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Given that it came on the same night as Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz, the UFC’s Fight Night event in Nashville this weekend was always going to struggle for attention.
In the end, UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Rob Font was a passable event. But, it’s likely to fade in the memory as the summer continues on in the world of MMA.
Still, with a couple of high-level contenders competing, a handful of fighters definitely won big last night and will climb the ladder because of it.
With that in mind, here are the five biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Rob Font.
#5 Cory Sandhagen – defeated Rob Font in a UFC catchweight bout
Usually, the winner of the headline bout at a UFC event, even a lesser one like this, would land somewhere near the top of a list like this.
Unfortunately, while Cory Sandhagen was clearly a big winner last night, it’d be hard to consider his performance truly impressive.
Sure, he clearly defeated Rob Font over five rounds, but surprisingly, he used a wrestling-heavy gameplan to do so. This didn’t endear him to the fans, who clearly hoped to see his flashy striking, and so his win won’t give him too much momentum.
‘The Sandman’ should probably be given a pass of sorts for his showing. After all, he was initially prepping for the grappling-based Umar Nurmagomedov, meaning he may have trained his wrestling more heavily than he would usually have done. What’s more, it’s hard to fault him for capitalising on a big hole in Font’s game.
Still, it’s hard to find too many positives when your fight gets widely booed by the crowd. Overall, then, Sandhagen is probably closer to a bantamweight title shot than he was before last night, but he’s also put himself in a position to be leapfrogged, too.
#4 Carlston Harris – defeated Jeremiah Wells in a UFC welterweight bout
The biggest winner on last night’s preliminary card was undoubtedly welterweight Carlston Harris. Coming in as a major underdog against Jeremiah Wells, he ended up producing one of the best comebacks of 2023, winning himself a $50k bonus in the process.
Given that Wells was unbeaten in the UFC prior to this, going 4-0, it was easy to see why he was the favourite.
Sure enough, he took the fight to Harris throughout the first two rounds, dominating him with relative ease on the ground even though he didn’t quite come close to a finish.
Despite this, it seemed like only a matter of time before he had his hand raised. Remarkably, though, Harris had other ideas.
When Wells shot in for a sloppy takedown in the third, the native of Guyana countered by catching his neck, and from there, he quickly rolled into an anaconda choke.
Moments later, to the shock of everyone watching, Wells was unconscious – giving Harris his fourth octagon win in five bouts.
Sure, Wells may still go onto the brighter future in the UFC, but it’s perhaps fair to suggest that people underrated Harris based on his loss to the brilliant Shavkat Rakhmonov. It could be that he’s a man to watch going forward, too.
#3 Diego Lopes – defeated Gavin Tucker in a UFC featherweight bout
The fighter who was most difficult to judge coming into last night’s event was definitely Diego Lopes.
The Brazilian had debuted back in May on late notice and gave top-ten ranked featherweight Movsar Evloev a tough test, but given a largely so-so record, few figured he could become a contender in his own right.
Last night, though, Lopes needed just over 90 seconds to dispatch Gavin Tucker, becoming the first man to submit him in the process. After this showing, it’s hard to dispute the idea that he belongs in the UFC.
It wasn’t even like Tucker made a silly mistake to lead to his loss. He simply shot in for a takedown, only for Lopes to suddenly jump into a flying triangle attempt.
From there, before the Canadian could even attempt to escape, he switched to a triangle armbar, and after tightening the hold, forced Tucker to tap out.
Where Lopes goes from here is a fair question to ask, but given the ease with which he won here, it’s conceivable that he could face another ranked opponent in his next fight. That makes him one of the bigger winners last night.
#2 Dustin Jacoby – defeated Kennedy Nzechukwu in a UFC light-heavyweight bout
The light-heavyweight bout between heavy-handed Kennedy Nzechukwu and former professional kickboxer Dustin Jacoby was always likely to take place on the feet. Sure enough, for as long as it lasted, it delivered a slugfest.
In the end, though, despite coming off two straight losses, it was Jacoby who produced the goods, probably saving his UFC career in the process.
Essentially, he was simply too sharp for the cruder Nzechukwu, despite ‘The African Savage’ being on a three-fight win streak. In the end, he caught the Nigerian coming in with a clean right-hand counter that put him down, and knocked him silly with a series of hammer fists.
The win won’t move Jacoby into contention at 205lbs, but it will ensure that he remains part of the roster. More to the point, it showed that against the right opponent, he’ still very much a major threat, making him a huge winner last night.
#1 Tatiana Suarez – defeated Jessica Andrade in a UFC strawweight bout
The biggest winner last night, and undoubtedly the fighter who took the biggest step towards a UFC title shot was Tatiana Suarez.
The TUF 23 winner completely dominated former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade, submitting her in the second round after a comfortable first round saw her largely stifle the Brazilian.
Suarez looked improved on the feet throughout the bout. However, it was her stellar grappling that once again won her the day, as she snatched up a guillotine choke during a scramble just 50 seconds into the second, forcing her to tap seconds later.
Suarez remains unbeaten in the octagon at 7-0, and to tell the truth, she’d be a more interesting opponent for current strawweight titleholder Weili Zhang than Amanda Lemos, who faces ‘Magnum’ in two weeks, would.
Hopefully then, she can be set up with a title shot in her next fight against whoever wins that bout. Based on last night, she’s almost certainly a future champion in the making.
