Saturday night saw UFC 198 take place in front of the largest crowd to ever witness an MMA card in Brazil. Naturally, the event was stocked with Brazilian fighters, and despite an extremely strong start by them, the night belonged to Cleveland, Ohio’s Stipe Miocic. The underdog in the main event came through as a +165 underdog (bet $100 to win $165) at Several Bookmakers, to capture the UFC heavyweight title. The end came at just 2:47 of the first round, as Miocic countered a wild Fabricio Werdum flurry with a perfectly placed right hand that instantly put the champion out cold. It was the first time Werdum had been knocked out since it happened at the hands of the last man to defeat Miocic, Junior dos Santos, all the way back in 2008. Even the new champion was surprised at what he had done, leaping over the fence to celebrate with his team screaming, “I’m a world champion.” With an upset capping the night, how did the rest of the 12-fight card play out? Favorites That Won In the co-main event, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza finished Vitor Belfort at 4:38 of round one. It wasn’t Jacare’s vaunted submission skills that got him the victory, although his grappling did set everything up. After an initial takedown, Belfort was able to scramble back to his feet, however Jacare stuck to the former champion. A second takedown saw Jacare advance to mount, where he unloaded with punches to force the referee stoppage. The former Strikeforce champion was a -270 favorite heading in. The biggest favorite of the night looked exactly that, as Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino demolished Leslie Smith just 81 seconds into her UFC debut. Cyborg closed as a massive -1500 favorite. It was partly what we’ve come to expect from Cyborg, although most women who go up against her aren’t complaining about early stoppages. Credit to Leslie Smith for wanting to continue, but there was zero doubt about the outcome. Although Jacare didn’t stick to the plan with a submission victory, Demian Maia certainly did. In what was a painful evening for Matt Brown — even if he didn’t absorb too many strikes — Maia completely dominated with takedowns and expert back control for the majority of the 14:31 bout. In the end, the -335 favorite snaked his arm under Brown’s chin and forced a tap in the final minute. Thiago Santos was another fighter who did almost exactly what was expected. Most people thought Santos would finish Nate Marquardt with a kick, but it was punches that did the trick in the first round stoppage. ‘Marreta’ has now won four fights in a row in the UFC, and seems on the verge of making a run. As a -345 favorite, he is certainly starting to get the respect of the betting public. In one of the best fights of the first six months this year, Francisco Trinaldo extended his own winning streak. The 37-year-old has now had his hand raised six times in a row, this time over Yancy Medeiros. It wasn’t all easy going for the -265 favorite, as Medeiros rocked him badly in the second round, but the majority of the fight saw him blast Medeiros with hard shots. The performance even spawned a rare scorecard with multiple 10-8’s from one judge. A future title contender may have been on display in the opening bout of the Fox Sports 1 prelims, as John Lineker best Rob Font by decision. The relentless pressure from Lineker saw repeated shots to the body land, and he was also able to score top position on several occasions to do damage. The former flyweight was a -145 favorite. Underdogs That Won In one of the nostalgic moments on the card, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua defeated Corey Anderson as a +140 underdog. Although many onlookers scored the bout for Anderson, Shogun benefitted from hurting his foe at the end of both the first and second rounds. Anderson used his wrestling better in the third, but it wasn’t enough to sway more than one judge. The biggest upset of the night came courtesy of Bryan Barberena, and any discussion of biased Brazilian judging could be countered with the unanimous 29-28 scorecards on this one. The consensus seemed that Warlley Alves won the first round and Barberena the third, with a close second deciding it. All three judges gave it to the +480 underdog despite being the visiting fighter. Not the Barberena didn’t deserve the decision, but it was certainly a round that could go either way. On a night where it was announced that his brother Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira provided the best moment. After fending off a couple of early takedown attempts from Pat Cummins, Nogueira opened up with his hands and clipped the American. It took a tremendous amount for Nogueira to get the fight stopped, but when it was, the crowd erupted for the +205 underdog. The opening bout of the night got things off to a good start. Renato Moicano and Zubaira Tukhugov put on a solid fight that saw Moicano gain steam into the second and third rounds. In the end, two of the three judges scored the bout 29-28 for him, and he cashed at +100 as the first of four underdogs on the night. Cancelled Bets In a fight that was closer than many expected it to be, Sergio Moraes backers may have felt a bit ripped off to see their -410 tickets not cash. After being rocked in the first round, Moraes recovered and took the last two for what most expected to be a win. In the end, the result was a split draw, with one judge surprisingly scoring it for Luan Chagas.
