UFC Fight Night 103: Yair Rodriguez vs BJ Penn – Winners and Losers

Phoenix fans got something of a workmanlike card tonight, with some unexpected pleasant surprises and exciting, fun finishes. Usually, for a smaller card like this set for TV is about as much as a fan can ask for. With a main event that featured a revitalized legend coming back to face a rising star, it’s easier to see why perhaps some of the fights on this card were underestimated or just ignored by many.

With unranked opponents squaring off to separate themselves from the pack and ranked opponents looking to climb further, a few of these performances made solid impressions. Even though the main event will be the biggest talking point (perhaps rightfully so), be sure to pay attention to the rest of the card. Some of these fighters might have had their breakout performance here, and it’s going to be great to see where some of these talents go from here.

But first, the making of a star and the ignominious fall of a legend.

• Winners

Yair Rodriguez – After staging events in Mexico and setting up Latin American versions of The Ultimate Fighter, the gamble has truly paid off. The UFC finally gets what they wanted years ago out of Cain Velasquez – a young, brash, exciting and dynamic Mexican-born fighter with charm and an aesthetically pleasing style. Already ranked at #10, this fight will unfortunately not boost him up in the rankings. Beating a 38-year-old that hasn’t won a fight since 2010 (Matt Hughes) and got absolutely demolished in his last outing after a two-and-a-half year hiatus? Sure, the way he did it looked outstanding at first. Then it just looked like target practice at best, or something akin to playing practice mode in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. As Luke Thomas noted, this fight was a testament not only to how bad Penn looked, but how good Yair is. And ultimately, that’s the biggest shame about this fight, because an amazing fighter moving up in the ranks beating a legend is a great thing. In this instance, it’s overshadowed by the fact that Penn probably shouldn’t have been fighting someone on this level – or maybe at all. Yair will have a bright future no matter what, and we’ll be able to measure much more of what his progression has been like in his next outing. In the meantime, he at least gets the experience and the W with a nifty bonus. Good on him.

Drakkar Klose – Outstanding. I saw some good things said about Klose online, but hadn’t reviewed any footage prior to this bout (hence the lack of a prediction for this bout). Now it all makes sense. He looked great in a very dominant performance, making a pretty big splash in a talented, deep and crowded division like lightweight. He remains undefeated, but will no doubt have some pretty heavy expectations placed upon him in his next outing.

Walt Harris – Walt Harris was originally signed by the UFC in 2013 and was promptly cut after a few losses. After a knockout win under the Titan FC banner, he returned to the UFC to alternate wins and losses. Thing is, he’s looked really, really good when finishing his two UFC wins. Now 2-2 in his current UFC run, he’s demonstrating a degree of patience and finishing instinct that could be essential for him in the heavyweight division. Not to say that he’s going to be the next champion or anything, but this win showed some solid improvements in his approach to fighting and he knocked out a very tough foe. Heavyweight is a bizarre and random division, so another win or two could have him sniffing the top ten pretty easily. Speaking of bizarre and random…

Oleksiy Oliynyk – That came out of nowhere. We’d seen no-gi Ezekiel chokes before in MMA, most notably by… wait, what? Oh, Oleksiy Oliynyk himself. But from the bottom of mount position? That’s savvy. A fight that I initially thought would be a godawful mess turned out to have one of the slickest chokes in recent memory. Now 3-1 in the UFC, he’s back on the winning track and could also be closing in on the top ten with another win or two.

Nina Ansaroff – Ansaroff might be the one fighter to have gained the most in her win tonight. A year and thirteen days since her last UFC fight (her second straight loss), she defeats a notoriously tough opponent after working hard to secure beautiful submission sequence. It’s a big way to get her first UFC win, and her striking and movement looked improved as well. Her defense still showed some of the deficiencies from prior fights, but she’s getting better. Now, we don’t know if Amanda Nunes was right about Ansaroff being the next strawweight champion, but improvements like this are more than welcome. Big ups to Nunes as well, because her and Ansaroff are right up there with Pat Barry and Rose Namajunas as the sport’s most adorable couple. Great to see them working together and being this happy.

Augusto Mendes – That was a more intense fight than I expected, and both fighters showed a ton of heart and a desire to brutalize the other. Mendes finally gets his first UFC win after a knockout debut loss to current champion Cody Garbrandt, which now looks more than forgivable in retrospect.

Sergio Pettis – Pettis now improves to 6-2 in the UFC earning his third consecutive win. He also continues to steadily improve in a small division while only 23 years old. While perhaps not the finishing machine the UFC might have wanted or expected him to be, he’s a solid fighter that’s still growing, and continues to be brought along at a good pace.

Ben Saunders makes his return to the UFC in a gritty performance against an opponent that can make any fight look ugly, Tony Martin was in another fight with some wild back and forth moments, and improves to 3-3 in the UFC earning his second consecutive win. Cyril Asker made short work of Dmitry Smoliakov, rebounding from his UFC debut loss to Jared Cannonier and standing at 1-1 in the UFC. A nice addition to his highlight reel, but the true meat and potatoes here was that killer post-fight speech. Joachim Christensen improves to 1-1 in the organization as well after outworking a very tough Bojan Mihajlović.

Honorable mention – Joe Lauzon – Held should have won that fight. It was close, but Held remained more active and Lauzon himself admitted as much. His behavior after the fight and his graciousness in admitting he should not have won is more than admirable. That moral win is bigger than the win that was added to his record, and his a true gentleman for doing that.

• Losers

BJ Penn – You know, it’s kind of a dirty trick. Nobody, absolutely nobody raises interest in situations like this the way BJ Penn does it. No other fighter convinces so many to think “he’s still got it!“ the way Penn does. We knew after the third Edgar fight he shouldn’t have come back, but he did. Everyone should have known better. After a few false starts, we still wanted to see what he was capable of with Jackson/Winklejohn’s guidance and a reunion with Jason Parillo. What we saw instead was another sad spectacle. And credit to Penn for nullifying some of the spinning attacks and having some degree of keeping it together in the first round with some of the more dynamic attacks Rodriguez has in his arsenal. After the midway point of the first, it was a wrap. Had he been eased back by fighting someone outside of the top 15 first, this wouldn’t sting as bad. But now maybe finally, finally this ends and Penn can enjoy retirement and do other things that make him happy.

John Moraga – With a 5-5 UFC record, this was his third straight loss. Moraga was done a terrible disservice in having his first two UFC wins be thrilling finishes that nobody saw because they were transmitted via Facebook. Those wins earned him a title shot where he got submitted by Mighty Mouse Demetrious Johnson. Any notoriety he would have earned early was lost, and now might end up getting cut. He allowed Pettis to keep the fight at the range he was most comfortable at, and that’s the way to almost guarantee a loss to a Pettis brother these days. Shame to go out that way in his hometown, but that’s the fight game.

Devin Powell – Usually, a fighter losing his UFC debut by decision doesn’t hurt their stock too badly. Powell ends up in the loser column not because he lost the bout, but because of how he appeared to not even be in the same league as Klose. Added to that is the notion that if you come in with a degree of hype from Looking For a Fight, there are slightly higher expectations placed upon you. Losing like this eliminates pretty much all of the shine he got from the show and his regional record, and his next performance needs to be pretty big to earn that back in the eyes of management and fans.

Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger – While showing some improvement after a rather slow start, Jones-Lybarger found some success with the overhands and her movement. She was able to set up some good shots with her positioning and footwork, but Ansaroff kept it close until it went to the ground. She now drops to 0-3 in the UFC, which unfortunately means she’s likely to be released.

Viktor Pesta lost his third fight in a row, leading to a 1-4 UFC record. That’s pretty much a guarantee that he’ll be released. Alex White falls to 2-3 and might get another chance, but the probability of that seems very low – especially at lightweight. Dmitry Smoliakov got big-brothered on the ground, leading to his second consecutive loss. Both losses were finishes, and land him at 0-2 in the UFC. He’s also almost guaranteed to get cut. Bojan Mihajlović suffers the same fate dropping to 0-2, his second TKO loss. Chase Sherman ends up 0-2 as well, but having his particular style and being at heavyweight may keep him around for one more fight. As always, it’s good to remember that’s never a guarantee.

• Neither

Marcin Held – Another outstanding signing after being released from Bellator in puzzling fashion, Held was able to put on a good performance against a savvy veteran and phenomenal grappler. Even if you disagree that he should have won, Lauzon’s deference to him after the fight raises Held’s stock. The L may stay on his record, but the UFC could end up doing as they’ve done before in cases like this by booking him as if he had won.

Court McGee – Since beating Robert Whittaker in 2013, McGee has been alternating wins and losses. This loss brings him to 7-5 in the UFC and 18-6 overall. His spot is safe, and he lost to another very tough opponent in a pretty close fight.

Frankie Saenz – Probably the toughest to categorize here. Saenz went from winning his first three UFC fights losing three straight against the likes of Urijah Faber (with a pretty controversial eye poke), Eddie Wineland, and now Augusto Mendes. Landing at 3-3 gets some fighters cut, but he had some good moments in a crazy fight, which could lead to him sticking around. That seems entirely possible.