UFC on Fox 17 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Orlando
Donald Cerrone's appeal is not complicated.
The beer-swilling, extreme sports-loving, dirty joke-cracking, wide-grinning, cowboy hat-wearing, flying knee knockout-seeking Cerrone elicits smiles and fist pumps and shaka signs from MMA fans the world over. Think of him as the Matthew McConaughey of modern MMA.
What might really cement the corollary is the way Cerrone unflinchingly bares his soul (or seems to) for anyone to see. He was open about his poor performance in big fights and his visits to a sports psychologist in an effort to change that. He freely relayed the details of his near-fatal rock-climbing accident. You can see the joy written on his face when he wins, almost as easily as the hurt he feels in defeat.
Luckily for Cerrone, it's been more of the former lately: He's ripped off eight wins in a row, including three fights in 2015.
Given all this success and popularity, it's hard to believe the New Mexico resident had never fought for a UFC title. That changed Saturday at UFC on Fox 17.
Could the fan favorite get that big-fight monkey off his back?
Across the cage was the Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos, an accomplished and widely respected champion, even if he could use a personality infusion from his opponent.
Did you get caught up with the holiday cheer? Never fear, my friend. Never fear. We're covering Cerrone's big fight and the whole rest of the card, and as usual, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC on Fox 17 in Orlando, Florida.
Results for the full card appear on the final slide.
Loser: Donald Cerrone
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Sixty-six seconds and who knows how much disappointment after that.
That's right, Cerrone fans. There is no joy in Albuquerque. Your mighty Cowboy just struck out.
Rafael dos Anjos closed the distance, landing punch combinations and then delivering a knee strike from the clinch that appeared to lodge directly in Cerrone's liver. The champ then landed a kick to the same area, and Cerrone was soon on the ground. Man, those body shots.
Dos Anjos swarmed the challenger with punches, and all Cerrone could do was turtle up. He staggered to his feet but was soon back down again. This time, his turtling couldn't prevent the referee's stoppage.
The champ retained his title in just one minute, six seconds.
For Cerrone, what lies ahead? He's unquestionably a great fighter. But this title run took him two years to build. Does he build another one? Should he think more about simply making money? Should he find a way to keep opponents from tying him up, an attack against which he continues to struggle? Back to the sports psychologist?
There are plenty more questions than answers for him after this one. In the meantime, here's hoping the Budweiser distributors of the greater Orlando area are well stocked.
Winner: Rafael Dos Anjos
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It's time to bring this guy out of the shadows.
All Rafael dos Anjos does is tear people up. He has posted five straight wins, three of them stoppages, over Jason High, Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and now Cerrone.
I get that he's not exactly Mr. Soundbite but geez, give this guy his due. He's a great champion in the UFC.
After that demolition, Dos Anjos was rightfully confident on the mic.
"I'm so happy, man," he told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "I just proved that I come to this division to stay. All those people who say they will destroy me, I'm here with my belt."
That was a not-so-subtle reference to and renewal of a common theme of the evening: People calling out Conor McGregor.
"Mr. McGregor, you want to fight me? This is my division," Dos Anjos said. "I'll fight you in Brazil, I'll fight you in Ireland. This is my division and I'm here to stay."
That's a good fight (though there are other possibilities, and we'll get to those). For now, Dos Anjos should draw comfort and pride from another dominant performance, regardless of the star power it did or didn't generate.
Loser: Junior Dos Santos
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It's sad to say, but it looks like, at age 31, the great Junior dos Santos may be done as a high-level fighter.
Hard to draw any other conclusion after Dos Santos fell to an Alistair Overeem hook to lose by TKO in the second round of the co-main event.
There's no shame in that on its face. But take my word for it when I say it was not an impressive performance. Both men were hesitant to pull the trigger. According to FightMetric, Dos Santos only landed 22 of 46 significant strikes, while Overeem connected on 32 of 43.
What's more, Dos Santos has now lost three of his last five and didn't look particularly great in one of those wins, a five-round bloodbath with Stipe Miocic.
Dos Santos has been in classic wars with Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Miocic and others, and his game now wears the scars of those battles. Here's hoping he can get a good evaluation of his health and make an informed decision for himself moving forward.
Winner: Nate Diaz
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I would tell you what Nate Diaz said in his post-fight interview, but, you know, it was on broadcast television.
It was a good thing for Diaz that he was able to communicate plenty with his fists during a 15-minute thrashing of the heavily favored Michael Johnson.
It was vintage Diaz, and in his first fight in a year, he resolidified his relevance in the UFC lightweight division.
Johnson helped him out a little bit, choosing to box with Diaz instead of attempting to ply his wrestling. Diaz took full advantage, landing his signature one-two combination over and over and wearing Johnson down to exhaustion.
In a profane and almost entirely bleeped-out tirade with Rogan after the fight, Diaz apparently called out Conor McGregor, the featherweight champ who is planning a move up to lightweight.
You know what? I believe I'd watch that.
Winner: The Barn Cat
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Crank up the "Thunderhorse." The Barn Cat's back in town.
The artist otherwise known as Tamdan McCrory hadn't competed in the UFC in more than five years. After some extended time off, a move up to middleweight and two head-turning wins under the Bellator banner, McCrory returned Saturday and made a big roar, or howl, or whatever.
The Barn Cat won an entertaining fight with Josh Samman, getting the better of ground scrambles, constantly seeking submissions and pushing a tiring pace until he finally tapped out a gassing Samman in the bout's final minute.
McCrory is still only 29 years old and is now 14-3 as a pro. It will be interesting to see what's next for him. Me-ow.
Loser: Lightsaber Accuracy
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Featherweights Cole Miller and Jim Alers got themselves a little buzz Friday night when they crossed laser swords during their weigh-in photo op.
Too bad it didn't carry over to their fight.
Early in the second round, Alers buried his finger in Miller's eye. It may not have been intentional, but it was nasty all the same. After a break, Miller determined he couldn't continue and that was it; the bout was ruled a no-contest.
It was the second UFC fight in 10 days to end prematurely because of an accidental eye poke (the other came after Antonio Carlos Junior's finger went in Kevin Casey's socket during UFC Fight Night 80). If only there was someone—some kind of "referee," perhaps—who could deter or penalize such things before they altered or halted the course of these contests.
Winner: Francis Ngannou
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The heavyweights need help. It's never the world's deepest division, but the cupboard appears particularly bare at this moment in time.
It's probably not time to rocket Francis Ngannou to a title shot, but in his UFC debut, the Cameroonian-Frenchman made quite a first impression with a brutal uppercut knockout of Luis Henrique.
Ngannou is slow and not what you'd call a technical marvel. He is, however, big, tough and powerful. In a weight class as quiet as heavyweight, any statement can ring loudly. By that measure, Ngannou made noise Saturday night.
UFC on Fox 17 Full Card Results
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Main Card
- Rafael dos Anjos def. Donald Cerrone by TKO, 1:06, Rd. 1
- Alistair Overeem def. Junior dos Santos by TKO, 4:43, Rd. 2
- Nate Diaz def. Michael Johnson by unanimous decision
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Randa Markos by unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
- Charles Oliveira def. Myles Jury by submission (guillotine choke), 3:05, Rd. 1
- Nate Marquardt def. C.B. Dollaway by KO, 0:28, Rd. 2
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Sarah Kaufman by split decision
- Tamdan McCrory def. Josh Samman by submission (triangle choke), 4:10, Rd. 3
- Nik Lentz def. Danny Castillo by split decision
- Jim Alers vs. Cole Miller ruled a no-contest (inadvertent eye poke)
- Kamaru Usman def. Leon Edwards by unanimous decision
- Vicente Luque def. Hayder Hassan by submission (anaconda choke), 2:13, Rd. 1
- Francis Ngannou def. Luis Henrique by KO, 2:53, Rd. 2
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
