Biggest Winners & Losers From UFC Boston
The UFC made their third trip to Boston, Massachusetts last night (Sunday January 17th, 2015) for UFC Fight Night 59, and it was quite a night. The headlining bout (or half of it) for the evening stole the limelight in the lead up to the event, and all the talk in the aftermath is about the next featherweight title challenger Conor McGregor
So without further ado, the biggest winners and loser from UFC Boston are…..
Conor McGregor
“”The Notorious” had everything to win last night, as UFC president Dana White had already confirmed he would get a title shot with a win. With Jose Aldo watching from the rafters, McGregor remained calm and collected, battering an overwhelmed Dennis Siver to a second round finish. The Irish sensation pounced on the opportunity to face off with the champion after his win, topping off the list of biggest winners after UFC Boston.
The biggest loser from last night’s action was undoubtedly Benson Henderson in my books. The former lightweight champion of the WEC and UFC was looking to bounce back from a shocking knockout loss to Rafael Dos Anjos in 2014, and had the pertfect chance to do so against former two-time opponent and streaking lightweight Donald Cerone. “Smooth” failed to capitalize and looked stale in doing so.
In my opinion, Henderson was not robbed, and he had opportunities to win this fight clearly. Yet still he stuck with a style that he used to win with against guys like Frankie Edgar, Gil Melendez and Josh Thomson, only this time it went the other way. Now instead of being back on track, he has provided the biggest scalp of Cerrone’s impressive seven fight win streak, and falls to two losses straight.
Jose Aldo
I know, he didn’t fight, but the featherweight champion stood to gain a lot last night. Having complained many times about poor pay by his promotion, Jose Aldo now has the chance to make some real PPV (pay-per-view) money. Conor McGregor is the biggest draw in the UFC right now, and a fight for the title could see unprecedented PPV buys, especially if it’s at the top of a strong card. “Scarface” was likely wishing for McGregor to get that win, but you know what they say about what you wish for…..
“Cowboy” may not have won in the most convincing fashion, but the fact he only fought Myles Jury 15 days before makes beating Ben Henderson all the more impressive. If you want the blue print for a company man, take a look at Donald Cerrone. Even though he looked a little tired and faded, Cerrone still managed to get the job done against a back pedalling “Smooth”.
Props
Props go to the judges in the Cathal Pendred vs Sean Spencer abomination. The fact it was a unanimous win was disgraceful enough, but that two of these ‘judges’ didn’t give a single round to Spencer is pure nonsense. Lorenz Larkin looked fantastic in defeating John Howard by TKO at welterweight, very fast and sharp indeed.
Well done to Chris Wade for taking three nu shots and still grinding out a win, to Sean O’Connell for a great comeback TKO over Matt Van Buren, and to Joby Sanchez and Tateya Matsuda for a great barn burner.
Watch Conor McGregor vs Dennis Siver at UFC Boston here
