UFC Fight Night 86 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Sunday Croatia Card
An important sporting event aired Sunday afternoon.
No, it wasn't the Masters, whatever that is. No, this Sunday was a day for violence, as UFC Fight Night 86 was broadcast live from Zagreb, Croatia.
Grading on the admittedly generous curve of Eastern European UFC fight cards, UFC's Croatian debut featured a fairly fun lineup. In the main event, streaking heavyweight Ben Rothwell—he of the gogo choke and spectacular microphone skills—took on Junior Dos Santos, a former champ who was beginning to show the mileage on his tires.
There were other heavyweights on the card, and you know they're always fun. A few nice prospects and homegrown talents rounded things out. As usual, the final stat lines of this 13-fight slate only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from Sunday in Zagreb.
Winner: Junior Dos Santos
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The rumors of a Junior Dos Santos demise were greatly exaggerated.
At least, that's the logical conclusion to draw after the Brazilian tenderized and slowly broke down a streaking fighter in Ben Rothwell, winning via unanimous decision.
As Bleacher Report's Mike Chiappetta tweeted, Dos Santos brought "a very smart game plan: Beat up the body, urgent off the fence, make Rothwell move forward and land first. It's all working now."
This wasn't the let-God-sort-em-out sort of Dos Santos we've seen in his last few fights, with his brawling style seemingly designed to please the crowd first and succeed second. In this one, Dos Santos—fresh off a move to the American Top Team camp in Florida—stayed on the outside, mixed in a wealth of body shots and kept Rothwell from cutting off the cage. Dos Santos looked lighter on his feet than he has in years, keeping clear of Rothwell's punching power and clinch.
There were more than a few flashes of the old Junior in this one. A savage push kick put Rothwell on his butt at the end of the second. A quick left hook did plenty of damage. He even unleashed a spinning wheel kick.
"You guys made that experience for me in Croatia amazing," he told the crowd through broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage after the fight. "I think we did the right strategy, because you can't go against a guy that size. ... I used my footwork. ... Forget jiu-jitsu and wrestling, I'm a boxing guy!"
Was this the first day of the rest of Dos Santos' career? With a new camp and new spring in his step, it sure looked like it. Given that Dos Santos still has one of the best resumes in UFC heavyweight history—and is one heck of a likable guy to boot—UFC officials and fans should hope so.
Loser: Ben Rothwell
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Into every life, a little rain must fall.
Rothwell didn't look terrible against Dos Santos. He came to the fight in shape and showed nice cardio over five rounds—that's not nothing in the heavyweight division. He landed a few shots and didn't embarrass himself.
This was a case of Rothwell running into a better athlete with a better game plan. Rothwell was never able to get inside to initiate a clinch or go for a choke. As early as the late first round, it was clear how the fight was going to unfold.
But don't cry too much for Rothwell. The 34-year-old has still won four of his last five and has hit a good late-career stride. Sunday means he won't earn that coveted title shot just yet, but he has the tools to get back on the horse.
Winner: Derrick Lewis
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Outside of Mark Hunt, is there a harder puncher in the UFC than Derrick Lewis?
I say no, especially after he wrecked Gabriel Gonzaga with a right hook to the face in the co-main event. It was his third straight knockout win in the UFC and his 13th knockout in 14 pro wins and 20 overall fights.
So, the beat goes on for The Black Beast. Ditto Gonzaga. The 36-year-old has now lost four of his last five contests, with three of those four coming when a fighter's fist found his failing chin. Perhaps even more troubling, Gonzaga earned a takedown and got the back of Lewis early but couldn't hold the position. The Brazilian appeared almost helpless as Lewis—unquestionably the lesser ground fighter of the two—simply powered to his feet.
Gonzaga's UFC future is unclear. Lewis', less so. In speaking with Anik after the fight, Lewis said he'd welcome a fight with Roy Nelson, another hard hitter who is looking his age. Even so, I'd tune in for that one.
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Winner: Francis Ngannou
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Francis Ngannou looked like a total package, or close to one, en route to a doctor-stoppage TKO over fellow heavyweight prospect Curtis Blaydes.
Along with his great power striking, Ngannou showed off improved takedown defense and grappling in fending off Blaydes' wrestling-based attack. His straight punches made a mess of Blaydes' right eye; the cut ultimately prompted the cageside doctor—over the odd protestations of referee Ken Sataki—to proclaim Blaydes unfit to continue.
In a fairly thin heavyweight division, this was a fairly big fight. Neither man rocketed himself to the top of the division or anything, but both looked good. Ngannou may have earned himself a big step up the ladder with a real statement win.
As Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting wrote on Twitter, "If someone teaches Ngannou how to wrestle, we'll have something."
Winner: The Heavyweights
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If you like the big guys, this was your card, with five heavyweight fights on the Zagreb slate. Were they exciting slugfests? Cardio-deficient snoozers?
It was a little of both, but on the whole, this fight night may have silenced the mouths of all the heavyweight haters out there. Well, maybe.
We've already covered Dos Santos', Lewis' and Ngannou's wins. Those were some solid fights. But that only gets us 60 percent of the way there.
Earlier on the main card, Timothy Johnson did enough to win two rounds over UFC debutant Marcin Tybura, who racked up an impressive resume on the European scene but couldn't keep Johnson on the ground long enough to work his vaunted grappling. That was the clunker of the bunch.
On the undercard, Alaskan Jared Cannonier blew up Cyril Asker with a first-round knockout.
These guys were all (more or less) in shape (for heavyweights) and executed sound game plans (or at least used their talents to great effect). It was an event to celebrate if you like to live large.
Loser: Hometown Favorites
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This card was a big deal for Croatia.
Unfortunately, though, the country's two biggest MMA names were not in the cage. Legendary champion Mirko Cro Cop retired last year but at least got a cageside seat for the proceedings. Croatian-American Stipe Miocic was not in the building, but he may have a decent excuse: He was preparing for his title shot against Fabricio Werdum in May.
Croatia still had fighters on the card, but they couldn't quite get the job done Sunday.
On the main card, Igor Pokrajac put on an exciting scrap and nearly outworked Jan Blachowicz before falling victim to too many takedowns and dropping a unanimous decision that all three judges scored 29-28 for the Pole.
On the undercard, Zagreb's own Filip Pejic couldn't bring it home either, losing by first-round submission to Damian Stasiak.
The card was a win for Croatia and its fans, who were vocal and engaged throughout. Better luck next time to the hometown guys in the Octagon.
UFC Fight Night 86 Full Card Results
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Main Card
- Junior dos Santos def. Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision
- Derrick Lewis def. Gabriel Gonzaga by KO, 4:48, Rd. 1
- Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes by TKO (doctor's stoppage), 5:00, Rd. 2
- Timothy Johnson def. Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision
- Jan Blachowicz def. Igor Pokrajac by unanimous decision
- Maryna Moroz def. Cristina Stanciu by unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
- Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby by unanimous decision
- Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle by submission (punches), 4:04, Rd. 1
- Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic by TKO, 3:44, Rd. 1
- Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:16, Rd. 1
- Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford by split decision
- Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker by KO, 2:44, Rd. 1
- Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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