UFC 131 Results: The Real Winners and Losers

UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin is in the books and the results are in!

In a fight card which featured some absolutely excellent and entertaining undercard fights, it was the main pay-per-view which was highlighted by the heavyweight contenders bout between Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin.

Though dos Santos ended up winning the fight by decision, the simple outcome of a fight doesn’t always tell the full story. In this case, it certainly didn’t.

So let’s take a closer look at who the real winners and losers were from Saturday night’s pay-per-view.

Winner: Joey Beltran

After losing a disappointing and discouraging bout to Pat Barry at UFC: Fight for the Troops earlier this year, Joey Beltran got back in the win column with an exciting victory over Aaron Rosa.

The “Mexicutioner” is the kind of fighter who will deliver a slugfest in every fight. He may not be a household name yet, but he is quickly becoming the Chris Leben of the heavyweight division.

Winner: Aaron Rosa

Though he lost his UFC debut, Aaron Rosa’s performance against Joey Beltran was simply awesome to watch.

It wasn’t technical, it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t something that you’d show to someone who’s wanting to learn about the sport—but it was the kind of fight that would entertain just about anyone.

Rosa is a “winner” tonight not because of the result of his fight, but because of the entertainment value he provided. Dana White and the UFC will certainly look to bring him back in the future.

Loser: Krzysztof Soszynski

Krzysztof Soszynski defeated Mike Massenzio tonight by unanimous decision, but the lack of finish was both disappointing to the fans and Soszynski himself.

“I wish I would have finished,” Soszynski said. “I wasn’t prepared for a wrestler. All of a sudden, I get a call, and I’m fighting a wrestler.”

His opponent, Massenzio, was a late injury replacement, but is not normally a 205-pound fighter. He usually fights at 185 pounds and needed to bulk up very quickly to even make it to the 201 pounds he weighed in at on Friday. But regardless of that advantage, Soszynski was unable to finish and still needs to keep working his way up in the division.

Winner: Sam Stout

Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout was definitely one of the biggest winners of the night with his violent knockout of Yves Edwards.

The knockout came just 3:52 into the first round and was his first since September 2007, despite the fact that he is known as one of the biggest punchers in the lightweight division.

Stout still has some work to do to become a top contender, but Stout’s impressive victory is a great step in the right direction for his career. He has been fighting since 2003 so most of us don’t consider him a young fighter, but at only 27 years old, he still has a long career in front of him.

Loser: Yves Edwards

Yves Edwards has been fighting for nearly 14 years and has not competed in 58 professional fights, but never has he had as tough of a night as he did tonight at UFC 131.

Things were looking pretty even in the first round of his fight with Sam Stout, but with one swift left hook it was all over for the Bahamas native. Stout crushed him with the punch that sent Edwards to the canvas where his head bounced like a basketball.

It was one of the scariest knockouts we have seen in recent memory as Edwards’ eyes rolled back and his body completely stiffened for a lot longer than would seem at all healthy. A long medical suspension is likely in order after this knockout, which will certainly not make Edwards very happy.

Winner: Michihiro Omigawa

he poor judges’ decisions continue to mount and this time it came when Michihiro Omigawa somehow lost his bout with Darren Elkins in a fight just about everyone agreed he won.

Omigawa used a very unique style of switching up his stances while moving forward at a feverish pace and bouncing around while keeping his head moving. The style seemed to be working very well as he landed more shots, bigger shots, and opened up a ridiculously awful-looking cut on Elkins’ head in the third round.

Still, somehow Omigawa came out on the short end of the stick that saw him lose 29-28, 29-28 and even 30-27 on one judge’s scorecard.

The decision was so bad that even UFC President Dana White had something to say about it on Twitter: “WOW!!!! The judges rob another fighter!!! Omigawa won that fight!!!”

Loser: Darren Elkins

Yes, he technically won the fight.

Yes, he’ll be getting a win bonus.

But no, he did not really win. Just look at his face. Then look at Omigawa. Who won? This was the kind of fight that should be shown in a “how not to judge an MMA fight” instructional video.

Elkins will be back, but this was not (really) his night.

Winner: Donald Cerrone

For a guy who had never won a fight by knockout, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone sure seemed to enjoy keeping his fight against Vagner Rocha on the feet. Of course, his Muay Thai kickboxing background probably helped with that.

While he didn’t finish the fight and admitted that he was more fighting “not to lose” than he was to win in his post-fight interview, Cerrone continued an impressive four-fight win streak which has included two Fight of the Night bonuses.

Loser: Vagner Rocha

With a 6-1 record coming into this bout, Vagner Rocha was making his UFC debut in a fight where he was a definite underdog. While Rocha possesses some of the best submission skills in the lightweight division, even from his back, he was unable to bring the fight to the ground where he would have an advantage.

Instead, Rocha took what seemed like hundreds of leg kicks throughout this fight and looked almost pathetic at times as he tried to bait Cerrone into going to the ground with him. He went for numerous takedowns, but Cerrone’s sprawl looked very impressive in this fight.

Winners: Dave Herman and John Olav Einemo

There could only be one official “winner” in this heavyweight brawl, but everyone involved was a winner when it comes to entertaining the fans.

In a fight which won Fight of the Night, both Dave Herman and John Olav Einemo landed huge shot after huge shot in the standup games. Knees, kicks and haymakers were on display in this memorable war.

Just when it looked like Einemo was going to close things out in the second round, Herman landed a big shot which knocked him to the ground. From there, he landed a series of big shots before the referee stepped in and stopped the contest.

It will be interesting to see if Einemo continues fighting in MMA as this was his first fight in nearly five years. But if this is what he goes out on, it will have been a great one.

Loser: Demian Maia

The ongoing battle between jiu-jitsu and wrestling continued at UFC 131 as Demian Maia, known as the man who may have the best jiu-jitsu skills in the sport today, lost a unanimous decision to Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz.

Maia is a former No. 1 contender in the UFC middleweight division but has now dropped three straight fights to top contenders, including the champion himself, Anderson Silva.

Even though he displayed improved striking tonight, it appears that Maia’s style may have been figured out by his opponents. He appeared close to locking in some submissions tonight, but Munoz seemed ready for them and slipped right out.

Maia has not finished an opponent in nearly 28 months and needed this win to get back into realistic title contention.

Winner: Mark Munoz

While his opponent’s title hopes may have been dashed, Mark Munoz took a big step forward in his own title aspirations by defeating Demian Maia.

He didn’t finish Maia, but the judges’ decisions were fairly easy as all three scored the fight soundly for Munoz in his 13th professional MMA contest. It was his third win in a row and easily the biggest of his young career.

The former NCAA Division I National Champion is proving that wrestling is still king in MMA.

Loser: Diego Nunes

It was a tough night for Diego Nunes tonight who was hoping to assert himself as one of the top competitors in the UFC featherweight division.

At 16-1 coming into the fight, Nunes had defeated former WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown in his UFC debut and was working toward a potential fight with his friend and training partner, Jose Aldo. While many fighters have said that they won’t fight their friends, Nunes and Aldo made it clear that they understood that, in order to advance their careers, they may have to fight.

Unfortunately, that discussion will have to hold off for awhile as Nunes lost a unanimous decision to Kenny Florian at UFC 131.  

Winner: Kenny Florian

Could we have gotten a glimpse at the future UFC featherweight champion tonight in Kenny Florian’s debut in the division? After a solid performance against Diego Nunes, that assessment may be right.

Florian said he started his weight cut at “over 180 pounds,” which means a ridiculous 35-pound weight cut to get down to the 145 pound limit. He told Joe Rogan that it was the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. But it was worth it tonight.

Florian hasn’t yet held a UFC title, but many believe that fighting at featherweight is the best chance he has. It will be interesting to see what the UFC gives him next. Does he have one more “prove it” fight, or is it already time for the Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian featherweight title fight?

Winner: Shane Carwin

Both Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin said that their fight would end in a knockout, but that’s not quite what we saw. There was still an explosive amount of striking, but most of it came in the first round when dos Santos punished Carwin’s face into something that could have been a Halloween mask.

Somehow though, Carwin made it out of the round and came back much stronger in the second. This was the big “win” he took from UFC 131.

No, he didn’t win the fight and he didn’t really ever have dos Santos in trouble, but the fact that Carwin made it to a decision for the first time in his career and didn’t look completely gassed at the end of it like he did in his loss to Brock Lesnar was at least a moral victory.

“The Engineer” will be back.

Loser: Brock Lesnar

If Brock Lesnar was watching this fight at home, it was probably tough to see two of his peers slugging it out for a shot at the title that he held at this time last year.

Lesnar was originally scheduled as dos Santos’ opponent in the main event but was forced out of the bout due to a flare up in his diverticulitis. There is still no set timetable for his return and some even believe that this may be the end of his career.

Whether it’s the fight itself or the money he would have received, Lesnar has to be considered one of the “losers” of this event. There’s nothing he can do about it, but that’s just how the cards fall sometimes.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos

What a performance by a man who may be the future of the UFC heavyweight division. Junior dos Santos did exactly what his fans said he would do by using his tremendous boxing skills to pick apart the heavy-handed slugger, Shane Carwin.

He completely smashed Carwin, particularly in the first round, where he opened numerous terrible-looking cuts on his opponent’s face. Dos Santos nearly finished the fight as time was running out in the first, but thought better of “punching himself out” and decided to conserve his energy so that he could dominate the second and third rounds as well.

Dos Santos was a unanimous decision victor in this one by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 on the judges’ scorecards. He will now move on to face...

Loser: Cain Velasquez

How could a UFC champion who wasn’t even fighting on this card be considered a “loser” at UFC 131?

It’s simple. Just look at what Junior dos Santos did to Shane Carwin. Who, exactly, wants to fight this guy right now? “Cigano” is simply on a war path and looks like he may possess the best standup skills in the heavyweight division today.

In the end, this big-money fight between Velasquez and dos Santos will be beneficial to Cain’s wallet, but he has to be a bit concerned about how easily dos Santos dismantled one of the division’s top five fighters.

Winners: True UFC Fans

Those who ordered and tuned in to both the preliminary fights and main card tonight were treated to what may go down as the best UFC event of the year.

No, it didn’t have the big names on it. There was no Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn or Jon Jones, but the unbelievable performance put on by the guys on this card cannot go without praise.

Thank you Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin, for breaking the mold of the boring heavyweight fights we have seen in so many other UFC main events.

Losers: Those Who Didn’t Order the Event

There were quite a few ticked off fans after the UFC 130 event which featured Matt Hamill losing a unanimous decision to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. But there can be no complaining tonight after an awesome display of mixed martial arts, but also some exciting, flat-out brawls.

If you were one of the critics who didn’t order this event, do yourself a favor and order the replay. It was fight after fight of huge punches and memorable moments that we will be talking about for months and even years to come.

As the old saying goes, “styles make fights.” And the styles made for some unbelievable fights tonight.

Bravo, UFC. Bravo.

Check Bleacher Report for all things UFC 131, including the latest UFC 131 results, fight card analysis, UFC 131 news and live reaction from Vancouver.