UFC on Fox 19 Results: 5 Burning Questions Heading into UFC 197

UFC on Fox 19 is in the books. The results are as follows:

UFC on Fox 19 Main Card

• Glover Teixeira def. Rashad Evans, knockout (Round 1, 1:48)
• Rose Namajunas def. Tecia Torres, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Darrell Horcher, TKO (Round 2, 3:38)
• Cub Swanson def. Hacran Dias, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Prelims on Fox Sports 1

• Michael Chiesa def. Beneil Dariush, submission (Round 2, 1:20)
• Raquel Pennington def. Bethe Correia, split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Court McGee, TKO (Round 1, 4:15)
• Michael Graves def. Randy Brown, submission (Round 2, 2:31)

Prelims on UFC Fight Pass 

• John Dodson def. Manny Gamburyan, TKO (Round 1, 0:47)
• Cezar Ferreira def. Oluwale Bamgbose, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Omari Akhmedov, TKO (Round 3, 3:03)

Next up? UFC 197 on Saturday.

The UFC's next pay-per-view is short on star power. Outside its intriguing main event, which sees Jon Jones take on Ovince Saint Preux, the event is jam-packed with talent. Yair Rodriguez will look to keep the ball rolling. Anthony Pettis will desperately cling to his elite status. Carla Esparza will attempt to bounce back from her loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk. 

The list goes on! 

But which are the hottest topics on this card? And what questions melted this writer's keyboard from typing them out? Find out right here!

How Will Carla Esparza Do in Her Return?

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The Fight: Carla Esparza vs. Juliana Lima
The Real Fight: Carla Esparza vs. The Changing of the Guard

The Stakes

Carla Esparza surprised few women's MMA fans when she became the inaugural UFC women's strawweight champion. Joanna Jedrzejczyk surprised many, however, when she took it in emphatic fashion at UFC 185. Now more than a year separated from that fight, Esparza returns to the cage to face Juliana Lima.

The Question

How will Carla Esparza do in her return?

Analysis

Whenever there's a big fall in sports, it's followed by some introspection and re-evaluation. When looking back over Esparza's run as the leading lady of the strawweight division, two things are clear.

First, she is a very good grappler. Her success over recent years wasn't through chance or soft competition. Her wrestling pedigree is impressive, and she has done a marvelous job of adapting those skills for the cage. Technically speaking, she's a formidable talent, albeit a relatively one-dimensional one.

Second, unfortunately, is that she is terribly undersized in today's strawweight division at 5'1". Esparza has had steady success against solid opposition, but when she came across a big, strong Jedrzejczyk, things went sideways in a hurry. While there aren't too many women who dwarf her in the way Jedrzejczyk did, it's a big hurdle for her moving forward as the division steadily gets bigger and stronger.

Lima is a good opponent for gauging where Esparza falls in the division today from both a physical and technical perspective. If she struggles against the solid, but not exactly elite, Brazilian, it could mark the end of her days as a top 115-pounder. If she dominates, however, she will show that she is here to stay...at least for a while.

Can Robert Whittaker Overcome the UFC's Terrible Matchmaking?

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The Fight: Robert Whittaker vs. Rafael Natal
The Real Fight: Robert Whittaker vs. Stacked Decks

The Stakes

Robert Whittaker should be poised to become a breakout star for the UFC...should be...

The adopted Australian posted a big win over then-Top 10 middleweight Uriah Hall at UFC 193 in front of a crowd of 53,000 and a pay-per-view audience that numbered well into the millions. He's a turnkey fighter for a potentially massive market, yet the UFC is putting him into an ugly fight against an opponent, Rafael Natal, who is notorious for making fights uninteresting.

Whittaker needs to score an early stoppage here to maintain his momentum. If he can't, he will have a difficult time breaking out of the crowded middleweight pack.  

The Question

Can Robert Whittaker overcome the UFC's terrible matchmaking?

Analysis

I tore into this matchup in my UFC 197 preview, and I stand by it. Whittaker should be a priority for the UFC. It should be carefully grooming him in the same way it did Paige VanZant and, for a time, Norman Parke.

Alas, it is not. 

While analysts have almost unanimously pegged Whittaker as a future star of the middleweight division, the UFC is refusing to let him shine. Rather than trying to get him the rub from a name like Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping or Vitor Belfort, the company is sticking him in there against Natal.

The most likely scenario, from a promotional perspective, is a Whittaker win that nobody notices or cares about. The worst case is that the UFC beefs up the resume of a prelim-caliber talent who will never become a legitimate draw. This is a no-win contest for everyone involved.

Can Anthony Pettis Avoid Disaster?

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The Fight: Anthony Pettis vs. Edson Barboza
The Real Fight: Anthony Pettis vs. Losing Streaks

The Stakes

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis was supposed to be the next big thing in MMA, but, well, "next big things" rarely pan out especially well. Showtime lost the UFC lightweight title to Rafael Dos Anjos in emphatic fashion at UFC 185 and came out on the wrong end of a razor-thin split decision when facing Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 81. Now he needs to stop the bleeding and get back in the win column by beating the always tricky Edson Barboza.

The Question

Can Anthony Pettis avoid disaster?

Analysis

Pettis is in a must-win situation right now. There's no shame in losing to Dos Anjos, and the bout with Alvarez was close enough that he can get a mulligan on it, but there's no dressing up three L's in a row.

He's getting no favors from the UFC matchmakers here, either, as he looks to bounce back against a tough stylistic matchup in Barboza. Both Pettis and Barboza are at their best standing and with room to work, but Barboza will have a clear advantage in height and reach. Pettis is the quicker and more dynamic of the two, but this is a dicey matchup for the former lightweight champ.

Does Henry Cejudo Have Anything to Offer Demetrious Johnson?

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The Fight: Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo
The Real Fight: Henry Cejudo vs. A Force of Nature

The Stakes

Demetrious Johnson has been unstoppable over the last few years to the point where the question isn't if he'll lose, it's if he'll even be challenged. Henry Cejudo is his next victim, and there is little reason to believe that he will fare any better than the nine men who preceded him.

The Question

Does Henry Cejudo have anything to offer Demetrious Johnson?

Analysis

Johnson is entering GOAT territory at this point. 

He has defended his title seven times. He has rematched and demolished everyone who once gave him pause. He has effortlessly dissected hot youngsters and steeled veterans alike. Most importantly, he has emptied out his division in a way never seen before in MMA history...if he can beat Cejudo.

Cejudo is the last real challenge ahead for DJ, and should he win, the champ will have achieved a level of dominance never seen before in the UFC.

How Will Jon Jones Look in His Return?

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The Fight: Jon Jones vs. Ovince Saint Preux
The Real Fight: Jon Jones vs. The World

The Stakes

It has been a tumultuous year for Jon Jones, but the king without a crown is finally set to return to the cage. There are a lot of storylines hidden under this matchup with Saint Preux, and seeing how they play out is far more intriguing than the fight itself.

The Question

How will Jon Jones look in his return?

Analysis

Jones vs. OSP is being regarded by many as a tuneup for Jones—and rightly so. He has been unstoppable in the Octagon to this point in his career, and Saint Preux has literally been stopped on more than one occasion. The difference between the two, both quantitatively and qualitatively, is profound.

Still, this fight is must-see due to everything taking place outside the cage.

Jones is bigger and stronger than ever before. Will that directly translate to an even more dominant fighter? 

Jones has had a number of legal incidents since UFC 182. Will any of them affect his in-cage performance? 

Daniel Cormier, Jones' archenemy, will be doing commentary for the UFC 197 main event. Will that be as delicious as it sounds?

The list goes on. While chances are that the fight itself will be a stomp, there is still a great deal to look forward to.