UFC on ESPN 69 Complete Results

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Main Card | 10 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

Kamaru Usman def. Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 48-47)

Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Edmen Shahbazyan def. Andre Petroski via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Raoni Barcelos def. Cody Garbrandt via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Cody Brundage via technical decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) — bout ended early due to an inadvertent head butt

Alonzo Menifield def. Oumar Sy by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Preliminary Card | 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato — No Contest due to an accidental foul at 4:59 of round 1

Michael Chiesa def. Court McGee via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Malcolm Wellmaker def. Kris Moutinho by KO via punch at 2:37 of round 1

Jose Ochoa def. Cody Durden by KO via punches at 0:11 of round 2

Ricky Simon def. Cameron Smotherman via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Phil Rowe def. Ange Loosa by TKO via strikes at 4:03 of round 3

Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Vanessa Demopoulos via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Winner: Showing Your True Potential

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Peru's Jose Ochoa is only two fights into his UFC career, but it's already been an interesting journey.

The 24-year-old was originally booked to fight for a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series last August. That fight ended up felling through, but he ultimately got a UFC offer anyway, and was called upon to fight the highly regarded Lone'er Kavanagh in November.

The fight with Kavanagh, who entered the cage as a huge favorite, did not go Ochoa's way, as he suffered a unanimous decision loss. However, his supporters believed he was capable of a lot more than he showed that night, and he proved those supporters right in Atlanta.

Ochoa was back in action against Cody Durden. Durden, a gritty American wrestler, is not ranked currently, but he was quite recently, and represented a very tough test for the Peruvian.

Ochoa passed his big test with flying colors. Just over 10 seconds into the second round, he floored his amply more experienced foe with a left hook. A few follow-up punches later, and the referee was intervening.

Just like that, a new flyweight prospect was born. It's still far too early to say if Ochoa will ever crack the division's stacked top 5, or even its top 10, but there's no question he is a fighter to watch at 125 pounds.

Loser: A Storybook Comeback

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Kris Moutinho's comeback story didn't go the way he planned.

Moutinho first entered the MMA limelight in 2021, when he stepped in on short notice to fight future bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley. He ended up losing that fight decisively, but showed such remarkable toughness that he was invited back for a second fight in the Octagon. Unfortunately, that one didn't go his way either, as he suffered a quick stoppage loss to Guido Cannetti.

After the loss to Cannetti, Moutinho was released by the UFC. He recently admitted that development took an immense toll. However, he kept his nose to the grindstone, and after five-straight wins on the regional scene, was invited back to the UFC to fight undefeated bantamweight Malcolm Wellmaker in Atlanta.

It was Moutinhi's chance for a comeback straight out of a Rocky movie. Unfortunately, he didn't get the storybook ending he wanted. Instead, he suffered a brutal knockout loss in the first round, after chowing down on a blistering Wellmaker check hook.

From here, most fans will be eager to see Moutinho get another shot in the Octagon. His toughness has definitely made him a fan favorite. At the same time, there is plenty of reason to doubt he is cut out for the the highest level of MMA.

Wellmaker, meanwhile, might just be a future champion. The 31-year-old is now 2-0 in the UFC, with two knockouts, and in his post-fight interview Paul Felder, proclaimed that anyone he fights will meet the same fame as Moutinho.

Time will tell how the cards fall for both men.

Loser: Paul Craig Chaos

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Has Paul Craig ever been in a normal fight? Just a simple, straightforward fight? Maybe handful of them, but truly, not many of them.

After a career full of last-minute comebacks and injury-induced finishes, Scotland's Craig was back in action against Rodolfo Bellato in Atlanta. It was Craig's first fight back at light heavyweight after a middleweight run that looked good to begin with, but ultimately turned out to be a disaster.

Craig and Bellato were originally set to meet in May, but the fight fell through at the last minute when the former suffered a herpes flare-up and could not compete—at this point, a classic Paul Craig situation. Their bout was then rescheduled for Atlanta, once Bellato's symptoms had settled down. Unfortunately, the fight still ended under bizarre circumstances.

In the closing moments of the first round, Craig found himself on his back, with Bellato raining down punches from top position. Somewhere in the middle of the fracas, the Scotsman fired off an up-kick from bottom position—and it landed clean, knocking his foe out completely.

The finishing sequence was so chaotic that it was initially hard to tell whether the blow was legal or not, but it was eventually ruled a foul, which meant the bout ended with a No Contest. That result that did not serve Craig, who wanted a win, or Bellato, who might have walked away with a disqualification victory.

Craig has had a couple of borderline ridiculous wins from bottom position—most notably a triangle choke over current light heavyweight champ Magomed Ankalaev in 2018. This was not one of them. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for Bellato either.

The question now, is does the UFC run this one back, or just accept that these two are perhaps not meant to fight?

Winner: Realistic Expectations

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

For about 25 minutes at the very end of 2016, Cody "No Love" Garbrandt looked like the best fighter on earth. The 25 minutes in question occurred in the co-main event of UFC 207, when Garbrandt made Dominick Cruz—widely considered the best bantamweight ever—look like a drunk at a bar.

To quote Robert Frost—and also Ponyboy from the 1960s novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton—"Nothing Gold Can Stay."

After winning the belt from Cruz, Garbrandt suffered back-to-back title losses to TJ Dillashaw, then another loss to Pedro Munhoz—all by KO. From there, he scored some more wins, and some more losses, but never got anywhere near the heights he did against Cruz.

At Saturday's card in Atlanta, Garbrandt was matched up with Brazilian veteran Raoni Barcelos. With a 19-5 record, the 38-year-old Barcelos has always been pretty good, but never great. In other words, he's the kind of fighter most fans would expect that brilliant 2016 version of Garbrandt to decimate.

In the end, though, Barcelos soundly defeated Garbrandt—not just on the mat, but on the feet too, en route to a unanimous decision win.

That result said a lot more about Garbrandt than it did about the almost-40 Barcelos.

There is no question that Garbrandt tapped into something incredible when he fought Cruz in 2016—it was truly a legendary performance. Yet that performance was perhaps a betrayal of who he really was: a good but not great fighter. Like Barcelos is in 2025.

Garbrandt's loss to Barcelos, which follows other recent losses to Deiveson Figueiredo and Kai Kara-France, seems to affirm that. There is no question that he has the power to turn the lights out on most bantamweights, and that he has a couple of veteran tricks up his sleeve when that power doesn't deliver. That being said, it's high time we all stopped waiting for the Garbrandt that beat Cruz to reappear.

That version of "No Love" was in town for one night only.

Loser: Delusions of Grandeur

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Rose Namajunas might be the best strawweight of all time. Granted, there's a lot of room for debate. Joanna Jedrzejczyk had more title defenses. Zhang Weili has beaten better opposition. Then again, Namajunas has beaten both of them. Wait, why are we debating this? Let's not forget that—for some reason—Namajunas is a flyweight now.

After losing her belt to Carla Esparza in one of the worst fights ever in 2022, Namajunas elected to move up to flyweight in search of greener pastures.

It's fair to say things haven't gone quite as planned. In her first fight at flyweight, Namajunas was beaten by Manon Fiorot. She then rebounded with a pair of wins Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez, which put her in the running for a title shot, but then she lost again to Erin Blanchfield. That loss brought her flyweight record to 2-2—not quite what we expected from a woman who might be the best strawweight ever.

Namajunas had a chance to really assert herself as a flyweight contender when she took on Miranda Maverick in Atlanta. Maverick has never challenged for the division's belt, but has been in the rankings for years. If Namajunas had stopped her—like she did multiple women at strawweight—she could put herself in position for a fight with flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko.

Unfortunately, the best she could do was a decision win over Maverick. Yes, she dropped the long-time contender in their fight. Yes, she looked good—even when fighting out of submission attempts. But still, the victory didn't do anything to put her ahead of more established flyweight contenders like Natalia Silva and Erin Blanchfield, and in fact affirmed that she really is just average at 125 pounds.

If she doesn't want to cut to 115 pounds anymore, that is absolutely her choice. But much like Cody Garbrandt, it's time to stop treating her like a real contender in 2025. She isn't one. At least, not at flyweight.

Winner: Picking Up Where You Left Off

Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

In my pre-fight prediction for Atlanta's main event, I ranted and raved about Kamaru Usman's long absence, and how we really didn't know how he would perform after his layoff, and how much that was likely to matter against a dangerous contender like Joaquin Buckley.

It turns out that, after all his time away from the welterweight division, Usman really didn't miss a beat. In fact, he looked as good as ever.

Against Buckley, Usman succeeded where Colby Covington failed, securing multiple takedowns and racking up tons of control time en route to a clear-cut decision victory.

After the win, he is once again one of the top contenders in the welterweight division.

Unfortunately for Usman, the next crack at new welterweight champ Jack Della Maddalena is almost certain to go to former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. That means that he will most likely need to take another fight before he fights for the title again—probably against somebody like Shavkat Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad, or Sean Brady.

Those are all very tough matchups—for anyone, not just Usman. However, if he can win another fight while Makhachev and Della Maddalena get down, he'll almost certainly be next for the winner.

At risk of getting ahead of ourselves, just imagine Makhachev claims the title, and Usman asserts himself as the top contender. That would mean the current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter taking on the man who held that distinction for years. That would be pretty darn cool.

A lot of things need to happen before that becomes a serious possibility, but Usman's win over Buckley was step one. Let's see what happens from here, now that the former champ has proven he didn't miss a beat during his long hiatus from the division he once ruled.