UFC Vegas 61: Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan – Unofficial Awards

As a card ravaged by accidents and withdrawals, UFC Vegas 61 proved to be a combined bag. The prelims began the motion out in an distinctive method, impressing sufficient that each one the Efficiency Bonuses for the night had been awarded to those that appeared within the card’s early fights. That doesn’t imply the principle card was horrible—the principle occasion between Yan Xiaonan and Mackenzie Dern was chocked stuffed with drama—nevertheless it didn’t have the identical flash the primary half of the occasion contained.

Total, I’d say the cardboard felt like successful. Yan snapped a two-fight shedding streak in upsetting Dern, one way or the other surviving almost two whole rounds on the bottom with the famous grappling ace. In fact, there shall be a complete slew of articles specializing in what the night meant for the principle occasion fighters, however I’m right here to focus extra on the much less publicized elements of the night with the Unofficial Awards. Let’s dig in!

For a unique perspective, click on here. For an audio rundown of the occasion, click on here.

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BIGGEST JUMP IN STOCK

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Some would most likely put Yan on this spot, however I’m not so inclined. Not as a result of it wasn’t a formidable win, however rounds two and 5 of her contest with Dern proved precisely why Dern was the favourite. As an alternative, I’m going with Brendan Allen. Given he’s already had 9 UFC fights underneath his belt getting into his contest with Krzysztof Jotko, many figured they already knew the ebook on Allen. It’s straightforward to overlook, nevertheless, that ‘All In’ continues to be simply 26-year-old.

Allen offered a stark reminder of simply how good he’s, disposing of a sometimes robust Jotko within the first spherical with a RNC that didn’t even have the hooks in. Allen has been at Kill Cliff FC for a few years now and that’s sometimes when fighters start feeling snug with the teaching of Henri Hooft. It could not have been the hanging Allen received the struggle with, however he wasn’t missing for confidence in his efficiency. With three consecutive wins, Allen might be taking a look at a contest with a ranked opponent subsequent.

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BIGGEST FALL IN STOCK

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Apart from those that are more likely to find yourself on the chopping block, nobody ought to expertise an enormous drop in inventory. Thus, nearly by default, Dern might be taking the largest hit. It isn’t like she had a poor efficiency; she got here the closest to securing a stoppage on a number of events. However ever since she began dealing with the cream of the crop of the division, the outcomes haven’t been there. Regardless of a popularity as probably the most harmful submission specialist within the division, she hasn’t been able to secure a sub in her final three contests—even when spending giant chunks of these fights on the mat.

It opens up a debate whether or not her mat skills are overblown. Or on the very least, forces the popularity that these expertise aren’t almost as harmful as they’d be if she might get the struggle to the mat on a constant foundation. Till her skills to get takedowns present apparent enchancment, I don’t see how she might be thought of a severe title contender. Thankfully for Dern, she is younger sufficient within the sport that there’s nonetheless plenty of room to enhance. All that mentioned, Dern sitting effectively exterior of the title image is a disappointment for a lot of.

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BEST NEWCOMER

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There have been two newcomers, however it will probably’t be denied that Chelsea Chandler was the one cheap selection right here. The query going ahead is that if Chandler is seeking to make her bones at bantamweight or if she’s going to need to accept being one of many few ladies featherweights on the roster. There’s little doubt the latter represents a faster street to a title shot, however that’s additionally depending on the UFC preserving the division round. There’s no assure that’ll occur. Regardless, Chandler proved to be a physical beast, ragdolling a legit bantamweight in Julija Stoliarenko. It doesn’t matter what division Chandler finally ends up competing in, she’s going to be a drive.

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SAVED THEIR JOB(S)

It isn’t that Raoni Barcelos wouldn’t beat half the bantamweights on the roster. It’s that he might have already seen his finest days and a loss would have put him on three straight—had he dropped this bout to Trevin Jones. As an alternative, Barcelos stopped his streak at two and reminded everybody why he had earned a popularity as one of the best bantamweight with out a quantity subsequent to his title early in his Octagon run. Barcelos dominated Jones in each side of the struggle, making each effort to safe a end. The one factor stopping that was the pure toughness of Jones. It was a dominant and spectacular efficiency from the Brazilian.

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Had Daniel Santos repeated his efficiency from his UFC debut, he most likely would have been given a thanks for his time within the group. Thankfully for the Brazilian, he placed on the best performance of his profession. Certain, he endured a rough opening round, getting harm a number of occasions by a sport John Castaneda, however he in the end survived and ended up placing away the person often called the ‘Sexi Mexi’, one thing nobody else had been in a position to do within the final eight years. If Santos’ debut might be attributed to jitters, then it seems like he’ll be one of many extra promising additions to a division chuck stuffed with promise.

Not preventing fairly often makes it straightforward to overlook how good a fighter is, particularly if they’re coming off a two-fight shedding streak; that’s what tends to occur when audiences haven’t seen you win shortly. So, it felt like a little bit of a minor shock when Joaquim Silva was in a position to proper his ship and achieve this in spotlight vogue. It’s doable it was merely a final gasp for Silva, who has been within the sport for fairly some time now. However, who is aware of, possibly he’s about to hit a second wind in his profession. Regardless, he’ll be round a bit longer.

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START TYPING A RESUME

In some ways, Jones’ run within the UFC is similar to how his profession on the entire has gone. There have been spectacular moments that flashed simply how good ‘5 Star’ might be, however there have been too many disappointments to name it a real success—particularly primarily based on his clear athletic skills. It’s tragic that Jones had his UFC debut was a no contest on account of marijuana, however these had been the foundations on the time. Ultimately, Jones is at the moment sitting at 1-3 with the no contest, a file that sees only a few fighters get introduced again for an additional alternative.

At 45 and coming off 4 losses in his final 5 appearances, it will shock nobody if Aleksei Oleinik had been to obtain a pink slip. Nevertheless, I’m inclined to consider the traditional Russian shall be given not less than another alternative. For no matter cause, he seems to be a favourite of the brass. In any case, he’s at all times straightforward to advertise: can the oldest individual on the roster pull one other trick out of his bag to increase his profession over these youthful bucks? In the proper matchups, it’s a legit query. Given Oleinik was in a position to go the gap solely solidifies my ideas that he’ll dangle round.

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It’s an actual bummer Jesse Ronson is more likely to finish his MMA profession with out an official UFC win. He does have an unofficial UFC win, nevertheless it seems worse with every passing struggle—having change into a no contest on account of a failed drug take a look at. Ronson claims it was a tainted complement – and I’m not saying it wasn’t — however every subsequent loss makes it look increasingly more just like the PED’s did affect his efficiency. Ronson was having an in depth struggle with Silva earlier than the tip got here, however he’s now sitting at six UFC appearances with out getting his hand raised, together with three on this stint. I feel he nonetheless has sufficient he might safe a win in the proper matchup, however the proper matchup is changing into a much more slim class on a regular basis.

The UFC couldn’t have given Randy Costa a extra favorable contest. There aren’t another 42-year-old bantamweights on the roster and that’s for a rattling good cause. And but, ‘The Zohan’ was not solely unable to place away the growing old Guido Cannetti, he was completed in simply over a minute. I’ll admit that Cannetti is healthier than I’ve been giving him credit score for, however this was a struggle made for Costa to win. As an alternative, it seems just like the Joe Lauzon protégé has punched his ticket out of the group.

Some might contend Stoliarenko needs to be right here, however I might say she is protected. She took the struggle on brief discover and accepted the competition at a 140-pound catchweight that everybody knew can be detrimental to her. I perceive the UFC might be merciless in direction of their combatants, however I consider even they’d acknowledge the favor Stoliarenko did for them, particularly given she entered the competition on a formidable submission win.

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BIGGEST WOW MOMENT

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The cardboard began with a run of 4 consecutive finishes, the final of these 4 being probably the most spectacular. Silva telegraphed that he was searching for a flying knee by throwing a number of all through the competition. Hell, he even related on one earlier than nailing Ronson with the switch knee that put him on his again. It didn’t put Ronson out chilly, requiring a flurry of punches on the mat, however the affect was sufficient that Ronson stood little likelihood of restoration offered Silva didn’t give him a chance to recuperate.

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WORST WIN

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It regarded like Ilir Latifi would possibly achieve taking this for a very good chunk of the night, however Randy Brown pulled in probably the most lackluster win of the night by the point the occasion ended. Latifi’s win was not less than a win with out debate, even when it was bereft of great motion. In Brown’s case, a very cheap case might be made that Francisco Trinaldo ought to have had the ‘W’. The primary spherical was shut, the second spherical was even nearer, and Trinaldo took the one spherical that wasn’t up for debate when he managed Brown for close to the whole thing of the third spherical.

For the file, I did rating the competition for Brown, nevertheless it’s laborious to get enthusiastic about his skill to compete with any of the welterweights populating the official rankings if he’s struggled so to eliminate the 44-year-old ‘Massarunduba’. Maybe it was simply an off-night for ‘Rudeboy’—he acknowledged himself it wasn’t his finest efficiency—however the struggle sport is much less pleasant to a poor efficiency than different sports activities.

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SENIOR’S NIGHT

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It wouldn’t have been a stretch to label this entire struggle card as ‘Senior’s Night time’ within the UFC. There have been 4 combatants who had been aged 40 or higher: Trinaldo, Latifi, Cannetti, and Oleinik. Even when Latifi and Oleinik squared off with each other—barring a draw, making certain not less than one in all them would win—the held up effectively sufficient to safe a 2-2 file for the night. Hell, as I already touched on, some would say they need to have been 3-1 as Trinaldo’s loss wasn’t with out controversy. It seems there’s life after 40 in MMA in any case.

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MOST INTERESTING REQUEST

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Following his win over Viacheslav Borschev, Mike Davis made an attention-grabbing request in his post-fight interview: followers will get to see him within the Octagon extra typically if he can get 100K followers. In reality, he promised he’d struggle 4 occasions in 2023 if that may be completed. First off, I don’t suppose it’s sensible to write down checks that there’s no assurance he can money. Too many points might come up to make a promise like that one thing he falls in need of preserving—particularly when he has a historical past of struggling to make it to the cage. It doesn’t assist that it seems like he might have suffered a damaged orbital.

Second, the easiest way for him to get extra followers is to struggle as typically as doable. The following neatest thing to do is to supply entertaining content material on his social media. Suppose alongside the strains of Derrick Lewis. Plus, Davis didn’t specify the place all these followers are alleged to comply with him. Twitter? Instagram? I’m not attempting to tear on him. I discover Davis to be as entertaining a fighter as there’s on the market and would like to see him struggle as a lot as doable. Much more vital, I hope he finds success in choosing up as many followers as doable, in addition to within the cage. I simply fear he’s placing the cart earlier than the horse. Regardless, if it’ll assist, I’d suggest going out and giving him a comply with.

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Bonus Numbers: There’s a very good chunk of enjoyable info to take out of the bonuses. As I discussed, the entire bonuses had been awarded to the fighters on the prelims. What makes it that rather more spectacular is the UFC awarded six versus the same old 4. Within the course of, Cannetti ended the longest interval between OTN awards for the occasion, having final picked up one at UFC 180 in November 2014… when he was a youthful 34.

The evening additionally proved to be the primary bonus for 4 others: Chandler, Allen, Santos, and Castaneda. Trinaldo now has the longest hole of time from this occasion between Bonuses, securing the FOTN at UFC 198 in Might 2016, 13 fights in the past. Krzysztof Jotko is nipping on his heels, having final secured a bonus in June 2016, which was 11 fights in the past for the Pole. By way of by no means having secured a bonus, Yan has now gone 9 fights into her UFC profession with out a bonus.