UFC on Fox 22 Results: Real Winners and Losers from VanZant vs. Waterson Card
In a refreshing change from the UFC's usual approach to events, Saturday's UFC on Fox 22's intrigue wasn't about the entertaining yet fleeting bouts. It concerned the compelling storylines surrounding them.
That makes this an interesting installment of real winners and losers. With that in mind, it's worth starting with the official results from Sacramento, California:
- Michelle Waterson def. Paige VanZant by technical submission (rear-naked choke), 3:21, Rd. 1
- Mickey Gall def. Sage Northcutt by submission (rear-naked choke), 1:40, Rd. 2
- Urijah Faber def. Brad Pickett by unanimous decision
- Alan Jouban def. Mike Perry by unanimous decision
- Paul Craig def. Luis Henrique da Silva by submission (armbar), 1:59, Rd. 2
- Mizuto Hirota def. Cole Miller by unanimous decision
- Colby Covington def. Bryan Barberena by unanimous decision
- Alex Morono def. James Moontasri by unanimous decision
- Josh Emmett def. Scott Holtzman by unanimous decision
- Leslie Smith def. Irene Aldana by unanimous decision
- Eddie Wineland def. Takeya Mizugaki by TKO, 3:04, Rd. 1
- Hector Sandoval def. Fredy Serrano by unanimous decision
- Sultan Aliev def. Bojan Velickovic by split decision
There are varying degrees of winning and losing.
Northcutt, Miller and VanZant suffered devastating losses that could impact their careers. Wineland and Jouban scored statement wins, while Smith likely saved her job.
Ultimately, though, the UFC will shake out to be either the biggest winner or biggest loser of this card. This was an event dedicated to testing the success of the promotion's marketing machine and determining whether its manufacturing of faux-celebrities like Northcutt and VanZant can pay dividends.
The company has poured a great deal of effort into pushing those youngsters and, once the ratings come back, the world will know whether the UFC is a genius of fight promotion or foolhardy in its efforts to make stars out of nothing.
Everyone else is playing for second place.
Real Loser: Old Men
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Takeya Mizugaki and Eddie Wineland entered the Octagon with their jobs on the line. Both men are skilled—nobody can chance their way into such a long run in elite promotions—but Father Time is a cruel overlord. Already on the wrong side of 30, worn from years of professional athletics and owning ugly records over recent years, neither could afford another loss.
But there was only one win to go around. It went to Wineland.
A skilled striker with a clear reach advantage, Wineland found his range without much trouble and, before long, landed a hard straight right. Mizugaki never had the chance to recover, leading to a TKO stoppage at 3:04 of the first round.
Now 1-4 in his last five fights, Mizugaki's days in the UFC are likely at an end. It's a sad finale to a strong, nearly eight-year-long run under the UFC's promotional umbrella that comes in an all too low-key event. While there's a strong likelihood that an Asian promotion like One, Rizin or Road FC will pick him up, it's hard to imagine Mizugaki hanging around much longer, regardless.
Wineland's fate, despite the win, isn't much different. Still on the back end of his career, the original WEC bantamweight champ did little more than buy himself time. Those three or four fights, however, will lead to a baseline paycheck and not much else.
Real Loser: The Hype Train
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Irene Aldana successfully carved out a niche as one of the best fighters in Invicta FC's bantamweight division with a two-year, five-fight, 4-1 run. When news broke in November that she would make her UFC debut at UFC on Fox 22 opposite Leslie Smith, most looked at the matchup as something between a squash and a tune-up for the Mexican finisher.
As seen above, that's not how things shook out.
Despite being the smaller fighter and lacking any serious stopping power, Smith managed to out-point Aldana by a considerable margin. It wasn't a runaway effort, as the judges scored the bout 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. But when the final bell sounded, Aldana had absorbed a whopping 169 significant strikes, per FightMetric.com.
This isn't the end of Aldana's career, and it doesn't doom her to mediocrity in the amorphous women's bantamweight division. But boy, this is a harsh reality check when it comes to where she is as a fighter.
While Aldana's individual techniques are strong, she is still far from having a complete game. Whether that's due to a lack of top-end competition, a lack of top-end training or just a matter of having a low ceiling is up for debate.
Ultimately, though, she has a lot of time at the drawing board ahead of her.
Real Winner: The UFC, Part 1
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Bryan Barberena is one of the greatest indictments there is when it comes to UFC matchmakers' noses. With a less than flashy style, he was thrown into the cage in January as the opponent for Sage Northcutt's third UFC fight.
That ended in a surprising quick-tap submission win for Barberena. While that could have led to the UFC's re-evaluating him as a competitor, the promotion instead held the course with him. It once again pitted Barberena opposite a hot prospect—this time Warlley Alves—and he again turned that on-paper mismatch into a surprise win.
While victory is, theoretically, the primary objective of an athlete taking part in a sporting event, the UFC is nothing if not spiteful. Despite his garnering back-to-back wins over high-end prospects, the UFC buried Barberena in the middle of Saturday's preliminary card (while putting Northcutt in the co-main event) and pitted him against an unknown but tricky Colby Covington.
There, the UFC got what it wanted from the unfortunately nicknamed "Bam Bam."
From start to finish, Covington pushed Barberena against the cage and tried to drag him to the mat. It was ugly, but it was effective, as Barberena struggled to mount anything resembling offense and was pressured into a unanimous 30-27 decision loss.
The defeat sends Barberena, who was already borderline anonymous with UFC fans, into the quagmire of bodies inhabited by faceless UFC fighters. He is unlikely to ever climb out.
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Real Winner: The UFC, Part 2
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Cole Miller, like most fighters, isn't happy with his standing in the company. While most are keeping their frustrations to murmurs and social media snark, Miller has spent the last two months griping about the company.
"It makes me want to quit and go get a job at Starbucks or something," he told Sherdog (via MMA Mania) in November due to the company's handling of his scrapped fight at the cancelled Fight Night: Manila card.
"That's just not how you treat people in general, right? We can agree on that. Why would somebody close the doors on proper communication?" he said while discussing how the UFC refused to accept a meeting with him despite nearly 10 years of competing in the Octagon, per Submission Radio (via FloCombat's Jim Edwards).
The UFC has shown that company brass bears grudges, and there are few quicker ways to get into president Dana White's doghouse than to shine a light onto the company's backstage dealings with fighters. Because of that, decision-makers likely took pleasure in watching Miller struggle to an ugly loss to Mizuto Hirota.
The Japanese vet was always meant to be a stiff test for Miller but instead looked like an absolute monster, taking him down and pounding on him at will. Miller had few answers for Hirota's ground game, trying in vain to score sweeps and being forced to work off his back for minutes on end, en route to a lopsided decision loss.
That's a tough blow for Miller, who has had one of the most unfortunate years in recent memory, including a no-contest due to an eye poke, a high-profile fight with BJ Penn falling through, a short-notice replacement bout ending in a tough loss and his last three months being dedicated to training for this meaningless fight.
It's unlikely that he'll get any sort of sympathy from the UFC.
Real Loser: Mike Perry's Career Trajectory
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The fickleness of the UFC is silly. Sometimes, a fighter like Derek Brunson will be kept out of sight for years despite being an amazing talent. Other times, a fighter who represents everything wrong with professional cagefighting will be put front and center.
Platinum Mike Perry is one of the latter cases. Despite his having a conviction and a barrel full of ugly, racially charged comments from himself and his cornerman, the UFC has attached a jetpack to his career, shooting him to the main card of a high-profile event with a quickness usually reserved for the company's favorites.
But while his personality may be rough, his in-cage prowess is beyond question. Since joining the UFC in August, Perry has developed at an absurd rate and is regarded by some as one of the best prospects at 170 pounds.
That made his fight with the battle-hardened Alan Jouban interesting. Jouban is a savvy fighter with all-over-the-cage skills, and if Perry could steamroll him the way he had his previous opponents, it would be a clear indicator that Perry is ready for top-10 competition. He could then work his way into the title picture within a year of his UFC debut.
That did not come to pass.
The fight was a bull vs. matador affair. Perry stalked forward, throwing heavy strikes. Jouban backpedaled, looking for counters. Both men scored knockdowns, but Jouban landed the cleaner shots in all three rounds, which saw him exit the cage with a unanimous-decision win.
That's a tough blow for Perry who, despite the loss, is still a budding talent and is a few tweaks away from being a top-10 fighter. Unfortunately for Perry, any development henceforth will likely be seen on Fight Pass or Fox Sports 1.
Real Winner: Happy Endings
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One of the biggest storylines entering UFC on Fox 22 was Urijah Faber's curtain call. As the former face of WEC and one of the most enduring fighters in MMA history, Faber inhabited a special place in the sport and, while his legacy is a mixed bag, his career was worthy of celebration.
And boy, was his career celebrated Saturday.
There were segments with the analysts. There were fancy video packages. There was a main event-style walkout. There were chants from the crowd. The pieces were in place for Faber to have a feel-good ending to his career, and he did his part.
Facing Brad Pickett, Faber showed off the skills that kept him near the top of the bantamweight division for years, dominating the scrambles, going for slick submissions and out-landing the Brit at range. While he couldn't finish the fight despite knocking Pickett silly in the first, he secured a clean-cut decision win in front of his hometown Sacramento crowd.
Despite this being Faber's best performance in years, the California Kid seemed to remain set on retiring in his televised post-fight interview.
Of course, Faber would be far from the first fighter to renege on retirement talk, but this seems like a rare treat for MMA fans: a legitimate happy ending for a respected veteran.
Real Loser: Sage Northcutt's Brand
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Sage Northcutt and Mickey Gall both needed a win. While both men are young, interesting prospects whose careers will extend years past this fight, the preferential treatment they've received from the UFC defines them. That stigma will linger for years, but it can be transcended, at least a little bit, by winning big fights.
Because of that, the stakes were high in this co-main event. The winner would begin resembling a legitimate high-end prospect. The loser would continue to be overhyped to the fans.
The fight was a clash of styles. Gall looked to keep things on the ground, advance position and hunt for submissions. Northcutt wanted to stay at range and land hard shots.
The first frame saw both men add to their highlight reel. Gall looked phenomenal on the ground, while Northcutt scored a good knockdown with a punch. The second, though, saw an abrupt but impressive finish.
During a scramble, Gall trapped Northcutt's arm and channeled his inner Jon Jones, torquing it to the side and likely damaging the shoulder. He followed it, though, with a hard right hook that folded Northcutt. That led to a scramble, a rear-naked choke and a tap.
It's a huge win for Gall, who kept his momentum following his UFC 203 win over CM Punk. It's a devastating loss, however, for Northcutt, who has now lost two of his last three, with both coming via submission.
Gall will continue to be "the guy who beat up CM Punk," but he's developing a name. Northcutt, though, will continue to be known as "Dana White's favorite."
Real Loser: UFC's Take on Boxing Matchmaking
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"There's a very very obvious heavy, boxing style A-side push being made tonight for PVZ," Bloody Elbow's Mookie Alexander tweeted. And boy, was he right.
The UFC wanted Saturday's bout to be the Paige VanZant show. It wanted it badly.
She got top billing over Urijah Faber. She got significantly more camera time than her opponent, Michelle Waterson. Video clips of her run on Dancing with the Stars were used in ads for the event.
It was, indeed, a boxing-style approach, similar to how Mike Tyson fights were often "Tyson vs. Opponent" during his rapid rise to the top. The big difference between "Opponent" and "Michelle Waterson," though, is that she is no easy out, and she showed that in short order.
After being pressed to the cage by the bigger, presumably stronger VanZant, Waterson turned and nailed a picturesque head-and-arm throw, then sunk in hooks and looked for a rear-naked choke. VanZant tried to hand-fight her way out, but Waterson kept her hold until, eventually, VanZant passed out.
All that effort by the UFC. All that work. All that hype. All for a devastating loss.
Boxing-style promotion works, and one of the greatest indictments on UFC matchmaking is how it has exposed, undercut and homogenized every exciting prospect that has come its way. The company tried to change gears with VanZant in terms of marketing, but it didn't change gears in its destructive matchmaking approach.
There's nothing wrong with VanZant's getting a heavy push, but it's silly to do so while pitting her against actual talent.
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