Surprises and Disappointments is a column featured on MMAOddsbreaker.com after every UFC event, highlighting three fighters who had surprising performances and three fighters who disappointed. Here are the three surprises and the three disappointments from UFC 172. Surprises Anthony Johnson — In his return to the Octagon, Anthony Johnson beat Phil Davis fair and square with a three-round sweep on the judges’ scorecards. Johnson’s takedown defence and wrestling looked great and he’ll move up the ranks with this win. For his next fight, let him take on Glover Teixeira. Max Holloway — Although he had seven more UFC appearances than his opponent Andre Fili, Max Holloway was still the underdog heading into their UFC 172 matchup. But he proved the betting public wrong by hanging in tough with Fili until the very end, finishing him off with a guillotine choke in the final two minutes of the fight. A huge win for Holloway, and I’d like to see him fight someone like Godofredo Pepey next. Chris Beal — In one of the most impressive UFC debuts of the year, TUF 18 alum Chris Beal knocked out Patrick Williams with a beautiful flying knee right to the jaw. Beal won “Performance of the Night” for this amazing finish, one that will get him off of Fight Pass for the foreseeable future and onto the TV portion of whatever card he fights on next. For his next fight, let’s see him take on fellow striker Lucas Martins. Disappointments Phil Davis — In the biggest upset of the night, Phil Davis lost out on a potential title shot with a listless unanimous decision loss to Anthony Johnson. Although “Rumble” has to be given credit for looking so good in the fight, Davis clearly overlooked him and it will cost him his spot in the top five of the division. Davis is only 29, though, so he has time to turn things around, but his stock dropped greatly with this loss. For his next fight, let him fight Jimi Manuwa. Jessamyn Duke — In one of the most disappointing performances of the evening, Jessamyn Duke was outpointed en route to a clear-cut decision loss to Bethe Correia which dropped her overall Octagon record to 1-1. This was an awful fight and Duke looked terrible in it. Because the women’s division is so thin she doesn’t drop too far back in the rankings, but she absolutely needs to win her next fight. Let her fight TUF 18 housemate Jessica Rakoczy next. Charlie Brenneman — And in the first fight on the televised portion of the card, Charlie Brenneman was finished yet again, this time courtesy of a blistering overhand right from Danny Castillo. Brenneman controlled the early goings of the fight with some very heavy wrestling but once again his defence failed him and he dropped to 0-2 in his latest stint in the UFC. Although he’s a good wrestler, Brenneman doesn’t have the standup to compete in the UFC and will likely be cut.
