In an event that was originally supposed to see Mexican American Kelvin Gastelum fight Matt Brown, it was Neil Magny who came out as the winner in the main event. Both Gastelum and Magny put on a hard fought battle, and were a bright spot on a card that dragged on for far too long.
Here are your winners and losers for UFC Monterrey:
Winners
Neil Magny and Kelvin Gastelum both walk away from this fight as winners, although Magny will be the one out of the two with a record to show for it. Although Gastelum was the favorite going into the fight, Magny was able to surprise fans with his relentless pressure and tricky trips. Gastelum showed that he was able to comeback in a fight that he was getting dominated in for the first two round, as he dropped Magny twice in the fourth round. Both fighters have plenty of time to move up the rankings, but this fight was a great experience for both as they both handled a five round back and forth war very well.
Henry Cejudo also earned a split decision win — although it probably should have been a unanimous one — over top Flyweight contender Jussier Formig. Although not overly dominant, Cejudo was able to convincingly win the final two rounds of the fight, showed that he had no problem with cardio and the his weight cutting wouldn’t affect him in a grinding three round fight. He will most likely get a date with Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson for his next fight.
Ricardo Lamas didn’t have to knock Diego Sanchez out to put on an impressive performance. Lamas was able to thoroughly pick apart the TUF 1 cast member to the point where Sanchez was limping around, unable to get off any offence. It was a great win for Lamas, especially coming off of a knockout loss to Chad Mendes. It was expected that Lamas would win, but he was able to get a decision win over a man who is known for pulling decision wins out of his…
Other winners: Andre Fili, Alvaro Herrera and Marco Polo Reyes for their quick knockout victories.
Losers
Anyone who watched this card from start to finish was the biggest loser in my mind. As I mentioned quickly in the winners section, three fighters had quick knockout victories that livened up the crowd and gave the card a good amount of energy to start. Unfortunately those three knockout wins were in the first four fights of the card. The final eight fights of the card all went to decision, with two TUF finale fights on the main card. The pacing was terrible as the main card ended around five and a half hours after it started, while only featuring five fights. There were some entertaining moments on the main card, but a six fight main card on Fox Sports 1 with no finishes that goes past 1am on the east coast is not a fun thing watch.
Diego Sanchez didn’t really do a whole lot in his fight against Ricardo Lamas. Once Lamas landed the one leg kick that had Sanchez stumbling around the Octagon, all he could do was survive. Sanchez took a lot of punches to the face without ever mounting any significant offence. Sanchez also had a very dangerous weight cut and ballooned back up to 170lbs for the fight. It obviously didn’t pay off as it was a one-sided defeat that leaves Sanchez in a spot closer to retirement than he was before.
Efrain Escudero is now on his third stint with the UFC, but has still not been able to get a good string of wins going for himself. As the favorite going into the fight against Silva, a win would have placed him in a good position in the UFC. Now he has dropped to 2-2 since re-entering the UFC and is overall 4-6 in the UFC since winning the Ultimate Fighter Season 8.
Scott Jorgensen has now lost six of his last seven fights. It’s nearly impossible to have a record like that in the UFC without being cut. His loss against Alejandro Perez was sad in the fact that he injured his ankle and was left to limp around the cage for a whole round before the fight was stopped. Instead of calling Jorgensen a loser, I’ll point the focus on the referee and Jorgensen’s corner. The job of a fighter is to fight and win. The job of a referee and the corner men is to lookout for the fighters health and well-being. Both the referee and his team let him down by not stopping the fight earlier. It was clear at the beginning of the second round that Jorgensen was not going to win or be able to mount any significant offence. The fact that both parties let the fight continue shows that there is something wrong in the win at all costs mindset for those who are suppose to be looking out for human safety.
Other losers: Jussier Formiga and the prelim fighters who were KO’d.