On Saturday night, UFC 186 emanated live on pay-per-view from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event was a fun one, featuring Demetrious Johnson successfully defending his UFC Flyweight Championship against Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event. Elsewhere on the card, fan favorites Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Michael Bisping both picked up unanimous decision wins. Below, LWOS books the fights for the UFC 186 main card winners and losers:
Demetrious Johnson: Johnson proved once again that he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet by dominating Horiguchi for nearly five full rounds, then finishing him off with a slick armbar with one second remaining in the fight. Johnson has won eight straight fights, and since dropping to flyweight, he’s 8-0-1. Arguably his toughest foe in that stretch was John Dodson. They fought in the main event of UFC on FOX 6 back in January of 2013, with Dodson dominating the first two rounds before Johnson came storming back in the last three frames to take home a decision victory. Everyone wants to see the rematch, and if Dodson can get past Zach Makovsky next month at UFC 187, then Johnson vs Dodson II makes all the sense in the world.
Kyoji Horiguchi: Horiguchi was looking to win his tenth straight fight, in addition to capturing the flyweight title on Saturday night, but instead he was stopped for the first time in his career. Horiguchi looked solid throughout the fight, but Johnson was just too much for the 24-year-old. Horiguchi is still young, and he’ll more than likely earn another title shot before his time in the sport is done. To start his path back to the top contender status, he should fight Ali Bagautinov next. Bagautinov is coming off of a loss to Johnson as well, plus a one year suspension for a failed drug test in that fight. Match up the former title challengers, and see who comes out on top and gets on step closer back to challenging Johnson again.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson: Rampage looked better than expected in his return to the octagon. He was surprisingly active, and his addition of leg kicks to his game was effective. Post-fight, Rampage said he wanted to avenge his losses, and while those would produce some fun fights, I think he should next face Ovince Saint Preux. Saint Preux is coming off of back-to-back knockout wins over Shogun Rua and Patrick Cummins, and if he can beat Rampage, he could be on the cusp of a title shot.
Fabio Maldonado: Rampage was arguably the biggest name Maldonado has ever fought, but he fell short. We’ve seen much more active performances from Maldonado in the past, and if he was more active here, he may have been able to make the fight closer. Maldonado’s fights are usually a joy to watch, especially when he’s paired with a fellow striker. Jan Blachowicz fits that bill. Like Maldonado, Blachowicz is coming off a slightly disappointing loss to Jimi Manuwa, where Blachowicz was also somewhat inactive. Maybe a match up between the Brazilian and the Pole will get both of their juices properly flowing.
Michael Bisping: After getting dropped in the first, Bisping came roaring back with his trademark endless cardio, and in classic Bisping fashion, he just kept outworking CB Dollaway until the American gassed out. Bisping said in his post-fight interview that he still has aspirations of a title shot, but after alternating wins and losses over his last eight fights and the middleweight division being stacked with more title challengers than ever, Bisping seems as far away from a title shot as he ever has. In that case, he needs to just keep plugging away and picking up wins, and that should start with Thales Leites. Since returning to the UFC in 2013, Leites has gone 5-0, and picked up two Performance of the Night bonuses and a Fight of the Night bonus.
CB Dollaway: After winning four-of-five in one of the best stretches of his career, Dollaway has now lost two straight. Granted, they were to former champion Lyoto Machida and perennial contender Bisping, but no one wants a losing streak, no matter how stiff the competition. In a lot of ways, Ed Herman reminds me of Dollaway. Both finished as runner-up on their respective seasons of TUF, and both have had mixed results inside the octagon, including monster wins and devastating losses. Match them up next.
John Makdessi: Makdessi was away from the octagon for 14 long months, but he made a huge splash in his return with an awesome knockout of Shane Campbell. Campbell was a short notice replacement for Abel Trujillo, and Makdessi vs Trujillo is still a fun match up that everyone wants to see. Rebook it.
Shane Campbell: Not the ideal debut for Campbell. He gets bonus points for taking the fight on short notice, and he’ll definitely be a fun fighter to watch. Alex Oliveira recently made his UFC debut under similar circumstances as Campbell, and they should fight each other next. This will be an action packed bout on the feet, especially if both men get a proper training camp this time around.
Thomas Almeida: Almeida looked fantastic in his first round finish of Yves Jabouin, and the undefeated 23-year-old looks to be on the fast track to superstardom. A good next test would be another veteran fighter, Masanori Kanehara. Kanehara has over forty career fights, and he won his UFC debut versus Alex Caceres last September.
Yves Jabouin: Jabouin is 35 now, and has alternated wins and losses since 2012. He’s still fun to watch strike though, and a fight against TUF 8 veteran George Roop could provide an entertaining styles clash. Make the fight, and someone will likely get finished.
