UFC on Fox 20 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Chicago

Scott HarrisJul 23, 2016

Pressure can crush you, or it can make diamonds. The MMA world found out what kind of carbon object Holly Holm was Saturday night at UFC on Fox 20.

I'm sorry for the sports cliche, but it's a perfect fit for the situation. Plus, it's getting toward the end of the month, and I have a quota to meet.

Either way, on a bombed-out and depleted card in Chicago, Holm was the only light of any substantial wattage. In the evening's main event, Holm—who shocked Ronda Rousey last November to win the UFC women's bantamweight title, only to lose it to Miesha Tate in her next fight—faces Russian-Ukrainian Valentina Shevchenko. Unless you follow the international muay thai scene, Shevchenko is a total unknown.

So it's a big step down in competition for Holm. Still, it's probably a must-win situation. If she wins, she's back on track and could be the next challenger to new champ Amanda Nunes. If she loses, she's relegated, for at least a time, to the one-hit-wonder bin, right alongside Soft Cell and Chumbawamba.

That's what a person might call pressure, and it's a pressure Holm acknowledged in the run-up to the fight. Add in the fact she was the only star on this Chicago slate, and that pressure reaches tectonic proportions.

Despite its scant implications for the wider UFC landscape, this card still contained 11 fights. Streaking and dangerous lightweight Edson Barboza took on grizzled but still-capable veteran Gilbert Melendez in the co-main event. As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC on Fox 20.

Full card results appear on the final slide.

Loser: Holly Holm

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It's hard not to feel for Holly Holm. It's also hard to remember another career bell curve as sharp and thin as hers.

Can you believe the Ronda Rousey fight was eight months ago?

Last fall, in less than six minutes of cage time, Holm climbed the unclimbable hill and head-kicked Rousey into oblivion from which Rousey still has not emerged. It wasn't unreasonable to argue UFC 193 instantly made Holm one of MMA's biggest stars.

Then she went out and lost the title to Miesha Tate. And now this, a unanimous-decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko. Holm's UFC record is now 3-2.

Holm's analytical style was in full effect, as was her tendency toward the tentative. There was an extended feeling-out period; Holm worked kicks and combos, but most often not to any great effect.

Everyone expected her to be circling quite a bit, and circle quite a bit she did. When she let it go, her power, athleticism and boxing talent were effective. She just didn't let it go that often, instead defaulting to a tight style long on respect and short on output.

Forget about the fact Shevchenko, a world muay thai champion, was more dangerous than her name recognition or MMA career to date might suggest. It's a valid thought, but it doesn't save Holm from this loss.

Forget about the fact she was less than two minutes away from taking a decision win against Tate.

Time after time, the 34-year-old was beaten to the punch Saturday night. Given Team Holm's acrimonious relationship with the UFC, there isn't a lot of safety net for her. She is an excellent fighter and a good ambassador for the sport, but for the foreseeable future she'll likely be proving those points from the relative darkness of cable undercards.

Winner: Valentina Shevchenko

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Credit where it's due: Valentina Shevchenko didn't wait for the moment to come to her.

Although she was also tentative, waiting for Holm to strike first before working a counter game, Shevchenko pushed the action, dictated distance with leg kicks and racked up riding time along the fence to gain a clear decision win.

Yeah, the crowd booed her for what they perceived as extended periods of wall-and-stall. But if you were fighting a brilliant striker like Holm, what would you have done? As the fight wore on and Holm started to become more desperate, Shevchenko was waiting, poised with big counter rights.

It's no longer possible to sleep on Shevchenko. The 28-year-old is 13-2 as a pro and 2-1 in the UFC. Her only loss? That came in March to a Brazilian woman named Amanda Nunes. The same Amanda Nunes who now wears the belt at women's bantamweight? The very same.

"Amanda's a good fighter," Shevchenko told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "She has good stand-up and a good ground game, and of course I want a rematch for the title."

Why not? Nunes is the fourth woman to wear the strap in the past eight months. Shevchenko just picked apart one of those women. Might as well give her a shot at one of the others.

Loser: Disclosure

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George Sullivan (left)

MMA fans are used to seeing cards disrupted (or worse) when fighters fall injured or fail drug tests.

But when four contests in Chicago were altered or canceled, the reasons were a little different. Or were they? In reality, we don't know. No one ever got around to revealing what the reasons actually were.

The original co-main event pitted Anthony Johnson, maybe UFC's most powerful striker, against Glover Teixeira. But Johnson pulled out in mid-June for reasons that were never publicly specified. Teixeira was then subsequently removed from the card.

About a week earlier, welterweight Ryan LaFlare suffered an injury and withdrew from his bout with Alexander Yakovlev. Nature of injury: unknown. The good news here is streaking prospect Kamaru Usman was a more-than-capable replacement.

Then on Thursday, news broke that George Sullivan was removed from the event after he voluntarily disclosed he was taking a specific supplement that raised concerns with the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Sullivan, who has never failed a drug test, said he had told USADA before that he was taking this supplement with no repercussions, but the agency said this was the first time it had been notified.

Huh.

These sorts of changes are a fact of life in the fight business. Adding confusion to the mix doesn't firm up the uncertainties.

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Winner: Edson Barboza

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There are times when this sport and its athletes prove the so-called experts wrong. But you know what? A lot of times, the so-called experts are right. The UFC on Fox 20 co-main event was one of those times.

Before Saturday, Barboza clawed his way up to No. 6 in the UFC's official rankings. On Saturday, he inched up a little farther with a unanimous-decision win over the great but flagging Gilbert Melendez.

The key was kicks. Leg kicks, to be exact. Melendez undoubtedly knew this but wasn't able to stem the tide. The former Strikeforce champ and current ESPN analyst had his moments, wobbling Barboza once or twice and remaining game throughout.

As the fight limped toward its conclusion, though, so did Melendez. He finished the bout on one leg, and Barboza went on to take the decision win.

The lightweight division is the toughest in the UFC, which means it's the toughest in all of MMA. That's why Barboza, despite being one of the world's best fighters, is only 3-2 in his last five. His last loss came to fellow beast Tony Ferguson, who just finished winning his eighth straight. If Ferguson doesn't get a shot at champion Eddie Alvarez next, how about running that one back?

There was plenty of social media reaction to Barboza's vicious kicks to Melendez's legs and body. The best came from fighters. If people as tough as women's bantamweight Lauren Murphy want to weigh in, my thoughts are secondary. So take it from Murphy, who tweeted during the fight: "I shriek every time Barboza lands a leg kick."

I'm glad it's not just me.

Loser: Francis Ngannou

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Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

The silver lining to a talent-thin card like this is lesser-known fighters get a chance to shine.

Enter Cameroonian-Frenchman Francis Ngannou.

The 29-year-old heavyweight has announced his MMA presence with authority. Coming into Saturday's fight with someone named Bojan Mihajlovic, Ngannou was 7-1 as a pro, including a 2-0 mark in the UFC and four wins by knockout.

Add another line item to the resume. Ngannou cut off the cage on Mihajlovic and landed a massive left hand. Mihajlovic fell; Ngannou swarmed. Soon enough, the ref had seen enough.

This was the 36-year-old Serbian's UFC debut, and Ngannou rudely dispatched him in 94 seconds.

So why is Ngannou a loser?

Come on now. If Ngannou truly wants to turn heads, he'll need to get a knockout that doesn't involve, you know, the minute hand.

Or, the UFC could match him up with Derrick Lewis. Then, all is forgiven. We're all winners in that scenario.

Winner: Jason Knight

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Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Jason Knight (right) defeated Jim Alers on the undercard.

Give it up for Mississippi Diaz. This is how you make an impression.

Jason Knight was a slight underdog coming into his fight on the deep undercard against the highly touted Jim Alers. But you'd never know it from the way Knight went about his business.

Alers is mainly a ground fighter, but his punishing jab helps him set the tone. Nevertheless, Knight stood in front of Alers, arms dangling by his sides, shouting into his opponents face with a mean Southern drawl.

"I know you wanna tap me," Knight screamed at some point during the action. "I ain't gonna let you do it!"

In the end, the pride of D'Iberville, Mississippi, used takedowns, leg kicks and pure, distilled aggression to take a split decision. Both men were bloody, and this was an early favorite for fight of the night.

The 24-year-old's UFC debut came on short notice in December, and he dropped a unanimous decision to top contender Tatsuya Kawajiri. His second fight was much more noteworthy, in part because of his ability to mirror the sharp edges of two famously ill-tempered fighters—Nick and Nate Diaz.

Here's guessing we see Knight in the cage again soon.