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 were the three biggest surprises and the three biggest disappointments from UFC 179. Surprises Fabio Maldonado — Anyone who follows me knows I am a huge fan of Fabio Maldonado, but I wasn’t sure how he would do against Hans Stringer, and in the first round of their UFC 179 main card bout, things weren’t looking good. But in the second round a different Maldonado showed up, and when Stringer gassed, the Brazilian took advantage and smashed the Dutchman to bits, earning his fifth UFC victory as well as a hug from UFC legend Anderson Silva. Beneil Dariush — I’ll admit it, I just can’t pick Beneil Dariush’s fights properly. The Iranian fighter moved to 3-1 in the UFC with an upset win over Carlos Diego Ferreira, the fourth time in four UFC fights I have picked for/against incorrectly in a Dariush fight. Thankfully I know I’m not alone in that, as Dariush was a sizeable underdog against Ferreira, but still, I have to start giving Dariush more credit. He’s a very good fighter and he deserves a lot more praise than what he’s received in his career thus far. Tony Martin — In a lightweight bout, Tony Martin defeated Fabricio Camoes in the first round with a vicious kimura submission. Martin was 0-2 heading into the matchup and after being submitted by Beneil Dariush in his last fight, many, including myself, soured on him. I’m still not sold on Martin because his cardio is really bad, but he’s young at 24 years of age and still has solid potential in the sport, and he showed just that against Camoes. Disappointments Glover Teixeira — Glover Teixeira entered his UFC 179 bout against Phil Davis as a big favorite, but for whatever reason he just couldn’t pull the trigger on the feet and he was outwrestled in the grappling department as he lost a three-round unanimous decision. I really thought Teixeira was going to have a great performance and I was shocked he lost so easily. At 34 years of age and coming off of two-straight losses, I’m not sure where Teixeira goes from here. William Macario — There was quite a bit of hype surrounding William Macario following his blowout win over Bobby Voelker last year, but he just didn’t have what it takes to beat Neil Magny at UFC 179, falling to the American via third-round submission. Macario is only 22 and the Brazilian could still unlock his potential if he trains hard, but he clearly has a lot of work to do before he becomes something special. Scott Jorgensen — For the sixth time in eight fights, Scott Jorgensen lost, this time getting submitted in the first round by Wilson Reis. There were high hopes for Jorgensen after he came over to the UFC from the WEC but clearly those hopes were wrong, as the veteran is on a bad skid and likely to be released from the promotion. Look for Jorgensen to be cut and sign with an organization like Titan FC.
