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Last night saw UFC 287 go down in Miami, Florida. Unsurprisingly, the event turned out to be one of the most memorable of 2023 thus far.
UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 saw a huge title change in the headliner, a number of killer knockouts, and the shocking retirement of a major star.
Undoubtedly, the event also produced a number of big winners, and those winners are likely to move onto huge things in the near future.
Here are the five biggest winners from UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2.
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#5. Christian Rodriguez – defeated Raul Rosas Jr. in a UFC catchweight bout
If there was a fighter competing at UFC 287 who seemed most destined to lose, it was probably bantamweight Christian Rodriguez.
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‘CeeRod’ was coming off a win in the octagon, defeating Josh Weems last October, but he seemed to be a hand-picked foe for teenage sensation Raul Rosas Jr. to walk through. Worse, he also missed the bantamweight limit at Friday’s weigh-ins.
In the end, though, Rodriguez shocked observers by surviving a bad first round and coming back to clearly outpoint ‘El Nino Problema’. He thoroughly outgrappled his tired foe in the final two rounds and deservedly claimed a decision win.
Sure, this result might say more about Rosas Jr – who perhaps isn’t as ready for the big time as some thought – than Rodriguez, but that doesn’t matter.
Had ‘CeeRod’ lost here, his time with the UFC probably would’ve been over, particularly after his weight snafu. After this win, though, he’ll probably get at least a couple more bouts in the octagon.
Purely for wrecking a fast-moving hype train, though, Rodriguez should be seen as one of last night’s biggest winners.
#4. Kelvin Gastelum – defeated Chris Curtis in a UFC middleweight bout
It’s probably fair to say that few fighters last night were as desperate for a win as Kelvin Gastelum.
The TUF 17 winner had hit a real slide as of late, winning just one of his last five bouts. Had he lost to Chris Curtis last night, his UFC career could’ve been over.
Curtis was hardly an easy-sounding opponent, either. ‘Action Man’ had gone 4-1 in his octagon career prior, and was looking to break into title contention with a big win.
In the end, though, it was Gastelum who came away with his hand raised in what was a truly excellent fight. The TUF winner threw everything he had at Curtis, who threw right back. While neither man came close to a finish, it wouldn’t be fair to say that they didn’t look for one.
Could the fight have gone the other way? Perhaps, as it’s fair to say that ‘Action Man’ landed his fair share of big shots, but in the eyes of most fans, Gastelum did enough to win.
Will this signify a return to form for him? Only time will tell, but he’ll at least remain relevant at 185 pounds with this win. More importantly, he’ll remain part of the roster for the time being at least.
#3. Rob Font – defeated Adrian Yanez in a UFC bantamweight bout
While his spot on the roster definitely wasn’t on the line last night, Rob Font was in a bit of a tricky situation going into his bout with hot prospect Adrian Yanez.
Ranked at No.6 in the UFC’s packed bantamweight division, the native of Boston had lost his last two bouts, sending him largely out of title contention.
Had he lost to Yanez too, it probably would’ve been fair to position him purely as a gatekeeper in the division, rather than a fighter with the ability to potentially climb back into contention in the future.
Instead, though, a much-more aggressive Font fought fire with fire and took the fight to Yanez, eventually leading to a pretty wild knockout in the first round.
Font isn’t likely to move up the ladder thanks to this win, but it should definitely position him for a fight against an opponent ranked above him next time out. Based on this, he could still be a very real title threat at 135 pounds.
#2. Gilbert Burns – defeated Jorge Masvidal in a UFC welterweight bout
His fight perhaps wasn’t the most entertaining on view last night, but it’d be hard to call Gilbert Burns anything but one of UFC 287’s biggest winners.
‘Durinho’ completely whitewashed former title challenger Jorge Masvidal over three rounds, giving him no room to breathe.
It was essentially the same gameplan used by Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman against ‘Gamebred’, but it was still impressive to see Burns replicate it, particularly as he lacks the wrestling background of those two fighters.
Burns could easily have allowed himself to be dragged into a brawl by Masvidal. After all, the crowd was desperate to see ‘Gamebred’ win and went wild for every exchange. More to the point, Burns found himself dragged into that kind of fight last year by Khamzat Chimaev.
Instead, though, he stuck to the gameplan and clearly won – and after what happened after the fight, he’ll always be remembered as the man who retired Masvidal.
Will he get a title shot next? It feels unlikely, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him fighting for gold again in the near future. At the very least, he’s clearly one of the best welterweights on the planet, and he won big last night.
#1. Israel Adesanya – defeated Alex Pereira to win the UFC middleweight title
It goes without saying that the biggest winner at UFC 287 was Israel Adesanya. Not only did ‘The Last Stylebender’ regain his middleweight title, but he also did so by defeating arguably his greatest ever rival.
Alex Pereira had beaten Adesanya three times prior to last night, most famously stopping him with strikes to claim middleweight gold last November. It wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that ‘Poatan’ had the New Zealand-based star’s number.
However, Adesanya never seemed to believe that beating Pereira was an impossible task for him. Coming into last night, he seemed laser-focused, and a slight switch in his gameplan proved to be important.
Adesanya was more aggressive than we’d seen him before, not allowing Pereira to walk him down, and it meant for a strong first round.
In the second, though, the leg kicks of ‘Poatan’ began to add up. It looked like he was beginning to get the better of ‘The Last Stylebender’ again – right until Adesanya landed a killer right hand that put him clean out.
Nobody really saw the knockout coming, which made it even more memorable. Essentially, Adesanya saw a slight opening and grabbed it with both hands.
What’s next for him? It’s very hard to say, particularly as a rubber match with Pereira seems unlikely right now.
Either way, though, this win not only made him last night’s biggest winner, but one of the biggest winners we’ve ever seen in the octagon. He overcame his nemesis, and he did it in style. He truly is an all-time great.
