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UFC 272 was built up as a major pay-per-view show thanks to the rivalry between headliners Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, and for the most part, the event delivered.
Sure, UFC 272 didn’t have all that many explosive finishes. However, there were several excellent performances from fighters who are now likely to move up the ladder, some of them into title contention.
So with a number of fighters waking up this morning after huge victories, it’s likely that the aftershocks of this event will be felt for some time going forward.
With that considered, here are the five biggest winners from UFC 272: Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal.
#5. Maryna Moroz – defeated Mariya Agapova in a UFC flyweight bout
Sometimes, fighting in the octagon isn’t always about climbing the rankings, nor is it about making big money. In some cases, it’s simply about fighting for pride, or legacy, or something equally intangible.
That was certainly the case last night for Ukraine’s Maryna Moroz, who was more emotional and pumped up than she would normally have been due to the horrific situation occurring right now in her home country.
‘The Iron Lady’ was always going to be a fan favorite last night thanks to her nationality, but she then produced one of the best performances of her octagon career. Moroz thoroughly dominated her opponent Mariya Agapova en route to a second-round submission win.
Post-fight, Moroz was handed the microphone by Joe Rogan in a rare occurrence. From there, she spoke in heartfelt fashion about the suffering of her nation, wishing love to both her family and her country.
It was one of those rare moments that the UFC – usually a promotion that prides itself on staying firmly neutral from a political standpoint, no matter how strange that might seem – allowed a fighter to say what needed to be said, and it was remarkably effective.
Moroz may produce a better showing than this in the future at some stage, but it’s unlikely that she’ll pick up a win quite as stirring as she did last night. That alone makes her one of last night’s biggest winners.
#4. Sergey Spivak – defeated Greg Hardy in a UFC heavyweight bout
Ever since Royce Gracie blasted through a number of more physically gifted opponents to win three of the first four UFC tournaments, fans have been taught that in the UFC, a great athlete doesn’t always beat a more technically skilled fighter.
That idea has slowed down in the modern era, as more athletically gifted fighters have also been able to pick up the best technical skills too. However, sometimes fans are handed throwback fights that bring back all those memories of Gracie.
Sergey Spivak’s win over Greg Hardy last night was one of those bouts. There was no doubt that Hardy was the superior athlete in last night’s fight. The former NFL star had shown his explosive power in numerous octagon bouts, while the smaller Spivak had struggled with similar opponents at times.
However, ‘The Polar Bear’ dominated when it came to fight time. He barely ate a strike before hitting a hip throw to put ‘The Prince of War’ on the ground. From there, Spivak destroyed him with brutal ground-and-pound for a first-round TKO.
The win not only reinforced the adage that to win in the octagon, you need far more than athleticism and power, but it also showed that Spivak has the skills to survive at the top end of the heavyweight division. He was undoubtedly one of last night’s big winners.
#3. Kevin Holland – defeated Alex Oliveira in a UFC welterweight bout
Following five straight UFC wins at 185lbs in 2020, Kevin Holland struggled for traction during 2021 and fell to two losses before being knocked out during a clash that was eventually declared a No Contest.
Despite this, his decision to drop to 170lbs was always a risky one. How would ‘The Trailblazer’ respond to the extra 15lbs weight cut? And could he deal with the superior speed he’d face against smaller foes?
Holland answered a couple of those questions last night, defeating Alex Oliveira in the second round via TKO.
Early on, ‘The Trailblazer’ struggled badly with Oliveira’s speed. He found himself hurt on the feet, and then in deep trouble on the ground when ‘Cowboy’ appeared to have a rear-naked choke locked up tightly.
However, Holland survived and, in the second round, appeared more fired up than ever and turned up the heat. He dropped Oliveira early on with a right hand and then smashed him on the ground to force a stoppage.
Quite how much we can take from this win is a fair question to ask. After all, Oliveira had been on a slide coming into this bout, suggesting his best years may be behind him.
Despite this, a win is a win, and if nothing else, this bout will have given Holland a taste of what’s to come at welterweight – particularly if the UFC chooses to push him up the ladder next time out. Whether he’ll cope well with that is difficult to say, but for now, he should be considered one of last night’s big winners.
#2. Bryce Mitchell – defeated Edson Barboza in a UFC featherweight bout
Given the nature of his fight last night, it’s safe to say that no fighter climbed the ladder in their division at UFC 272 quite so much as Bryce Mitchell did.
‘Thug Nasty’ impressed hugely in his unanimous decision over Edson Barboza. Given that the Brazilian was ranked No.10 in the featherweight division prior to the fight, it’s likely that Mitchell will find himself entrenched in the top ten next week.
Many fans expected Mitchell to grind a win out here, but few expected him to do so without really suffering along the way. However, the native of Arkansas took very little damage from Barboza. After hurting Barboza standing in the first round, Mitchell was able to take him down consistently and beat him up on the ground.
Before this fight, the only men to dominate Barboza in this way had been Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee – so to see ‘Thug Nasty’ do it and make it look so easy was hugely impressive, to say the least.
Arguably even more impressive was Mitchell’s post-fight promise to donate half of his fight purse to children of Arkansas suffering from medical issues – something that reportedly, he won’t need to do now as Dana White has decided to cover the donation instead.
Essentially, given the spotlight that last night’s event offered, this performance may well have turned Mitchell into a semi-star – meaning his future looks brighter than ever.
#1. Colby Covington – defeated Jorge Masvidal in a UFC welterweight bout
Given the sheer amount of trash talk and personal insults that came prior to UFC 272’s headline bout between welterweight stars Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, neither man could afford to lose.
In the end, though, someone had to come out on top – and that someone was Covington. Sure, it wasn’t as explosive a performance as he’d promised going in, but for the most part, he completely outfought ‘Gamebred’ from start to finish across five rounds.
Essentially, Covington’s performance was all about pressure. He never let up from the start of the fight, forcing Masvidal onto his back foot with both flurries of strikes and consistent clinches and takedowns.
‘Gamebred’ did land a couple of hard shots – most notably in the fourth round – but once again, Covington’s durability shone through. When the fight went the distance, it was clear that there was only one winner.
Did Covington do enough to warrant a third shot at UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman? Most certainly not, and his post-fight call out of Dustin Poirier seemed to confirm that idea.
However, a bout with Poirier would probably draw just as many fans as a third title shot would. Given Poirier doesn’t have a clear-cut opponent lined up next, the promotion should go for it.
Either way, while he didn’t finish Masvidal, Covington clearly proved that at this time, he’s the better fighter. That alone should be enough to end the bitter rivalry with his former friend and teammate – making him last night’s biggest winner.
