Biggest Winners & Losers From UFC 183 In Sin City
UFC 183 went down this past weekend (Saturday January 31st, 2015) and was arguably the promotion’s strongest card of the year thus far. Even though Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz wasn’t the all-out war we expected it to be, the prelims alone were pretty awesome, and the main card had all the finishes and nail-biting burners you could hope for.
So without further ado, the biggest winners & losers from UFC 183 in Sin City:
Anderson Silva/Nick Diaz
Redemption was the name of the game for Anderson Silva at UFC 183, and he received it, albeit not how many of us expected. He managed to get back on the horse, and go 25 minutes without clowning, getting hurt or losing his composure. At the end of a crazy 18-month period, “The Spider” is finally back on track.
Nick Diaz, however, made a bit of a clown of himself in Vegas. He is an entertainer, whether he knows it or not, but entertainment doesn’t win fights. He managed to land some decent combos in the earlier rounds, but he was exactly the same Diaz as the one who lost to Geroges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit. Four years now without a win, any bets on how many more headliners Nick Diaz gets before calling it quits?
Tyron Woodley/Kelvin Gastelum
“The Chosen” one may not have won in the most convincing form, in fact he could have been on the losing end of the scores rather easily, but he gained an immeasurable amount from his win in “The Capital Of Second Chances”. Gastelum came in to this fight undefeated, albeit bloated too, and left with his first ever loss thanks to Woodley. The Strikeforce veteran goes on to two straight wins, and his quest for title glory draws inevitably closer.
KG will have to go back to the drawing board, and will obviously be looking at a career as a middleweight now. He didn’t look as bad as I had expected him to after such a savage weight cut, and at the age of just 23, Gastelum has big things ahead of him in MMA. He should use the loss to Woodley as a learning experience, and we’ll await his impending move to 185 pounds.
Thiago Alves/Jordan Mein
What a fight it was, and Brazilian striker Thiago Alves was looking a beaten man after round one. His corner told him ‘you gotta earn this guy’s respect’, and boy he did just that. Early on in the second round and “The Pitbull” puts a kick to the solar plexus that would drop a bull, and the Strikeforce crossover crumples. A great win for a long-time fan favorite in Alves, but he needs to work on his movement as a higher claibre foe may have put him away in round one. All the same, a great comeback win.
“Young Guns” was unlucky to be hit so clean after such a perfect first round, because it was just that. His movement was incredible, his footwork, bobbing and weaving, sliding around Alves’ offense like a greasy snake. His striking was crisp, timing was on point and he just looked like a very polished and well rounded fighter. Better luck next time for Mein.
Props
Props to the UFC for labelling Al Iaquinta as ‘Winner-Joe Lauzon’ after “Raging” had just finished “J-Lau”, also give it up for Miesha Tate for coming back to own Sara McMann in round three; “Cupcake” proved herself to be grittier than Gary Busey’s chin stubble after a weekend on the Rye, and you can’t forget Derek Brunson’s post-win comment to Joe Rogan ‘That dance is for the ladies out there….no, wait, just my lady!“.
Well done to Thales Leites and Tim Boetsch for a classic middleweight brawl, and show some love for flyweights John Lineker and Ian McCall for an action packed three rounds on the prelims.
