UFC 131 Results: Questions Answered and Lessons Learned

The smoke has cleared, the dust has settled, and UFC 131 is finally part of MMA history.

In the night's main event, Junior Dos Santos used faster and technically superior striking to bloody, out-point, and nearly finish an overmatched Shane Carwin en route to a unanimous decision victory.

In the co-main event of the evening, Kenny Florian managed to out-strike and out-grapple his Brazilian adversary Diego Nunes and in doing so earned a unanimous decision victory.

Mark Munoz, Dave Herman, Donald Cerrone, Chris Weidman, Sam Stout, Krzysztof Soszynski, Nick Ring, Dustin Poirier, Joey Beltran, and Darren Elkins were all successful in their Octagon endeavours as well.

What are the most important consequences of the event? What lessons did MMA learn and what questions were answered? Read and find out!

Joey Beltran Is Growing as a Fighter and Is Not Just a Brawler

Old School Beltran.

Heavyweight Joey Beltran was considered a mere brawler heading into UFC 131. While he did employ a "rock 'em sock 'em robot" style at times during his fight with Aaron Rosa, he also showed that he could be much more technical and diversify his arsenal.

Will he be fighting the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez anytime soon? Probably not but when a fighter has as much heart as Beltran and is improving a game, he can never be counted out.

Chris Weidman Is the Future at Middleweight

Chris Weidman smothered his opponent Jesse Bongfeldt in the opening four minutes of the fight and submitted him with a guillotine choke (that looked like it was going to live up to its namesake and decapitate Bongfeldt) with only six seconds remaining in the round.

With Weidman's superior grappling ability and burgeoning striking (which will only improve over time due to famed striking coach Ray Longo's influence), the Long Island native will no doubt be the most feared fighter at middleweight in the near future.

Boxing Isn't Dead.

Junior Dos Santos managed to the jab—a boxing fundamental—to keep Shane Carwin at bay despite his numerous takedown attempts.

Dos Santos has the crispest and most technical boxing in the division and it has stymied and finished all of his opponents in the UFC with the exceptions being Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson.

Boxing as a major sport may be in its death throes, but as a fighting art it may be experiencing a rebirth because of Dos Santos.

Never Leave It in the Hands of the Judges

This line has become a mantra in mixed martial arts but it has become so because its so true. Michihiro Omigawa battered and bloodied his opponent Darren Elkins but was somehow on the wrong end of a unanimous decision.

Thankfully, Bleacher Report contributor Jeffrey McKinney has covered this topic in detail which means the topic need not be touched on further here suffice to say that the decision was wrong and it serves as another example for fighters to finish fights...or else!

Kenny Florian Is Good—but Not Great—at Featherweight

While Kenny Florian managed to thoroughly bruise and bloody Diego Nunes, he was lacking the brilliance he demonstrated in earlier performances in his career.

While this may be due to the weight cut, it is still a concerning issue; If Florian had faced current UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo in that condition, the Massachusetts native would have been soundly beaten.

Nevertheless, featherweight is still probably Florian's best bet as far as weight classes go.

Is the "Greg Jackson Effect" Real?

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 01: Mixed martial arts trainer Greg Jackson arrives at the third annual Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards 2010 at the Palms Casino Resort December 1, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Many criticized the Greg Jackson trained Clay Guida for "fighting not to lose" against Anthony Pettis at last weekend's The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.

At UFC 131, another Greg Jackson fighter—Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone—blatantly admitted to using this tactic against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu standout Vagner Rocha.

Is this coach/training camp really making fighters boring? The answer to this question remains to be seen but it is worth noting that Jackson was pushing for Cerrone to finish in between rounds; He wasn't telling him to coast for the decision.

Wreslting Makes or Breaks a Fighter

When Mark Munoz was on the ground against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Demian Maia, he was able to use his superior wrestling base to stay out of trouble. He was also able to use his wrestling to avoid Maia's takedowns, for the most part preventing Maia from bringing the fight to his strongest area.

Maia's lack of wrestling ability relative to Munoz made Maia unable to impose his will on Munoz; He was unable to determine where the fight took place and he was therefore "broken" by wrestling in the sense that he didn't have enough and his opponent had too much.

On the other side of the coin, there is Junior Dos Santos.

Dos Santos fought Shane Carwin, a man with an NCAA Division-II wrestling background. Dos Santos managed to stuff most of Carwin's takedowns and even land a couple of his own; wrestling made Junior Dos Santos.

Junior Dos Santos May Be the Next UFC Heavyweight Champion

Junior Dos Santos managed to avoid the power of Shane Carwin and in doing so earned a victory and a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Dos Santos demonstrated vicious, accurate striking as well as a good sprawl in his fight against Carwin. Such attributes may give him the ability to best Velasquez and bring yet another title to the famed Blackhouse stable of fighters.