UFC 230 Results: The Real Winners and Losers
Every card at Madison Square Garden is unique. UFC 230 was definitely so, though perhaps not in the linear sort of way one might expect.
Daniel Cormier is probably the best fighter in the UFC right now. He's unquestionably the most decorated, with the heavyweight and light heavyweight belts around his waist. The former was on the line Saturday as he took on an unconventional challenger in Derrick Lewis. Lewis may be the hardest hitter on the UFC roster, but he doesn't have a ton of other weapons and is not a month removed from his last fight.
The card also lost steam when a very steamy bout between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz went by the wayside. Same for a women's title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks. Shevchenko and the title were pushed back a month, Eubanks was rescheduled for the undercard against Roxanne Modafferi, and then on Friday Eubanks missed weight. So it goes.
Oh, and Luke Rockhold ducked out of a grudge match with Chris Weidman because of injury, but Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza stepped up there, so that's not a massive subtraction.
I'm sorry to dwell on the bad stuff, but it told the tale here, as it sometimes does. On Saturday, they fought the fights, and there was still plenty of intrigue. On top of what's already been mentioned, how about knockout sensation Israel Adesanya making his UFC pay-per-view debut?
As always, the final stat lines do not reveal all. These are the real winners and losers from UFC 230.
For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear at the end.
Winner: Daniel Cormier
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With less than a minute elapsed—and with a few boos in the air—Daniel Cormier lunged in, grabbed Derrick Lewis' leg and dumped him squarely on his backside.
And that, for all intents and purposes, was all she wrote.
Cormier controlled position fully from that moment on. Yes, Lewis staggered to his feet once or twice, but it was only after Herculean efforts, and Cormier would just take him down again. Once down, he pounded Lewis with punches. Taken together, it probably meant a 10-8 round for the double champ.
The second was more of the same. Lewis threw a jumping switch kick—an odd choice for someone who can move a tank with his hands and probably needed all the extra energy he could get—but it didn't land, and that concluded his significant offense. An ankle-pick takedown led to a back-take (not easy when the back is as big as Lewis') and a rear-naked choke. Job done.
Now, what about that next big fight? You know, that Brock Lesnar guy? Oh, Cormier had some interesting words on that.
"Brock Lesnar, when you come, bring that WWE title, too," Cormier told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "Because I feel like being a WWE champion, too. Let's go!"
I have no idea what that means, but I'm here for that fight.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
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Give it up for the great Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.
This was a Fight of the Night-winning bout between two well-rounded middleweights who settled into an entertaining MMA boxing match. The wrestling of Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza's generational jiu-jitsu talent appeared to cancel each other out.
Weidman opened with what would be his bread and butter on the evening: a solid left jab. He pumped that in Souza's face while steering clear of most of Souza's big counters. Souza mixed things up, working the body hard and moving inside for uppercuts to ignite a brawl.
But the jab kept working, and it busted up Souza's nose. In the final round, both men began to open up. Weidman threw some big combinations and then a jumping knee. Souza snapped a nasty front kick up the middle.
And then, at almost exactly the halfway point of the final round, the big shot Souza had wanted all fight arrived. A monster left hook clanged off the top of Weidman's head. Weidman stiffened and collapsed, motionless. Just as motionless was Souza, who stood over the 100 percent vulnerable Weidman. Referee Dan Miragliotta did not stop the contest; Souza looked at Miragliotta and spread his hands. A few half-hearted hammerfists from Souza followed, as Weidman, who still didn't know where he was, tried equally half-heartedly to grab Souza's ankles in some semblance of a defense. Then Miragliotta stepped in, with Souza having essentially done his job for him.
Credit Souza for the classy gesture and his knockout of Weidman after a very close bout. People keep waiting for Souza (38) to decline. It hasn't happened yet. His two losses in his last six bouts were to current champ Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum, who fights Whittaker for the strap in February. No matter the winner, I think it might be interesting to see Jacare get a rematch.
As for Weidman, he's dropped four of five, and all four of those were knockouts. What's more, three of those knockouts happened in the later rounds, and all were arguably in fights he was winning when the knockout occurred. That must be a tough thing to square. If Souza is looking like a young 38, Weidman appears to be wearing all 34 of his years on his chin.
Loser: Sijara Eubanks
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Sijara Eubanks doesn't owe the fans anything. But given everything that's happened this week, no one should be surprised by the boos, either.
And boo they did at MSG, before and after a plodding affair in which she overcame exhaustion and Roxanne Modafferi for the unanimous-decision win. She was originally slated for the co-main event, but this ultimately took place on the undercard.
Eubanks was an unlikely choice for the initial flyweight title shot against Shevchenko, with most fans preferring former strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Eubanks was defiant, as plenty of fighters would be, but still took heat from people who claimed she didn't have the experience (3-2 overall, 1-0 in the UFC) to challenge for a belt. When she missed weight against Modafferi, that affirmed those criticisms, at least in the eyes of the critics themselves, particularly when she appeared to almost literally shrug off the mistake. Because, of course, had the youngster Eubanks missed weight against Shevchenko, it would have ceased to be a title fight.
Against Modafferi, Eubanks rocked her opponent multiple times but couldn't nab the finish. Eubanks was stronger and better, particularly on the ground, but she lost her stamina and chose to simply keep the overmatched Modafferi at bay down the stretch. At least a big stoppage or domination of an inferior opponent would have put her in position to market herself as a villain if she wanted. But this was an underachievement. No one wants to watch something boring, no matter their emotional connection to it.
After the decision was read, Eubanks cupped her hand to her ear to "soak in" the boos. Subsequently, speaking to Rogan, Eubanks suggested that "being a female" had something to do with the weight-cut difficulties and added that she was working hard to be a better fighter and weight-cutter. Eubanks surely has big fights ahead in the thin and fledgling flyweight division, but despite this victory, she's leaving New York with more unanswered questions than anything else.
Winner: Jared Cannonier
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Welcome to the middleweight division, Jared Cannonier. Not only that, but welcome, in all likelihood, to the division's Top 10.
According to betting site OddsShark, David Branch was a serious -350 favorite to dispatch Cannonier, who was taking the fight on short notice after Branch's original opponent, Souza, moved up to the co-main event. It was also his debut at 185 pounds after a career previously spent inside a much bigger body at heavyweight and light heavyweight.
With the hometown wind at his back, Branch stayed true to his grinder reputation and, well, ground. But Cannonier looked sharper than he had in past fights, thanks perhaps in part to a recent move to the respected MMA Lab camp in Arizona. (Did you notice former UFC lightweight champ and MMA Lab trainee Benson Henderson in Cannonier's corner?)
The second round began as the first ended, but it ended in its own way entirely. Cannonier came out cannons firing and put Branch on the canvas with a massive right hand. Cannonier swarmed and dropped bombs, and that was all she wrote.
It was quite a night for Cannonier and the middleweight division.
Winner: Israel Adesanya
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This can't be overstated: Israel Adesanya has arrived.
The Last Stylebender went for 4-0 since his UFC debut earlier this year(!), capturing a pinpoint-perfect TKO win over Derek Brunson in the pay-per-view opener.
Playing to his strengths and Adesanya's perceived weakness, Brunson immediately went for body control and the takedown. But Adesanya was ready and even stuffed takedown attempts by simply using his hand to push Brunson's charging head aside.
Then, the former kickboxer opened up. A question-mark kick found the side of Brunson's head. As the final minute of the first round began to tick down, Brunson lunged in again but this time right into a knee, perfectly timed to counter the shot. Brunson fell.
Adesanya stayed poised as Brunson regained his footing. Instead of swarming with strikes, he landed one at a time, each one laser-guided to the chin, almost of all of them sending Brunson down. The strikes piled up, and a short right convinced referee Herb Dean that it was all over.
"This was a walk in the park," Adesanya told Rogan after the fight. "Actually, eh, the Garden."
Adesanya called for a Top Five opponent, which makes perfect sense. This was a surgical dismantling of a UFC main eventer in Brunson—and one who had the skills, on paper, to handle him. The outspoken Adesanya is a star on the rise, ladies and gentleman. If you want to know more about him, check out my feature on him from last week.
Loser: Ben Saunders
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There's some interesting and telling symmetry in Ben Saunders' vital statistics. The welterweight is 35 years old and now has 35 pro fights under his belt.
From the UFC to Bellator and back, Saunders is an MMA fan favorite. The muay thai specialist known for his long-limbed knee strikes is used to dishing out the finishes, but he's increasingly on the bad end of the bargain.
After eating some nasty clinch uppercuts against Lyman Good on Saturday, Saunders took his fourth loss in five bouts. Three of those losses were knockouts.
When the chin goes, it goes. Saunders may sense the end is near. After fighting only once or twice a year for the past four years, Saunders competed four times in 2018. Is he trying to get as many paydays as he can before the inevitable end? If he is, he's playing a losing game that might have long-term implications beyond a cash grab.
Winners: Matt Frevola and Lando Vannata
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This one had some good, old-fashioned brawler-on-brawler violence. It didn't have a lot of defense or measured efforts as lightweights Matt Frevola and Lando Vannata hammered each other with heavy shots for 15 minutes.
Social media scorecards were all over the place, and that was reflected in the judging tallies. One ruled Frevola the victor by a round, while the other two ruled it a 28-28 draw. Majority draw it is.
"Where's that bonus at," Vannata deadpanned to Rogan after the fight. Vannata has a right to talk. His Wild West style has earned him post-fight checks on four separate occasions. And as an odd footnote, this is Groovy Lando's second draw in his last three contests, with the other coming a year ago against Bobby Green. He won Fight of the Night honors for that. Souza and Weidman nabbed the honors on this night, but this one probably finished in the runner-up position.
This is only the Steamrolla's third fight in the UFC, and he's now 1-1-1. Despite the draw, this was the biggest performance of his career. He probably picked up more than a few fans for his toughness and willingness to bang.
UFC 230 Full Card Results
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Main Card
Daniel Cormier def. Derrick Lewis by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:14, Rd. 2 (retains UFC heavyweight championship)
Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Weidman by TKO, 2:46, Rd. 3
Jared Cannonier def. David Branch by TKO, 0:39, Rd. 2
Karl Roberson def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Israel Adesanya def. Derek Brunson by TKO, 4:51, Rd. 1
Preliminary Card
Jordan Rinaldi def. Jason Knight by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
Sijara Eubanks def. Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sheymon Moraes def. Julio Arce by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-26)
Lyman Good def. Ben Saunders by KO, 1:32, Rd. 1
Lando Vannata vs Matt Frevola ruled majority draw (28-29 Frevola, 28-28, 28-28)
Shane Burgos def. Kurt Holobaugh by submission (armbar), 2:11, Rd. 1
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Adam Wieczorek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Scott Harris covers MMA for Bleacher Report.
