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Last night’s UFC Fight Night event was largely flying under the radar, primarily because there’s a huge pay-per-view coming up next weekend. However, it still produced plenty of solid action.
Most notably, some of the winners at last night’s UFC Fight Night event will hope to move into title contention in the near future, making them important to keep a very close eye on.
With excellent finishes and a longtime promotional record being broken, last night’s show was definitely worth watching. Here are the five biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Lemos.
#5. Polyana Viana knocks out Jinh Yu Frey in the UFC prelims
With just two of the 11 fights last night going the distance, the UFC had no shortage of fighters to pick from when it came to handing out their customary $50k bonus. However, one shoo-in was definitely strawweight contender Polyana Viana.
The Brazilian turned the lights out on Jinh Yu Frey in just 47 seconds, sparking her out with a brutal combination that gave her the quickest finish on the card by a long way.
Will the win be enough to move Viana into contention for the strawweight title? To be frank, it’s unlikely, given that prior to this victory, her overall octagon record stood at 3-4. More to the point, Frey wasn’t on the best run either, coming off a loss and going 1-3 prior to this clash. As a non-ranked fighter, Viana’s best bet right now would be to take as many fights as possible to make the most money she can.
#4. Tagir Ulanbekov defeats Nate Maness in a UFC flyweight bout
Prior to his loss against veteran Tim Elliott earlier in the year, Tagir Ulanbekov was arguably the flyweight division’s hottest prospect, thanks to two wins since joining the UFC. He is also a protégé of the former UFC lightweight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The loss to Elliott took a lot of bloom off his rose, with Khabib apparently criticizing him for his lack of aggression in the bout. That wasn’t the case last night against flyweight newcomer Nate Maness, who had previously fought at 135 lbs. Not only did Ulanbekov dispatch his foe inside the first round, but he also did so in spectacular fashion.
The fight was just a few minutes in before the Dagestani planted Maness on his back and began to work away with some methodical ground-and-pound. Desperate to escape, Maness scrambled and gave up his neck in the process. Ulanbekov snatched up a high-angle guillotine and wrenched it to force the tap.
With any luck, the win should be enough to erase the memories of Ulanbekov’s loss to Elliott. And given that he was ranked at No.15 prior to this bout, it’s likely that he could climb into contention with another win in the near future.
#3. Grant Dawson earns late submission over Mark Madsen
Grant Dawson has arguably been one of the UFC’s most underrated lightweight fighters for a while. ‘KGD’ came into last night’s fight with Mark Madsen being on a lengthy unbeaten run in the octagon. However, he still felt like an underdog as he faced a former Olympic wrestler with four wins of his own in the octagon, including one over longtime veteran Clay Guida.
If observers felt like Dawson was at a disadvantage, he quickly proved them wrong. ‘KGD’ dominated this bout in every single area, recovering from an early knockdown to basically clown Madsen on the ground, even taking him down on multiple occasions.
The third round was the most impressive for him as he hurt and dropped Madsen with some low leg kicks before using a rear-naked choke to submit him.
Dawson was not a ranked fighter at 155 lbs coming into this clash, and it’s unlikely that he’ll find himself there after this. At 7-0-1, he’s clearly earned a shot at an elite-level fighter next. The UFC should definitely look to match him with one soon, but for now, he should definitely be considered one of last night’s big winners.
#2. Amanda Lemos knocks out Marina Rodriguez in UFC main event
Last night’s main event saw two highly rated strawweights face off, and given that Marina Rodriguez was ranked No.3 prior to the bout, it felt likely that she’d probably earn a title shot with a big win. Unfortunately, she was stopped by Amanda Lemos in the third round.
While the finish was semi-controversial, it’s hard not to believe that Lemos will now steal her momentum and end up in title contention in her own right.
The fight was a highly competitive one throughout, with both women landing some decent shots on the feet and neither looking to take the action to the ground in the first round. The second round, however, saw Lemos decide to takedown Rodriguez, and she ended the stanza by hunting for a rear-naked choke.
If Rodriguez had hoped for more success on the feet in the third, she was mistaken. Lemos caught her with a brutal right hand to the face and then poured it on with a follow-up combination that seemed to have her badly hurt. However, as Rodriguez covered up, referee Jason Herzog stepped in, giving the Brazilian a standing TKO victory.
Regardless, this was a huge win for Lemos, who then asked Dana White to make her the backup for next week’s strawweight title bout between Carla Esparza and Weili Zhang. Assuming she can pass her medical, that wouldn’t be a bad idea, and if that turns out to be the case, it could be a huge opportunity for her.
Sure, she didn’t win an extra $50k last night, but she should be considered a big winner nonetheless.
#1. Neil Magny submits Daniel Rodriguez in UFC welterweight bout
While it’s unlikely that his win over Daniel Rodriguez will move him into contention for the UFC welterweight title, it’s definitely arguable that Neil Magny was the biggest winner from last night’s event.
That’s because the win was ‘The Haitian Sensation’s 20th win in his octagon career, allowing him to pass the legendary Georges St-Pierre and take the record for the most victories in the history of the 170-pound division.
Sure, the quality of Magny’s wins isn’t close to those of GSP, who defeated a who’s who of top contenders during his time as welterweight champion. In fact, a number of Magny’s victims washed out of the promotion shortly after he defeated them.
However, for any fighter to be able to reel off 20 wins in arguably the most stacked division of them all is absolutely phenomenal. Hence, it’s hard not to have a massive amount of respect for the TUF 16 veteran.
Last night’s win didn’t come easy, though. Magny was arguably behind on the scorecards going into the final round, as he’d struggled with Rodriguez’s punching power throughout the bout. He also found himself wobbled in the third round.
However, once he was able to get Rodriguez to the ground, he outworked him and eventually locked in a D’Arce choke in a masterful fashion to submit ‘D-Rod’.
Overall, Magny remains the welterweight division’s best gatekeeper, and the fact that he broke a UFC record in the process was just the icing on the cake.
