UFC 201 Results: 5 Burning Questions Heading into UFC Fight Night 92
UFC 201 is in the books. The results are as follows (via Bleacher Report's Nathan McCarter):
- Tyron Woodley defeats Robbie Lawler by KO at 2:12 of the first round
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz defeats Rose Namajunas by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jake Ellenberger defeats Matt Brown by TKO at 1:46 of the first round
- Erik Perez defeats Francisco Rivera by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28)
- Ryan Benoit defeats Fredy Serrano by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Nikita Krylov defeats Ed Herman by KO at 0:40 of the second round
- Jorge Masvidal defeats Ross Pearson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Anthony Hamilton defeats Damian Grabowski by KO at 0:14 in the first round
- Wilson Reis defeats Hector Sandoval via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:49 of the first round
- Michael Graves vs. Bojan Velickovic is a majority draw (30-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Damien Brown defeats. Cesar Arzamendia by KO at 2:27 of the first round
Next up? UFC Fight Night 92.
The UFC seems to have found a new approach for its Fox Sports 1 Fight Night events. While they were previously home to all manners of mid-tier battles, ranging from top contender's bouts to meaningless fights between aging veterans, the UFC is instead using these cards to showcase some of its hot young talent.
Fight Night 92 in particular features a main event involving super-exciting prospect Yair Rodriguez and a resurgent Alex Caceres. Outside the headliner, there is actually a great deal to look forward to with ranked fighters dotted up and down the card.
So...readers must be dying to know what to look out for and what topics to discuss entering this card. All they have to do is hit that "Next Slide" button.
Which Veteran Will Go Over?
1 of 5
The Fight: Cub Swanson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
The Real Fight: Veteran in Desperate Need of a Win vs. Veteran in Desperate Need of a Win
The Stakes
Cub Swanson and Tatsuya Kawajiri have both fallen on hard times and need a win at Fight Night 92 in order to stick around near the top of a crowded featherweight pack.
The Question
Which Veteran Will Go Over?
Analysis
Kawajiri is one of the most respected veterans in MMA today. Sixteen years and 46 fights deep into his MMA career, he has fought a who's who of names outside the UFC in basically every promotion imaginable from Shooto to Strikeforce to One Championship to Pride. Unfortunately, he is 38 years old in a highly competitive division that rarely sees fighters have major success past their athletic prime.
Swanson is in a similar situation. A staple of the WEC's featherweight division, he has faced the best of the best for nearly a decade and built up a great deal of credibility in the process despite never getting a title shot. When he suffered back-to-back stoppage losses to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway, however, it raised questions about whether his days at the top were over. That hasn't changed, even with a win against Hacran Dias.
Unfortunately, there's only one win to go around for these two. One will buy some more time at the top of the division. The other sinks deeper into the featherweight division's quicksand-like middle tier.
Can Teruto Ishihara Become a Breakout Star?
2 of 5The Fight: Teruto Ishihara vs. Horacio Gutierrez
The Real Fight: Japanese Fighters vs. Getting Over Stateside
The Stakes
Teruto Ishihara has gone from a complete unknown to one of MMA's more interesting characters...but he needs wins to really catch on with fans. Set to face an also-ran from The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2 in Horacio Gutierrez, the Japanese knockout artist needs to keep on tearing through the competition to gain ground stateside.
The Question
Can Teruto Ishihara Become a Breakout Star?
Analysis
Ishihara deserves a great deal of credit for separating himself from the featherweight pack. It's very easy to blend into the ocean of 145-pound talent in the UFC, and Ishihara has been able to stand out with his eccentric, entertaining and super-duper NSFW social media accounts.
That said, Yashabou is still just 1-0-1 in his UFC career and the fact English is his second language puts him in an uphill battle in terms of getting fairly promoted. He needs to keep winning in impressive fashion if he wants to gain ground with western fans, but the pieces are in place for him to do so.
Training at Team Alpha Male and facing an inexperienced Gutierrez, this should be an easy win for Ishihara. Hopefully, he can jump directly into a main card fight from there.
Is Thales Leites Done?
3 of 5
The Fight: Thales Leites vs. Chris Camozzi
The Real Fight: Thales Leites vs. The Wheel of Fortune
The Stakes
After becoming an MMA pariah due to his UFC 97 snoozefest opposite then-champion Anderson Silva, Thales Leites underwent an amazing career resurgence. After racking up eight impressive wins in a row, he now finds himself on the cusp of being released once again. If he can't get through Chris Camozzi, his days as an upper-tier middleweight are officially done.
The Question
Is Thales Leites Done?
Analysis
Leites doesn't get enough credit for his evolution over the last few years. Initially known as a submission specialist, he demonstrated improved cardio and tapped into a well of power striking after hitting age 30. Those three things combined to make him a legitimate top-10 middleweight...until Fight Night 84.
Coming off a split-decision loss to Michael Bisping, Leites had the rare opportunity to actually improve his standing in a rebound performance by facing longtime indie darling Gegard Mousasi. For whatever reason, however, Leites turned in what may have been the worst performance of his career, coasting to a lopsided loss on the scorecards and offering very little resistance to Mousasi.
That makes this fight against Camozzi a critical one for the Brazilian.
There is little shame in losing to Mousasi, but the manner in which he lost complicates things greatly. If he wins emphatically, he is back on the proverbial horse. If he loses? There is a real chance he is sent back to the international circuit.
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Did Alex Caceres Turn Things Around?
4 of 5
The Fight: Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres
The Real Fight: Alex Caceres vs. Traditional Career Trajectories
The Stakes
After four up-and-down years at 135 pounds, Alex Caceres returned to the featherweight division at UFC on Fox 18 and has since undergone a career renaissance. Surprisingly thrust into the main event picture opposite Yair Rodriguez, "Bruce Leeroy" now has the chance to return to high-level status after two ugly years.
The Question
Did Alex Caceres Turn Things Around?
Analysis
The career of Caceres, much like Caceres the person, has been a unique one.
Introduced to fans through The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, Caceres started his official UFC career with back-to-back losses. While that traditionally resulted in a pink slip in the UFC back in 2011, he instead dropped from 155 pounds to 145 pounds and then all the way down to 135 pounds.
That initially resulted in a fair bit of success, as he went 5-1 (1) (which easily could have been 7-0 if not for a spite-based point deduction from John McCarthy and a drug test failure), but it was quickly undone by three consecutive losses to Urijah Faber, Masanori Kanehara and Francisco Rivera.
Once again, that could have easily resulted in his release. Once again, he changed weight classes (returning to 145 pounds), and once again, he instantly found success by defeating Masio Fullen and Cole Miller.
This fight with Rodriguez, however, is a massive one for Caceres. Despite earning plenty of wins throughout his career, he has rarely gotten any time in the spotlight. Rodriguez is easily the biggest name he has faced next to Urijah Faber, and this is the first time in his career that he has received top billing.
If he can win, it may be the start of an intriguing Cinderella run for MMA's best Afro.
Will Yair Rodriguez's Star Continue to Grow?
5 of 5
The Fight: Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres
The Real Fight: Yair Rodriguez vs. Getting Lost in the Shuffle
The Stakes
The UFC isn't hiding its plans for Yair Rodriguez. He's on the fast track to success. Already 4-0 in the UFC with each win being more exciting than the last, the Mexican featherweight finds himself with the chance to become a breakout star in a headlining bout opposite Alex Caceres.
The Question
Will Yair Rodriguez's Star Continue to Grow?
Analysis
Rodriguez is an absolute godsend for the UFC.
Exciting? Check. Young? Check. Clean-cut? Check. Marketable? Check.
He has everything a promoter could want, and the UFC knows it. The company is giving him opportunities to stand out, and all Rodriguez needs to do is take advantage. If he can post the same kind of win he did over Andre Fili in April (a switch-kick KO, for those who don't remember), he could be on the path to becoming a legitimate household name in MMA.
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