UFC 135 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Jones vs. Rampage

Another amazing night of fights from the UFC was capped off tonight when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was a winner again by successfully defending his UFC light heavyweight title against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Denver at UFC 135.

Jones continued his unbelievable streak of dominant performances in the Octagon tonight when he submitted Rampage in the fourth round. But, he and Rampage were only two of the fighters from tonight’s card. The official winners and losers will go down in the record books, but there was more that went into tonight’s event than that.

Like most MMA events, tonight proved again that you don’t necessarily have to have been involved in the fight card to have been affected by its outcome. The real winners and losers often don’t show up in the records books.

So with that said, let’s take a closer look at UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage as we examine who the real winners and losers really were. 

Winner: Tim Boetsch

Tim Boetsch dominated in his fight tonight, winning a one-sided unanimous decision over his opponent Nick Ring.

A crazy Judo throw from Boetsch in the third round put him in side control where he landed some big elbows and punches before the final horn finally sounded, likely saving Ring from what could’ve been a TKO loss.

Loser: Aaron Riley

Veteran fighter Aaron Riley lost the Spike TV prelim main event tonight when his corner had to step in to stop his fight with Tony Ferguson between rounds.

Riley had been pushing the pace early in the fight, landing more strikes and controlling the bout, but it only took one big left uppercut from Ferguson to completely change the momentum of the fight.

Riley suffered what appeared to be another broken jaw, likely from the uppercut and subsequent punches to the jaw. This loss was an unfortunate one for him, but what’s worse is that he’ll be feeling the effects of it for a long time.

Winner: Tony Ferguson

The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner Tony Ferguson improved his official UFC record to 2-0 tonight with his victory over Aaron Riley.

Ferguson was getting out-struck and out-paced by his older opponent early in the fight, but proved that he can switch the outcome of any fight with his deceptively powerful striking. He doesn’t really look like he’d possess great power, but that has also led his opponents to leave themselves open to taking the shots.

Ferguson still has some room to get better, but he has looked very good so far in his UFC career.

Winner: Nate Diaz

One of tonight’s biggest winners was certainly Nate Diaz, who got back into the win column after dropping his past two fights to Rory McDonald and Dong Hyun Kim.

Diaz knocked Takanori Gomi down early with a straight left hand. That punch seemed pivotal because afterward he appeared extremely confident in his hands, even against an incredibly dangerous striker like Gomi.

The Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu fighter repeatedly dropped his hands, confidently telling Gomi to try to hit him between picking his opponent apart with jabs. Diaz was absolutely destroying Gomi on the feet until Gomi dropped and went for a takedown, but Diaz took his back and landed some shots before they got back to their feet.

Finally, Diaz seemed to pull Gomi in where he wanted him and began working off of his back. He quickly achieved a triangle that he transitioned to an arm bar and finished the fight. 

Loser: Takanori Gomi

“The Fireball Kid” was competing in his fourth UFC fight tonight, but took what was perhaps the most dominating loss of his career at the hands of Nate Diaz.

Takanori Gomi was once considered one of, if not the best lightweight fighter in the world, but has struggled heavily to gain momentum in the UFC. His record in the Octagon has now fallen to 1-3 and it won’t be long before the critics begin to question whether he was ever really as good as advertised or if he was just the big fish in a small pond.

Winner: Josh Koscheck

Former UFC welterweight No. 1 contender, Josh Koscheck, finally got back in the cage after 9 months out after having his orbital bone broken by Georges St-Pierre this past December.

Koscheck struggled early in the bout despite it being widely believed that he would completely smash Hughes in the standup game. Perhaps he even underestimated the UFC Hall of Famer.

But after taking some damage, Koscheck battled through and landed some huge right-hand punches, both haymakers and uppercuts before finishing Hughes with some punishing ground-and-pound at 4:59 in the first round.

Loser: Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes explained that he wouldn’t be retiring, but would simply be asking the UFC to, “put him on the shelf” after his UFC 135 loss to Josh Koscheck.

The Hall of Famer had the crowd firmly in his corner against a younger opponent as the fans chanted, “Koscheck sucks” early in the first round. Hughes seemed to play off of this support as he surprised just about everyone, Koscheck included, with his boxing.

Hughes brought in BJ Penn to work with him on his standup game and it paid off with his offensive skills as he used his left-jab to pick apart Koscheck early, similar to how GSP did it in Koscheck’s most recent fight. But eventually, Koscheck found a hole in Hughes’ striking and began landing some huge right hands that finally rocked Hughes and ended the fight.

We’ll see what happens in the future, but Josh Koscheck may have sent Matt Hughes into retirement.

If that is the case, it was an amazing and memorable career by one of the greatest fighters of all-time.

Winner: Jon Jones

Another amazing performance from the UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, who capped off an excellent night of fights that fans will not soon forget.

Jones defended his title for the very first time tonight after defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to win it back at UFC 129 earlier this year. Jones used amazing technique and innovative striking to pick apart Jackson, then finally submitted his foe with a beautiful rear-naked choke. 

The victory brought Jones’ UFC record to an impressive 8-1, with his only loss coming by way of disqualification due to illegal elbows in a fight he was dominating anyway. The win also brought Jones’ 2011 record to 3-0, with all three victories coming against consensus top-10 opponents in Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua and now Rampage Jackson.

The sky is the limit for this impressive young fighter. He may just be the next superstar in the sport. 

Loser: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

“Rampage” Jackson came into tonight’s fight with all of the confidence in the world, looking to win back “his” UFC light heavyweight championship. But after fighting Jon Jones, Jackson has to be astonished at how much the division has transformed in just a few years since he held the title.

Jackson had moments in the fight where he was doing well and even landed a few punches, but it was Jones' versatility that was just too much for Rampage. 

Jackson became another victim of the 24-year old champion, but still has to be considered one of the top light heavyweights in the world. It’s just tough to say that he’s still elite because the difference between Jones and everyone else at 205 is just ridiculous.

Winner: Rashad Evans

He really couldn’t lose tonight, but Rashad Evans came out a winner because he is the next in line for a shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship.

A Jackson win would have been fine given the bad blood between the two fighters, but Evans’ feud with Jon Jones is something that we haven’t seen before and it will be great to see them finally get into the cage and battle out their differences.

Evans is being overlooked by many fans, but the truth is that this guy has only lost one fight and is perhaps the most likely candidate to defeat Jon Jones. His history of training with the young champion is something that none of Jones’ previous opponents have had and it could prove to be the difference in the fight.

Loser: Lyoto Machida

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida lost a razor-thin split decision to Rampage Jackson at UFC 123 in what would have likely been a fight that got him back into immediate title contention. The fight was so close, in fact, that Jackson himself even admitted that he thought Machida should have won.

The loss hurt Machida’s positioning in the division, but a huge victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129 propelled him right back up the ladder.

His victory over the UFC hall-of-famer could have gotten him back in the title picture for a rematch with Jackson if Jackson had won tonight, but since he didn’t, Machida is likely still a fight away from real consideration.

Loser: The Entire Light Heavyweight Division

Yes, Rashad Evans was listed as a “winner” in this same article, but a case could also be made that he—and the entire UFC light heavyweight division—were losers tonight. 

Jon Jones’ dominance is just absolutely terrifying. He’s barely even taking any damage in his fights and he is completely manhandling, out-striking, out-wrestling and out-focusing every one of his opponents.

Good luck, fellow light heavyweights! 

Loser: Nostalgic PRIDE Fans

It’s hard to continue to see the downfall of the former Pride roster, but tonight’s losses from Takanori Gomi and Rampage Jackson combined with a disappointing performance from Mark Hunt just add to the perception that Pride never really was as good as they said it was.

Of course, we’re almost a half-decade past the point that Pride collapsed and it’s getting to be almost a full decade since some of these guys were actually in their primes, but the memories of the glory days are now beginning to become very distant.

Winner: UFC Fans

It seems like we’ve been saying this after every event this year, but the UFC just keeps getting better with each spectacular fight card that they put on.

Tonight fans were treated to another great even that was highlighted by an incredible main event for the UFC light heavyweight championship between Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The fight lived up to all of the hype and a new star was born.