Winners and Losers from UFC Vegas 10

No matter what the expectations anyone might’ve had going into this card, UFC Vegas 10 exceeded all of them. From top to bottom this card delivered anything one could’ve asked for. It had submissions, knockouts, underdogs, comebacks, and capped it off with Fight of the Night Main Event.

Let’s take a deeper look at who the winners and losers are coming out of this weekend.

Winners:

1. Kevin Croom: Our biggest winner of the night has to be the man who came in on short notice of 2 days. He checked in as the biggest underdog of the night and was making his UFC debut. Even with all that riding on his back, Croom delivered the performance of a lifetime. He secured the fastest win for a debuting lightweight in UFC history. And on top of all that he ends up taking home a $50,000 performance bonus. With his name now on the minds of Dana White and UFC fans, Croom has the opportunity to make his journey to the UFC, which took 11 years, one that has significant impact.
2. Michelle Waterson: After taking two straight losses in the UFC, Waterson was in jeopardy of falling down the ufc rankings and getting further and further away from a shot at the coveted strawweight championship. With this win tonight, she propels herself forward in the category of “2 fights away” from a shot at the belt. She would need to beat someone ranked 4-7 and then someone top 3 for her to secure that title shot. Getting this win was one that was key for the championship aspirations of the Karate Hottie.
3. Bobby Green: For as long as a career that Bobby Green has had, it seems like its all coming together for him now. After last nights win, Green is currently on a 3 fight win streak, the longest of his career since 2014. Primarily known as a striker, he showed total domination in the wrestling department. He scored 4 takedowns which was a personal best while also stuffing 5 of 6 from Alan Patrick, a BJJ Black belt. For Bobby Green, winning this fight means getting himself close to the top 20 in the lightweight rankings. His potential seems to be hitting stride and with this streak we could see Green in the top 15 rankings with another 2 wins. 

Losers

1. Mike Rodriguez: The biggest loser of the night was Slow Mike Rodriguez. He gets the biggest loser title because he was ROBBED from a win by the Referee and Ed Herman. Here’s the scene. Rodriguez has Herman in a muy thai clinch with his own back towards the referee. Rodriguez hits Herman with a knee straight to the solar plexus below the ribs, knocking the wind out of herman. After a few more punches to the face the ref comes and says the knee was to the groin which Sherman was pleased to abide by. He sells the groin strike and gets his 5:00 to recover from his near TKO. In the next round, after Rodriguez almost knocks Herman out, the referee doesn’t stop the fight and Herman gets a kimura lock to win. Huge mistake made by the referee and even Dana White said that it was a horrible job done by the ref. Fortunately for Mike even though he took the L, Dana was reluctant enough to give him his win money. 
2. Angela Hill: Losing decisions are tough. Losing split decisions are even worse. For Angela Hill, she’s just lost her second split decision… in a row. Knowing that one judge had it scored where you won the fight is something that eats away in a fighters mental. With this loss, she’s in jeopardy of falling out of the top 15 rankings. And even though she seems to be improving in every fight, it seems that her skillset wont line up with her rankings. If she wants to get into the title picture, she seemingly would have to win 4 in a row at this point. Her striking is on point, it seemed like the ability to mix it up with the takedowns was the hole in her game. Her defense was on point when it came to the takedowns but she never threatened one herself. If she’s able to get a takedown game into her repertoire, she could definitely work her way back up the rankings. 
3. Roosevelt Roberts: After winning 10 of his first 11, Roberts was looked at as a rising prospect in the UFC. Now losing two in a row, he sits at a record of 10-3. These last two losses for him were especially painful because it was two times in a row where he was caught in a submission quickly. As a brown belt in BJJ, he should’ve came in with much more awareness with defending the submissions. Now losing two in a row, he needs to do something to show out before he puts himself on the cutting board of the UFC. 

Other Winners and Losers:

Waterson def. Hill by split decision

Azaitar def. Worthy by TKO (punches) R1 1:33

Modafferi def. Lee by unanimous decision 

Herman def. Rodriguez by submission (kimura) R3 4:01 

Green def. Patrick by unanimous decision

Quarantillo def. Nelson by KO (punches) R3 0:07 

Eubanks def. Avila by unanimous decision

Croom def. Roberts by submission (guillotine choke) R1 0:31 

Romanov def. Martinez by submission (arm triangle choke) R2 4:22 

Turner def. Weaver by submission (rear naked choke) R2 4:20 

Barberena def. Ivy by unanimous decision 

Mazo def. Kish by submission (rear naked choke) R3 3:57 

You can follow Johnathan Ramlakhan on Twitter @ThreePieceCombo