UFC 189 Results: What We Learned from Dennis Bermudez vs. Jeremy Stephens

Dennis Bermudez hit the cage at UFC 189 looking to right the ship of his featherweight contendership, as his 30-month run of seven consecutive wins came to a halt with a loss in November of last year.

His opponent, Jeremy Stephens, had been in the process of enjoying a featherweight surge of his own before a couple of losses derailed him and left him in a must-win situation on Saturday night. It started poorly for him by missing weight, but he turned it around in a big way with a flying-knee knockout in the third round that left the MGM Grand crowd in a frenzy.

Here’s what we learned from the matchup.

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

On a night where a theme of spectacular flying knees seemed to be clear, Stephens might have bested Thomas Almeida’s work earlier in the evening. Falling away from a charging Bermudez, he tagged his opponent with a textbook strike to end the bout.

The knee came after a spirited affair, one that saw both men control the pace of things for stretches at a time. While Bermudez seemed poised to use Stephens as a steppingstone back into the Top Five, Stephens was headhunting more and landing with more force.

That force came to a head, perhaps literally, when the flying knee landed and brought things to a halt. It was a remarkable way to end things and showed Lil’ Heathen still has some gas in the tank.

What We Learned About Bermudez

He’s still close to the top of the division despite the setback. He looked good at times but was perhaps too eager to get into a wild scrap with a man built to fight that way, and it cost him. With his wrestling, Bermudez will never be totally out of contention, and his athleticism will allow him to continue to round out his skills with a bit of hard work.

After some time back at the drawing board, he can still move up the ranks. He’s a year or so away from his prime and has plenty to work with as he gets there, so he’ll remain relevant for a while yet.

What We Learned About Stephens

He might still have it.

His losses coming into UFC 189 were close ones, and he hung with a fired-up Bermudez for the entire fight on Saturday until a chance to end the fight presented itself. He fought through some big shots and a couple of severe cuts to score his biggest win at featherweight, and he’ll hope to notch another big win his next time out.

This well could have been make-or-break for Stephens, who avoided the chopping block once before after a protracted losing streak. Now, finally seeming to mature outside the cage and with his biggest win in years secured, he may be in place for a resurgence.

What’s Next for Bermudez

He should meet a fellow wrestler in the back half of the top 10. A fight with Nik Lentz makes sense for Bermudez, as both parties are on the fringes of contention and could make a big leap with some signs of development.

What’s Next for Stephens

Ricardo Lamas is coming off a loss and has been floating near the top of the weight class for a while. As a veteran maybe looking for one last push, Stephens needs guys at the top if he’s ever going to get to the upper echelon. Lamas would help him with that goal.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!