At every UFC event, there’s always a few fighters that stand out and a few fighters who let everyone down, and UFC Fight Night 36 was no different. Here’s three fighters that surprised with their performances, and three that disappointed. Surprises Joe Proctor — In a preliminary lightweight bout, Joe Proctor showed improved striking in a clear-cut unanimous decision win over Cristiano Marcello. Proctor had been out for 14 months so to see him come back and put on a performance like that was surprising to me, even though he was of course the favorite heading into the fight. Francisco Trinaldo — In a lightweight bout, Francisco Trinaldo displayed improved cardio as he was able to go the full three rounds with youngster Jesse Ronson and win a split decision. A good win for Trinaldo, and he’ll continue to be a solid middle-of-the-pack fighter for the UFC. Ildemar Alcantara — In a welterweight bout, Ildemar Alcantara was able to win a split decision over UFC newcomer Albert Tumenov. It was a close fight that could have gone either way, but considering he was coming off a terrible loss to Igor Araujo, it was a pretty surprising performance by Alcantara against a fighter nine years younger than him. Disappointments Gegard Mousasi — In the main event of the evening, Gegard Mousasi stayed competitive with Lyoto Machida but didn’t do enough to earn the biggest decision of his career. Mousasi gave up the early rounds and didn’t mount any sort of offense until it was too late. A very disappointing performance by Mousasi, who many thought would win the fight. Viscardi Andrade — In a main card welterweight battle, Viscardi Andrade was able to knock down Nico Musoke early on but he celebrated prematurely, his opponent recovered, and Andrade lost the next two rounds to lose a unanimous decision. Considering he could have finish Musoke had he not acted like a goof, it was a disappointing performance and Andrade’s fight IQ is clearly a giant question mark going forward. Maximo Blanco — In a featherweight bout on the prelims, Maximo Blanco once again committed an illegal infraction as he kicked Felipe Arantes in the groin and lost a point in a close fight. It didn’t matter anyways as Blanco was going to lose either way, but still, more was expected out of the former Sengoku star, who could very well be cut from the UFC after yet another loss.
