Biggest Winners & Losers From UFC On FOX 14

It was a big night of fights from Sweden last night (Saturday January 24th, 2015) as UFC On FOX 14 hit the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The Partisan crowd may not have been too happy at the end of the night though, as their main stars Nico Musoke, Akira Corassani and Alexander Gustafsson were defeated.

So without further ado, the biggest winners & loser from UFC On FOX 14 are:

Anthony Johnson/Alexander Gustafsson

“Rumble” did what he needed to last night, but also what few of us thought he would. In taking out Alexander Gustafsson is two minutes, Johnson separated himself from the rest of the pack at 205 pounds. The resulting shot at light-heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones makes “Rumble” by far the biggest winner at UFC On FOX 14, not to mention the fact he was barely scratched by “The Mauler”…..

Rather unexpectedly, Gustafsson was run through last night. A loss after a war, or a close decision is one thing, but to get crushed like that in front of your home crowd is just soul destroying. “The Mauler” had everything to gain last night, but will need to go back to the drawing board after this milestone loss. Hopefully he’ll learn from this defeat, as it was easily more significant than any in his career thus far.

Gegard Mousasi/Dan Henderson

“The Dreamcatcher” looked sharp in defeating ageing legend Dan Henderson last night, and saved himself from falling in to the deep hole of a two-fight losing skid. His punches were accurate, and the right hand that clipped Hendo behind the ear was a thing of beauty. We’ll talk about the refereeing in a moment, but props to Mousasi for dispatching Henderson in just 70 seconds.

“Desperate Dan” looked terrible, it’s that simple. He looked tiny, slow, out of power and back-pedalled the whole fight. At this stage, and how small he looked last night, maybe Henderson should think about dropping to 170, or simply retiring. He has won once in the last four years/six fights, and has been finished in three of his five losses. It’s hard to watch an old dog take too much punishment, and Hendo really needs to consider his plans for the future after getting starched by Mousasi.

The Referees

Joe Rogan would disagree, but I feel the referees in the Henderson and Ogle stoppages were 100% right. The rules state that if a fighter is unable to intelligently defend him/her selves, the fight is over. Whether they get punched back awake or not. In the case of Ogle, Amirkhani had clocked him clean, and he went limp against the cage. For Hendo, he collapsed after an equilibrium punch sent him flat with his chin against his chest.

Regardless of whether they are awake at the actual time of the stoppage, that moment when the referee makes the judgement that they are out is a deciding one. The fact that Ogle took down the referee after being stopped says enough. Besides, Henderson has been on the other side of the referee’s judgment numerous times (see Shogun Rua/Fedor Emelianenko).

Props

Joe Rogan once again showed why he is the best color commentator in the world, when he rained on Amirkhani’s parade in the post fight interview. Props to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis for showcasing why neither will ever be title material, well done again to Rogan for proclaiming Mousasi to be ‘on a tear’ even though he was coming off a loss to Jacare Souza, and let’s hear it for Kenny Robertson’s monster KO out of nowhere.