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Another UFC Fight Night has come and gone and a pair of upsets topped the card. Despite taking the fight on short notice, Brandon Royval managed to attain a degree of revenge on Brandon Moreno, toppling the former champion in his native Mexico. In the co-main event, Brian Ortega also managed to reverse the result from his first fight with Yair Rodriguez, coming from behind to stop the former interim champion.
To give Royval his full credit, his performance was a come-from-behind as well. Moreno started the UFC fight out in control, only to visibly slow down, allowing Royval’s non-stop attack to overwhelm him. In the process, Moreno has been eliminated from title contention for the moment, dashing any immediate hopes of him becoming the first three-time UFC champion in a single division outside of Randy Couture.
As for Ortega, he’s highly unlikely to get the first crack at the newly crowned Ilia Topuria, but he may only be a win away from getting another opportunity to fight for UFC gold. Inactivity has been Ortega’s great Achilles heel – this was just his fourth fight since 2018 – but at least he’s not going to necessitate surgery following the fight this time around. Of course, he’ll increase his chances of success if he can avoid hurting himself immediately before his next UFC fight…
But who were the real winners and losers of the event? Sure, 12 UFC fighters officially had their hand raised in victory, but that doesn’t always mean they are the true winners of the night. Same with those who didn’t get their hand raised. Just like not all wins are created equal, not all losses are either. I’ll give you the lowdown on who the biggest winners and losers of the event were. I’ll limit it to three in each category, doing my best to avoid having the same combatants of a contest in both categories. Let’s dig in!
UFC Fight Night: Mexico City Winners
Brandon Royval
There weren’t very many who were picking Royval to succeed. Success in short notice UFC fights isn’t that unusual. But success in quick, high-profile turnaround fights? That’s a different story as it often smells of desperation. And yet, Royval found a way to make it work. Even though he was the one coming in on short notice, Royval managed to be the fresher UFC fighter down the stretch, outworking a fading Moreno down the stretch to secure a split decision. Will it get him another shot at Alexandre Pantoja? That’s hard to say, even with Royval having lost to Pantoja twice.
There isn’t an obvious candidate to challenge Pantoja next. Sure, Amir Albazi is undefeated in the UFC, but he only has one win over a ranked opponent and that being a controversial victory over Kai Kara-France. Even worse, his fight style isn’t aesthetically pleasing. Everyone else in the contender’s circle is coming off a loss… except for Royval. Given his balls-to-the-wall style, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the UFC push him in there with Pantoja again. Given Royval still seems to be improving, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a new result should it happen.
Daniel Zellhuber
The first round for Zellhuber didn’t start out very well. The lanky prospect continued to back himself into the fence, allowing the shorter Francisco Prado to find a home for several of his heavy hooks. Fortunately, Zellhuber’s coaches asked him to make some adjustments between the first and second rounds, allowing for Zellhuber to cruise to victory from there. Keeping himself in the middle of the cage while primarily utilizing his jab, Zellhuber badly damaged Prado’s vision, allowing Zellhuber to avoid the heavy artillery from Prado.
Typically, younger fighters struggle to make in-fight adjustments. At just 24, Zellhuber’s fight maturity is well beyond his years. Combine that with his impressive size and athleticism and it’s not hard to see him becoming a contender in a few years. I’m not going to put the cart before the horse by making any guarantees, but Zellhuber has been as advertised thus far, aside from the hiccup in his UFC debut. Given hiccups are natural early in UFC fighter’s careers, that’s hardly anything to worry about.
Manuel Torres
There’s something about Torres that is hard to explain. He’s not a technical marvel. In fact, he’s been downright sloppy in some of the things he does. And yet, he has managed to secure three first round finishes in just as many UFC fights. This time around, the Mexico native managed to do so despite being hurt by Chris Duncan just seconds into the contest. Despite that, Torres still managed to find a finish by wresting Duncan to the mat and finding the back of the Scot, sinking in an RNC before two minutes had elapsed.
Typically, a UFC fighter racking up rapid finishes in the manner Torres has been is getting heaps of hype. Unfortunately for Torres, his infrequency in making it to the cage has held him back, only fighting once a year thus far. At 28, Torres should just be entering his prime, but he’s got to make himself more visible if he’s to be anything more than a novelty. A shark tank like lightweight will pass him by if he’s fighting at his current rate. Regardless, he fought and maintained his first round finish streak, which is exactly what he needed to do.
UFC Fight Night: Mexico City Losers
Yair Rodriguez
Rodriguez could not have asked for more favorable circumstances. Not only was he fighting in Mexico City as the proverbial fan favorite against a rusty Ortega, Ortega managed to sprain his ankle in the cage even before the fight began! Rodriguez then proceeded to hurt Ortega just seconds into the UFC fight and had him on the ropes… and still couldn’t get the job done. In the process, Rodriguez is going to be pushed back quite a bit in terms of lining up to face Ilia Topuria.
I’m not saying Rodriguez has slipped; I believe he’s still very much in his prime. However, this loss adds to the idea he managed to be in the right place at the right time to acquire the UFC featherweight interim title as opposed to being the legit second-best featherweight in the world. It doesn’t help his prospects of getting back into the mix this is his second consecutive loss. The more Rodriguez’s unorthodox style is seen, the easier it is for opponents to prepare for it as well.
Cristian Quinones
The UFC was really trying to set up the Mexico native to bounce back from a loss in his sophomore effort by pitting him against Raoni Barcelos. Barcelos is a respected veteran. It could be argued he’s the best fighter in the modern UFC era to have never had a number next to his name. But he’s also on the downside of his career, having lost four of his last five. Throw in that he’s had cardio issues in the past and he’s fighting at altitude in Mexico City and it’s hard to see where Quinones wasn’t expected to win if the UFC fight left the first round. And yet….
To be fair to Quinones, Barcelos managed to turn back the clock for at least one night. Quinones didn’t fight poorly, but he ended up being the one who gassed down the stretch, allowing Barcelos to find an RNC in the third round. Now with consecutive losses in the bantamweight division, it’s fair to assume the UFC isn’t going to give him a situation more favorable than that. At this point, he’s probably just another body with one more fight left on his contract. That isn’t to say he can’t get another contract, but it’s hard to believe he’ll get any sort of push.
Grapplers
Victor Altamirano, Claudio Puelles, and Mateus Mendonca held a ntoable advantage in terms of ground control over their opponents. It wasn’t enough to impress the judges as Felipe dos Santos, Fares Ziam, and Jesus Aguilar respectively got the nod due to their work on the feet. In particular, the Altamirano-dos Santos decision received a lot of blowback from respected MMA minds. Regardless of how one feels about those decisions, it’s very representative of the evolution of MMA judging over the years, from favoring control to giving the edge to striking and overall damage.
Provided you didn’t stop watching MMA roughly 15 years ago and only recently began watching again, this isn’t a development that’s catching anyone by surprise. What it should do is serve as a smack across the face to ground based fighters they might want to train getting in some damage along with their control. Or at the very least, adding a bit more oomph to their strikes. For Altamirano and Mendonca, it was the lack of power in their strikes that cost them as the overall numbers weren’t that far off. Regardless, damage reigns supreme over control.