5 biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez

#4: Marcos Rogerio de Lima – defeated Ben Rothwell in a UFC heavyweight bout

Marcos Rogerio de Lima's win over Ben Rothwell was the biggest of his UFC career

With a patchy record at best, it’s probably safe to say that Marcos Rogerio de Lima is never going to be a genuine contender for the UFC heavyweight title.

However, he was definitely one of last night’s big winners, as he stopped Ben Rothwell in dramatic fashion in under a minute.

Nobody really expected ‘Pezao’ to knock Rothwell out in such fashion. After all, ‘Big Ben’ had not been stopped in over a decade since Cain Velasquez managed it back in October 2009, and while de Lima has always carried power, it hadn’t always translated at heavyweight.

Despite this, the Brazilian came out like a man on a mission, swinging heavy leather at Rothwell from the off, and when he caught the big man with a thudding right hand, he didn’t let up until the fight was over.

Sure, there was some slight controversy surrounding the stoppage by referee Herb Dean, who stepped in as Rothwell was apparently looking for a takedown – but the truth is that ‘Big Ben’ was done.

Where de Lima goes from here is anyone’s guess – he’s actually on the best run of his UFC career with two straight wins – but anyone capable of stopping ‘Big Ben’ is worth watching. Incredibly, it’s possible that we haven’t seen the best from ‘Pezao’ yet.

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#3: Song Yadong – defeated Julio Arce in a UFC bantamweight bout

Song Yadong should be considered a genuine bantamweight contender after his win over Julio Arce

Coming into 2021, Song Yadong looked set to break out as a genuine contender in the UFC’s bantamweight division.

‘The Kung Fu Monkey’ was 5-1 in the UFC, and he’d picked up a big win in 2020, defeating a highly touted contender in Marlon Vera.

However, a loss to Kyler Phillips in March derailed him somewhat, but after his win over Julio Arce last night, he appears to be back on track.

This was probably the best that Yadong has looked in the UFC since his 2019 finish of Alejandro Perez. The Chinese fighter’s striking looked on from the start of his clash with Arce, and his second round finish – punctuated with a violent head kick – was absolutely beautiful.

Yadong is clearly one of the most athletically gifted fighters in the UFC bantamweight division, and if he can continue to fight on this kind of form, particularly given he’s still just 23 years old, he’ll be a title contender in no time.