The Real Winners and Losers from UFC on ESPN 11

Lyle FitzsimmonsJun 20, 2020

Another Saturday. Another mixed martial arts show in Las Vegas.

Another step forward for the UFC while other sports organizations quibble about, well, everything.

ESPN and ESPN+ carried the 12-fight card at the UFC Apex facility, again with no fans in attendance.

Announcers Dominick Cruz, Michael Bisping and Jon Anik teamed up for the first time since the promotion returned in May, sitting at separate cage-side tables and conducting interviews with the victorious fighters in another room.

Veteran Jim Miller, who tied a UFC record with his 35th appearance, got his first taste of the pandemic-era atmosphere and instantly noticed the difference.

"For years, I've said I'll fight anywhere they'll put an Octagon," he said. "But the fans are a huge part of this. Particularly after those tough fights. Hearing the roar of the crowd is amazing.

"I miss them. I really do."

Meanwhile, former title challenger Raquel Pennington also returned to action and praised UFC czar Dana White for getting things back to normal: "I'm truly grateful to fighting for this promotion, which is so focused on us as fighters and getting us back out there."

Keeping with its Saturday night routine, Bleacher Report took in each of the fights and compiled a list of winners and losers for the card. Take a look, and let us know how your impressions stack up with ours.

Loser: Monotonous Main Events

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Curtis Blaydes grimaced, gasped and pressed onward, looking as done as done could be.

He was, in a word, exhausted.

Fortunately for him, though, it was the post-fight interview.

Moments earlier, the massive heavyweight had overcome his latest challenge, successfully putting his No. 3 ranking on the line and defeating seventh-ranked opponent Alexander Volkov over a monotonously grinding five rounds in Saturday's main event at the UFC Apex facility.

"Volkov was a lot harder than I thought to takedown," Blaydes said, almost breathlessly. "He was really strong."

Strong, perhaps.

But able to defend Blaydes' takedown attempts? Not so much.

The 261-pound heavyweight took Volkov to the mat 14 times in 25 attempts, establishing a new UFC record for the heavyweight division along the way and all but taking away any opportunity the much taller Volkov, at 6'7", had at competing evenly across 25 minutes.

Blaydes scored nine takedowns and landed 55 strikes through the initial three rounds while establishing a lead on the scorecards. Then he took down his man three more times in the fourth round, even as fatigue began setting in. Volkov fended off several attempts in the final round and appeared to wobble Blaydes a couple times with kicks and punches, but he wasn't able to get him in serious trouble before the bell.

It was Blaydes' 14th win in 16 pro fights and fourth in a row since a loss to No. 2 heavyweight Francis Ngannou in November 2018. Ngannou also handed Blaydes his other career loss in April 2016.

No. 1 contender Daniel Cormier will meet champion Stipe Miocic in August, leaving Blaydes in a holding pattern until the division resets itself.

"It's always good experience to know you can go five rounds," Blaydes said. "There's things I need to work on, but you work on them and win. I'm one step closer to a title shot."

Blaydes won on the scorecards by counts of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-46, and Bisping gave him credit for the win while conceding it wasn't the night's most enthralling bout.

"On paper, Volkov was the weaker wrestler," he said. "Blaydes did what he had to do. Was it a highlight performance? No. But did he get the job done? Did he do what he needed to do? Yes."

Cruz agreed.

"This was the path of least resistance," he said.

Winner: Fight of the Year Candidates

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When reactions include phrases like "epic," "fight of the year" and "instant classic," you've done well.

And no one was feeling better afterward than Josh Emmett.

The UFC's eighth-ranked featherweight hyperextended his left knee in the fight's first 15 seconds but battled through and gradually beat down 10th-ranked opponent Shane Burgos over three rounds on the way to securing a unanimous decision in Saturday's co-main event.

And given that he entered the bout as a slight underdog, Emmett was quick to point out the mistakes made by forecasters who had suggested Burgos' sharpness would outweigh his pop.

"All the journalists that have counted me out, you guys have no idea what I'm capable of," he said. "I'm going to stop doing interviews. You said it was power versus precision. I guess power won tonight."

Shorter and thicker than his New York-based foe, Emmett narrowly controlled a competitive first round with clean power shots that Burgos was somehow able to withstand while staying in the pocket and attempting to counter with inside leg kicks.

Burgos did fare better in the second and looked to have Emmett slowed down via the kicks and also bloodied the face thanks to a series of late combinations.

Emmett rebounded in the third, however, scoring the fight's first knockdown with a straight left hand and adding another later in the round with a whistling left hook. He landed a few clean strikes while Burgos was down the second time and then moved well enough to elude a late charge in the final minute.

Emmett won two cards by 29-28 scores and a third by a 29-27 margin.

"[Burgos is] a solid dude, and he's going to do super well," Emmett said. "He hits really hard and tough as hell. But I'm tired of being the gatekeeper. I want to fight forward. No one behind me. That was the last one. I want to work toward the title."

Final UFC stats indicated Burgos had a 148-136 edge in overall strikes and a slight 128-127 advantage in significant strikes. Emmett scored the only takedown of the fight, however, and had the lone two knockdowns as well.

It was Emmett's third straight win since a second-round loss to Jeremy Stephens in 2018.

"He did everything he needed to," Bisping said. "He walked through fire. The speed. The aggressiveness. It was incredible. "I'll speak on behalf of every one of the potential 20,000 fans here. That was incredible from start to finish."

Loser: Octagonal Birthday Cakes

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It was Marion Reneau's birthday.

So the California-based bantamweight entered the Octagon looking to boost her No. 10 ranking and expecting to jubilantly blow out 43 candles on a post-fight cake.

But when it ended, only Raquel Pennington was celebrating.

The sixth-ranked 135-pounder survived Reneau's busy, grinding style in the opening five minutes and took the fight to the birthday girl over the final two rounds, landing better than 80 strikes in 10 minutes on the way to a unanimous decision in the third of five fights on the main card.

The judges saw it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 across three scorecards, and Bleacher Report agreed with the final two—giving Pennington the final two rounds for the one-point win.

"I'm just super excited to get back out here and do my thing," said Pennington, 31, who hadn't fought since a decision loss to Holly Holm at UFC 246 in January. "There's nothing I can do but smile."

Reneau, who turned pro in 2010 and arrived in the UFC in 2015, has lost three straight to fall to 9-6-1.

The veteran out-struck Pennington, 31-23, in the first round and held a slim 41-40 advantage in the second, though the 33-16 edge in significant strikes went to Pennington.

Pennington doubled up her foe, 46-23, in the final round while working particularly effectively to the body.

That, she said, was part of the pre-fight plan.

"It took a lot of work for me to believe in my hands some more," she said. "For some reason, this camp it was really working for me to work to the body."

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Winner: Old Man Miller

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Do the math.

If one man is six inches taller, 10 years younger and riding a streak of 10 wins in 11 fights, the chances are good that he will win.

Unless he's fighting Jim Miller, that is.

Old man Miller proved he couldn't care less about statistics and smart money Saturday night, taking less than half a round to dispose of chatty prospect Roosevelt Roberts in the main card opener.

"He's very talented, but I felt that I had a pretty significant strength advantage," Miller said. "When he was defending, he was doing a really good job, but I knew he was going to make a mistake. I was just waiting for it."

Roberts, who was tweeting confidently at Bisping just 20 minutes before the match, quickly found himself on the ground after Miller blocked a low right kick attempt. He did defend well while on his back but got caught in a left armbar while trying to reverse the position and verbally tapped at 2:25.

The win was Miller's 21st in 35 fights in the UFC, which moved him out of a third-place tie with Bisping on the all-time victory side while he equaled old foe Donald Cerrone's mark for career appearances.

"As soon as Roosevelt Roberts hit the floor like that, I knew it was going to be a hard night," Bisping said. "That armbar transition was beautiful."

It was also the latest step in recovery from Lyme disease for Miller, who's won three of four since the start of 2019 after a six-fight stretch across 2017-18 in which he lost five times.

"It's day and night," he said. "I went through hell and came back. Everyone's got their issues they deal with. That was mine. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting my athleticism back."

Anik concurred.

"Your future is in the hall of fame," he said. "But your present is pretty damn good too."

Loser: Between-Rounds Pep Talks

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When the gas tank runs dry, the engine stops.

That was apparently the case in the preliminary opener for ex-collegiate wrestling standout Max Rohskopf, who was in the control for the better part of two rounds before quitting on his stool against persistent lightweight prospect Austin Hubbard.

Rohskopf, a product of North Carolina State, took matters to the floor early in the first round and fared well. Then he got another takedown to start the second.

Hubbard rose quickly and was able to take over offensively, however, and began busting up his opponent's face while apparently chipping away at his mettle as well.

Rohskopf made it back to his corner and told his team that he was finished, repeating "call it" several times, but no one was willing to throw in the towel to indicate surrender. Instead, trainer Robert Drysdale kept urging him to go out for the final round, insisting he was a "champion" and suggesting he use his wrestling to regain control.

Only when an official came toward the corner and saw Rohskopf's lack of interest in continuing was the fight stopped.

Hubbard, needless to say, was pleasantly surprised.

"I seen him shaking his head, and I heard the ref saying, 'It's over,' and I was like, 'What? Really?' he said. "I've never experienced that. I'm not complaining. I got the finish, so I'll take it."

He continued: "Once I was popping up right away off those takedowns and he couldn't control me at all. ... I defended them and got out pretty quick and got back up, and I think it scared him. I think he realized he was in over his head a little bit, and I think also that he knew he had nothing for me on the feet and I had a lot for him."