These were the three biggest surprises and the three biggest disappointments from UFC Fight Night 70. The Surprises Yoel Romero — The main event of UFC Fight Night 70 saw a star born as Romero finished Lyoto Machida for his highest-profile victory in the Octagon to date. The betting line favored Machida, but it was clear as the fight played out that Romero was the better fighter, and he proved it by getting the stoppage. Romero is a scary beast, and a threat to the middleweight title. Tony Sims — One of the nicest surprises on the card came on the prelims as Sims knocked out Steve Montgomery in brutal fashion. Sims’ power shone through in this fight despite it being up a weight class and on short notice, which makes you wonder how good he might look in his next fight at 155lbs with a proper fight camp. Sirwan Kakai — One of the few underdogs on the card to cash was Kakai, who outgunned Danny Martinez to earn a decision in his first UFC bout. Kakai took the fight on very short notice but he didn’t look like he wasn’t prepared for the occasion as he showed solid striking and wrestling in all three rounds to beat a durable veteran and turn some heads going forward. The Disappointments Eddie Gordon — After winning TUF 19 with a knockout of Dhiego Lima, Gordon has now lost thee-straight fights in the UFC following his third-round submission loss to Antonio Carlos Junior. Gordon just doesn’t have what it takes to compete at the UFC level, at least as a middleweight. Maybe he can try his hand at welterweight, otherwise the UFC will likely cut him. Steve Bosse — Two years out of the cage sure didn’t serve Bosse well as he was brutally finished by Thiago Santos with a head kick in the first round. Considering his age, all the injuries he’s had, and the state of his chin after a brutal career as a hockey enforcer, perhaps it was too much to expect even a competitive fight out of Bosse. He should be released, and should retire. Lewis Gonzalez — First he showed up four pounds overweight, and then he put on a poor performance in his loss to Leandro Silva. I like Gonzalez, but this was not a good way to make a first impression in the UFC. Hopefully he gets one more fight with a full camp, but either way it’s clear Gonzalez, a former top contender in WSOF, is more like a lower-tier gatekeeper then any sort of contender at all, at least in the UFC.
