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UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum may not have garnered much fanfare coming in, but it turned out to be a very entertaining show for the most part.
With several fighters picking up important wins and others pulling off highlight-reel finishes, this was actually a great way for the UFC to return after a weekend off.
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With a handful of fighters from last night moving into UFC title contention and others climbing the ladder, there are probably several happy UFC stars this morning.
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With this considered, here are the five biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum:
#5. Mark Madsen – defeated Clay Guida in UFC Fight Night co-main event
It wasn’t as entertaining a win as he’d probably have hoped, but Danish Olympic silver medallist Mark Madsen still picked up the biggest victory of his UFC career last night over veteran Clay Guida.
Despite his wrestling accolades, Madsen was never able to ground Guida, meaning that the fight took place largely on the feet. And while ‘The Carpenter’ was, as per usual, the more active fighter, the big difference appeared to be Madsen’s accuracy, particularly with his jab.
‘The Olympian’ won a split decision in the end, improving his overall record to 3-0 in the UFC and 11-0 in MMA. It wasn’t a truly entertaining fight, and if anything, Madsen should probably rue the fact that he didn’t push harder for the finish given Guida’s waning durability these days.
However, to defeat a veteran who’s been in the UFC since 2006 without facing real adversity is still pretty impressive. At the age of 36, Madsen’s window for moving into title contention isn’t all that big, so hopefully, the UFC move him up the ladder and test him again next time out.
Based on this performance, whether he’s capable of moving up to the elite level of the 155-pounders is a major question mark, but with his athletic gifts, he probably has as good a chance as anyone right now.
#4. Saidyokub Kakhramonov – defeated Trevin Jones
Prior to last night’s event, even hardcore UFC fans probably hadn’t heard of Saidyokub Kakhramonov, who came in to fight Trevin Jones on late notice following a couple of injury withdrawals.
Incredibly though, the newcomer’s octagon debut probably couldn’t have gone any better for him. The fight wasn’t the most entertaining on the card, filled with clinch work, but it was clear that Kakhramonov wasn’t out of his depth.
And with seconds to go in the third round of a close fight, the newcomer decided that come hell or high water, he wasn’t going to leave things in the hands of the judges.
He managed to snatch up a power guillotine and applied the hold with such brute force that within seconds, ‘5 Star’ was lying in an unconscious heap on the octagon floor.
This was a huge debut win for Kakhramonov and was made even bigger because Jones had quite a bit of hype around him following a pair of violent knockout wins in his last two visits to the octagon.
As always, it’s hard to see how far Kakhramonov can go in one of the UFC’s most loaded divisions – bantamweight – but based on last night, he definitely belongs on the roster, and that’s a big deal in 2021.
#3. Ignacio Bahamondes – defeated Roosevelt Roberts
Ignacio Bahamondes won't find himself in contention for the UFC lightweight title this morning following his win over Roosevelt Roberts. Still, he may have gained more than any other fighter on this card, thanks to the nature of that win.
After an impressive performance that saw him largely outstrike Roberts throughout the fight, 'La Jaula' unleashed a picture-perfect spinning back kick that landed directly to the jaw of 'The Predator,' knocking him senseless.
This was one of the wildest knockouts in recent memory – probably the flashiest in the UFC since Joaquin Buckley’s spinning back kick last year – and the fact that it came with just five seconds remaining in the final round made it even more memorable.
Bahamondes will now be hoping to follow in Buckley’s footsteps. He, too, was a largely unknown fighter who immediately went viral following his flashy knockout and ended up being given a couple of big opportunities by the UFC.
Buckley couldn’t quite live up to the hype following his viral knockout, so naturally, the jury is still out on whether Bahamondes will be able to. Either way, based on his showing last night, it’ll be a lot of fun to see him try.
#2. Alexandre Pantoja – defeated Brandon Royval
There’s probably an argument to suggest that last night’s biggest winner overall was Alexandre Pantoja, despite the fact that he fought in the opening bout of the main card.
After all, ‘The Cannibal’ not only defeated Brandon Royval with a second-round rear-naked choke, but he did it in what was probably the most entertaining bout overall on this UFC Fight Night. He was handed a $50k bonus for his efforts.
However, what makes Pantoja such a big winner after this event is that UFC announcers last night were openly talking up the fight as a flyweight division title eliminator.
This type of thing happens a lot in the UFC and doesn’t always guarantee the winner a title shot, of course, but after a performance like this, it’d be hard to deny Pantoja.
And when you add in the fact that ‘The Cannibal’ already has a win over current UFC flyweight kingpin Brandon Moreno, there’s actually a chance that we were watching a future UFC titleholder in action last night.
Essentially, in a high-stakes fight, things probably could not have gone any better for the Brazilian last night, and that makes him one of the biggest winners from this UFC Fight Night event.
#1. Jared Cannonier – defeated Kelvin Gastelum in UFC Fight Night main event
In all but exceptional circumstances, the victor of a UFC main event is always likely to be considered the night’s biggest winner, and so Jared Cannonier must take his spot at the top of this list.
‘The Killa Gorilla’ was hoping for an impressive win that would allow him to jump the queue for a UFC middleweight title shot. And while he may not have done enough to earn that, he should probably be considered next in line for the winner of the Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker clash, which should hopefully take place soon.
Cannonier’s clash with Kelvin Gastelum wasn’t the easiest fight to score by any means. Both men landed plenty of telling blows throughout the fight, but in the end, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ just about edged it.
If nothing else, he clearly had the biggest moment of the fight; he dropped Gastelum with a huge right hand in the third round. It was a shot that probably would’ve knocked out 90% of the UFC’s middleweight roster, and quite how Gastelum survived it is anyone’s guess.
The win marked Cannonier’s fourth in five fights as a 185-lber, and he’s clearly dangerous enough to take out most fighters in the division.
Will he ever be capable of toppling either Adesanya or Whittaker? Probably not, but on the evidence from last night, it’s worth letting him try.
