UFC Fight Night 131 Results: The Real Winners and Losers
Upstate New York received a jolt of excitement Friday, when the UFC rolled into the region. The city of Utica, sitting deep in the heart of the beautiful Mohawk Valley, played host to UFC Fight Night 131.
For the most part, this event followed the recent trend of fairly dull and interchangeable cable TV cards. That is with one notable exception: Two bona fide studs collided in the main event. The winner between Jimmie Rivera and Marlon Moraes would be well-positioned for the next bantamweight title shot after champ TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt tangle in August.
Were there other highlights on the card? Of course; it's fighting. And as always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 131.
Winner: Marlon Moraes
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Eleven seconds into the fight, Fox Sports 1 play-by-play man Jon Anik asked his broadcast partner, the excellent color commentator Jimmy Smith, what viewers should expect in the opening moments of the main event.
"I think we'll see a lot of feeling out," Smith responded. "Both these guys have a lot of respect for one another."
Smith's comment felt right. Although the two camps exchanged some salvos before the contest, Rivera (21-1) and Moraes (20-5-1) maintained the kind of respect you would expect between two electric fighters in their primes. It stood to reason that respect would be borne out in the opening moments of the contest.
Sixteen seconds later, Rivera hit the mat like a sack of potatoes.
The switch kick made a popping noise when it connected flush with Rivera's skull, not unlike a Max Scherzer fastball hitting the catcher's mitt. Rivera struggled to survive but was largely out of it, and Moraes finished him off with punches. The official end came at 33 seconds of the first round.
"I'm ready," the Brazilian told Anik in the cage after the fight. "I want the title! I want to fight for the UFC title, for the bantamweight UFC title. That's it."
Moraes is a very good fighter. His muay thai is razor-sharp, and he appears to be gaining power and diversity in his striking arsenal. But he's a well-rounded guy with a jiu-jitsu black belt to boot. He always comes off in interviews as a humble and friendly person. Most importantly, he's now 3-1 in the UFC, with his only negative being a split-decision loss to the great Raphael Assuncao.
If there's a reason to deny Moraes a title shot at this point, it's impossible to know what it is.
Loser: The New York State Athletic Commission
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The Kafkaesque reign of the New York State Athletic Commission continues unabated.
It struck again before this Utica card, scuttling a fun matchup between women's strawweights Jessica Aguilar and Jodie Esquibel.
The body's reasoning? Chapped lips. You read that correctly. Dry, cracked lips.
That's according to Aguilar, who possesses the offending lips and confirmed the news to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani (h/t Danny Segura of MMA Fighting). The UFC called it a "medical issue." The NYSAC confirmed the cancellation but refused to comment further.
Aguilar later took to Instagram to offer more details. According to Aguilar, she had the temerity to use ChapStick during a pre-fight physical, which prompted the commission to reasonably ask her to be cleared by a dermatologist. She did that. Jessica Aguilar got clearance from a dermatologist for using ChapStick. Then the commission canceled the fight anyway.
"You can't reason with this commission," Aguilar said. "It kinda felt personal."
As you'll recall, New York was the last state to legalize pro MMA and only after a yearslong internecine battle at the state house and beyond. The dysfunction continues. Only now, the commission is running around cutting off everyone else's noses to spite its own face.
Max Holloway bore the brunt as part of that whole UFC 223 fiasco in Brooklyn. Daniel Cormier had reaped its rewards.
This little crew should feel lucky it has Madison Square Garden in its backyard. Otherwise, it's hard to figure why anyone would want to fool with it anymore.
Winner: Gregor Gillespie
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There were a handful of notable prospects on Friday's card. Gregor Gillespie was not one of them.
We'll get to those prospects momentarily, but first a word on Gillespie, who graduated from those ranks with a dominant second-round submission of Vinc Pichel in the co-main event.
The upstate New York native was typically relentless, shaking off a slow start to crush Pichel's will with takedowns and top control before finally tying things up with an arm-triangle choke.
This is not the 31-year-old's first impressive win. He's now 11-0 overall and 5-0 in the UFC. This was his first time this far up the card, though, and Pichel was his toughest test to date.
The lightweight division is a shark tank, but there's room for Gillespie on the UFC's official rankings. If the promotion's matchmakers aren't convinced, they should match him up with someone in there.
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Loser: Jake Ellenberger
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Jake Ellenberger has had a better UFC career than most. He can do whatever he pleases. And he certainly doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
Nevertheless, I think something, and that thought is that I think I'm done with my ride on the Jake Ellenberger train.
If you talk about the nastiest knees in MMA, those of Ben Saunders will come up sooner or later. He put them to work against Ellenberger with a crushing blow to the body. Follow-up strikes sealed the deal after just 116 seconds of action.
"It was like being back on The Ultimate Fighter in 2007," Saunders said in a post-fight statement emailed to reporters. "The Killa B is back baby!”
Unfortunately for 33-year-old Ellenberger, the 35-year-old Saunders was the only one turning back the clock Friday. Ellenberger has dropped three straight contests, five of six and eight of 10 dating back to 2013. He has competed four times in the past two years. The welterweight destroyer who knocked out four of his first six UFC opponents is a distant memory.
The kicker is that his past three losses were all knockouts. Granted, this one came on a gut shot instead of the traditional way, but that's pretty cold comfort for a once-feared fighter whose time is evidently up.
Winner: The Prospect(s)
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Nathaniel Wood is nicknamed the Prospect, but on Friday, he was part of a plurality—and a successful plurality at that.
It started off with a strange stroke of luck. In his UFC debut, well-regarded youngster Jose "Shorty" Torres was being fairly well dominated by another, less ballyhooed 25-year-old in Jarred Brooks. Brooks scooped up Torres for a big slam but then fell backward and knocked himself out instead. Huh. A win is a win, right? And UFC matchmakers had to be happy the hotter prospect won his debut.
Speaking of debuts, Wood had his in the next fight, and it's pleasing to report he does not have to change his nickname. The Englishman weathered a battering from respected striker Johnny Eduardo and then stuffed a takedown and converted it into a brabo choke for the submission.
New Yorker Julio Arce completed the trifecta with a third-round chokeout of veteran Daniel Teymur. Known for his boxing base, Arce capitalized on a Teymur trip, took Teymur's back and soon had the rear-naked choke.
It's not a huge sample size, but a combined 4-0 UFC record is looking pretty promising for three prospects the sport is watching closely.
UFC Fight Night 131 Full Card Results
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Main Card
Marlon Moraes def. Jimmie Rivera by KO, 0:33, Rd. 1
Gregor Gillespie def. Vinc Pichel by submission (arm-triangle choke), 4:06, Rd. 2
Walt Harris def. Daniel Spitz by TKO, 4:59, Rd. 2
Ben Saunders def. Jake Ellenberger by TKO, 1:56, Rd. 1
Julio Arce def. Daniel Teymur by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:55, Rd. 3
Sam Alvey def. Gian Villante by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Sijara Eubanks def. Lauren Murphy by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
David Teymur def. Nik Lentz by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Belal Muhammad def. Chance Rencountre by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nathaniel Wood def. Johnny Eduardo by submission (D'Arce choke), 2:18, Rd. 2
Jose Torres def. Jarred Brooks by TKO, 2:55, Rd. 2
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