5 biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann

#4. Nate Maness – defeated Tony Gravely in a UFC bantamweight bout

Nate Maness pulled off a stirring comeback to beat Tony Gravely.

With an overall record of 13-1 and two UFC victories in the bag, last night was a big test for bantamweight Nate Maness. Defeat Tony Gravely, and he’d probably earn a substantial amount of hype. Lose, though, and ‘Mayhem’ was perhaps set for a life on UFC undercards, just hoping for some traction before his inevitable jettisoning from the promotion.

Early on in his clash with Gravely, it looked like the latter would be the path he’d tread. A back-and-forth round ended with Gravely dropping Maness badly, and ‘Mayhem’ was essentially saved by the buzzer. Ten more seconds, and the fight would probably have been over.

However, Maness survived, and surprised everyone by looking pretty fresh once the second round got underway. And a further – bigger – surprise came when ‘Mayhem’ clonked Gravely with a big right hand two minutes into the round before finishing him with some follow-up shots.

This win was not only a dramatic comeback, but also moves Maness to 3-0 in the UFC. That should put him in line for a much bigger fight next time out – making him one of last night’s biggest winners.

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#3. Joaquin Buckley – defeated Antonio Arroyo in a UFC middleweight bout

Joaquin Buckley knocked out Antonio Arroyo in violent fashion to pick up his third UFC win.

After his spectacular knockout of Impa Kasanganay went instantly viral last year, hopes were high for Joaquin Buckley's UFC future.

However, despite following that win with another knockout – over Jordan Wright – the wheels quickly came off Buckley's hype train when he was knocked out by Alessio di Chirico in January. That left ‘New Mansa’ desperate for a win last night. Despite some tricky moments against Antonio Arroyo, he pulled it off in spectacular fashion, though.

Buckley survived a nasty flying knee in the second round, and knowing he was behind on the scorecards, came out to push the pace in the third. He backed Arroyo up before hurting him with a wild shot, before finishing him off with a savage upper-cut from close range.

The win moves Buckley to 3-2 in the UFC. While that’s not an outstanding record in itself, the nature of his wins means he’ll always elicit attention from the fans. Expect him to be moved up the ladder again for his next fight.