UFC 137 Results: 10 Biggest Headlines Coming out of Vegas

UFC 137 looked to be a lackluster card on paper, but it produced some very interesting headlines.

We saw some decisive decision victories, a questionable 10-8 round, a lightweight cementing his place and an explosive finish by a man named "Bart."

The storylines coming out of UFC 137 go much further than the final decision.

10. Hatsu Hioki Just Gets By

Hatsu Hioki arrived in the UFC to much fanfare by the Internet community. He came in as some secret weapon developed in Japan that would be Jose Aldo's kryptonite.

If anyone still thinks Hioki offers anything to Aldo–they're out of their minds. Hioki barely managed to get past George Roop.

As of now, Hioki can add his name to the Japanese fighters to come over and look very modest in America.

9. Scott Jorgensen Remains a Title Threat

Scott Jorgensen solidified his position as a top 10 bantamweight fighter. Jeff Curran is a very game fighter and Jorgensen should feel satisfied with his win.

It's not the performance we are used to seeing from Jorgensen, but a win is a win. Jorgensen will need to step up his level of competition if he wants another crack at Dominick Cruz.

8. Tyson Griffin's Epic Failure of a Weekend

Tyson Griffin had a hell of a weekend.

On Friday, he failed to make weight and thus lost 25 percent of his fight purse.

On Saturday, he fell victim to a one-sided beat down that ended with his body sprawled against the cage.

Griffin was looking to pick up his second win in a row and build some momentum at 145lbs, but all that hope went out the window within one round.

7. The "Old Brandon Vera" Was Back

Brandon Vera came into UFC 137 promising to show fans "the old Brandon Vera." Maybe he never left?

We didn't see anything new from Vera and he was lucky to escape with a decision victory. Elliot Marshall had a 10-8 round as he nearly finished Vera with strikes and came dangerously close to breaking Vera's arm.

Vera once was the "Jon Jones" of his time, but now it looks more and more like Vera is nothing more than a gatekeeper at best.

6. Bart Palaszewski Makes a Splash and Extra Cash

Bart Palaszewski made his UFC debut in impressive fashion. He became only the second man ever to finish Tyson Griffin and win the Knockout of the Night bonus.

Griffin not only came in overweight but looked out-matched once the fight started. Palaszewski needs to use the momentum he has from this win and look to fight a bigger name at 145.

He's one of the more experienced fighters at 145 and could make some noise in 2012.

5. Roy Nelson Gets the Moon off Him

There were two stories coming out of the Roy Nelson-Cro Cop bout. One was that we more than likely saw the end of Cro Cop fighting in the UFC and the other was Roy Nelson's physique.

Fans have been speculating for months about the kind of shape Nelson would come in for UFC 137. He's nowhere near a six pack but he definitely looked the best we've ever seen him.

It's good to see Nelson realizing a change needed to be made and acting on it.

Hopefully he can continue this transformation with his next bout as well. But Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are approaching, so let's not hold our breath.

4. Donald Cerrone Cowboys Up

There were a lot of fans that were wondering if Cerrone had reached his full potential in the WEC.

Cerrone put his doubters to rest with his performance at UFC 137. Cerrone rocked Dennis Siver multiple times and finished him with a rear naked choke in the first round.

He's a fan favorite and has one of the most aggressive and exciting styles in the lightweight division. Cerrone is going to need to face some higher level competition before talking about a title shot but this performance certainly catapults him into the upper echelon of the UFC lightweights.

3. Matt Mitrione Fails His Test

Matt Mitrione believed Cheick Kongo was going to be a test of his abilities and would tell him where he belongs in the UFC heavyweight division.

Mitrione failed his test on Saturday night. He was unable to get any offense going against Kongo which was due in part because Kongo refused to engage until the final round.

Once the action picked up, Mitrione found himself on the receiving end of some vicious ground and pound from "The African Assassin."

Mitrione knows what he needs to work on for his next bout and fans were left feeling cheated by this fight. Luckily the main event more than delivered.

2. The Nick Diaz Show

Nick Diaz put on a show in more ways than one Saturday night.

Diaz soundly defeated BJ Penn in the Octagon and then had one of the most interesting press conferences we've seen.

He effectively removed Carlos Condit from the title picture and inserted himself for a Super Bowl weekend title match. The UFC now has a more marketable fight between Georges St-Pierre and Diaz and fans get to hear Diaz sound off on the French-Canadian for months to come.

It's hard to imagine GSP "angry," but if that means we won't have to suffer through another 25 minutes of stalling then let's hope Diaz keeps up the trash talk.

1. BJ Penn Retires

Perhaps even bigger than Nick Diaz running the show was the announcement from BJ Penn after the fight.

Looking into Penn's eyes you could see the "Hawaiian warrior spirit" just wasn't there. He was beaten and broken.

It's commendable that Penn is able to walk away from the sport for the right reasons instead of fighting for the wrong ones.

Penn will go down in history as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history.

Some fans will look at his overall record as a means to discredit his legacy, but Penn is a legend in the sport. His reign at lightweight was unbelievable in so many ways.