UFC 133 Results: The Real Winners and Losers

That was one entertaining card.  Filled with five finishes and plenty of exciting and evenly matched fights, UFC 133 was an unbridled success in the cage, even if injuries and such took some of the luster off the rose coming in.

With so much drama, there were winners and losers beyond the record sheet. Here’s a look.

Winner: Rafael Natal

Rafael “Not The Tennis Player” Natal likely saved his UFC career by defeating heavily favored Paul Bradley to move his UFC record to 1-1-1.

Loser: Chad Mendes

A win is a win is a win, and Money is now a sparkling 11-0 after controlling jiu-jitsu ace Rani Yahya for three rounds. At the same time, Mendes probably could (or should) have finished Yahya, but was unable to pull the trigger. A hand injury suffered during the match also didn’t help Mendes’ prospects for seeing a featherweight title shot any time soon

Winner: Alexander Gustafsson

The Mauler handled a tough customer in Matt Hamill, and did so in convincing fashion. The 24-year-old established himself as one of the fastest risers in the light heavyweight division.

Winner: Rory MacDonald

By kicking veteran Mike Pyle around the cage like a soccer ball, MacDonald put on the best performance of his career, avoided a letdown and showed he’s ready for a big bump up in competition.

Winner: Kevin Mulhall

Compliments to Mulhall for his absolutely perfect stop in the Brian Ebersole-Dennis Hallman fight. The two were a tangle of ground-and-pound when an elbow made Hallman go limp. Mulhall immediately spotted the change in Pyle and hurled himself between the two fighters, keeping the collateral damage to an absolute minimum.

Loser: Dennis Hallman

If you’re gonna rock some electric blue bikini briefs in the Octagon, you better darn sure win.

Unfortunately, Hallman, uh, did not. He was pounded out by fellow welterweight comedian Brian Ebersole in the first round.

Winner: Brian Ebersole

Now I know why he shaves the up-facing “hairrow” in his chest. It’s a metaphor for the direction of his career.

The strange but affable Ebersole is now 2-0 in the UFC after fighting approximately 752 times in other promotions. 

The icing on the cake here is the "getting those horrifying shorts off TV as soon as possible" bonus he received from Dana White.

The double icing was Ebersole’s pitch to Joe Rogan after the fight to appear this fall on “Fear Factor,” which Rogan hosts. Make it happen, Joe.

Loser: Yoshihiro Akiyama

My guess is he probably won’t be cut, but he has now lost three of his four fights in the Octagon. The Japanese megastar will have a long leash, but it may be time for him to cool off in the shallower end of the middleweight talent pool.

Winner: Rashad Evans

Evans left little doubt over his worthiness for the light heavyweight title shot. He looked more built than ever before, and aggressively sought (and achieved) the finish on a resurgent Tito Ortiz.

Winner: Tito Ortiz

Tito fought valiantly but in the end was simply outclassed by a better, younger fighter.

After the loss, Ortiz was noticeably magnanimous toward Evans in his postfight comments. Ortiz has won plenty of fans over the past six weeks and has clearly resurrected what at the beginning of the summer was a moribund career.

He'll finish that vacation now but will probably be back in the Octagon sooner rather than later.