UFC 227 has come and gone, and now it’s time to reflect on the fighters’ performances from the card in the latest edition of the MMAOB stock report.
Stock Way Up
Henry Cejudo – A tremendous peformance by Cejudo as he became the man to dethrone Demetrious Johnson and win the UFC flyweight title. Cejudo had the more effective striking and the more effective grappling in the fight and he deserved to win the title. We’ll see what’s next for him, but a trilogy fight with Johnson makes sense.
TJ Dillashaw – Dillashaw was able to knock out his rival Cody Garbrandt for the second consecutive fight to prove beyond a doubt that he’s the best bantamweight in the world right now. Is a rematch with Dominick Cruz up next?
Renato Moicano – Another terrific win for Moicano as he was able to submit Cub Swanson for arguably the biggest victory of his career to date. He should get a top-five opponent once again in his next fight.
Alex Perez – One of the best performances on the card came on the prelims when Perez brutally knocked out Jose Torres with a ridiculous standing TKO. It’s a shame Perez didn’t win a bonus as this was an incredible breakthrough peformance by a youngster who looks like he’ll be a flyweight contender for years to come.
Stock Up
JJ Aldrich – A decent win for Aldrich over Polyana Viana on the main card, but more was expected from these two ladies after being put on PPV as the fight was not fun to watch.
Pedro Munhoz – Munhoz had arguably his most complete UFC performance to date as he was able to dominate Brett Johns to get back in the win column. He’s one of the best bantamweights in the UFC.
Ricky Simon – A tremendous performance by Simon as he was able to take down Montel Jackson at will and control him to pick up his second win in the UFC.
Sheymon Moraes – A solid victory for Moraes as he was able to outpoint Matt Sayles to pick up his first UFC victory.
Marlon Vera – Vera picked up a nice knockout win with a body punch in the night’s opening fight opposite Wuliji Buren, but remember, he was beating one of the worst guys in the division. A solid win but nothing more considering the opponent.
Stock Remains The Same
Demetrious Johnson – Even though he lost his title to Cejudo, it was most definitely a close fight that could have gone either way. Johnson is still one of the best fighters in the world and should come back stronger than ever.
Thiago Santos and Kevin Holland – The two middleweights had a fun fight where Santos pretty much battered Holland who was able to survive until the final bell. It’s a fight that won’t move either guy up or down the ladder.
Ricardo Ramos and Kyung Ho Kang – These two went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes and while Ramos edged out a split decision it was a close fight where both guys showed some good things and bad things.
Weili Zhang – She had a solid UFC debut with a dominant decision win over Danielle Taylor and she looks to be a solid prospect at 115lbs.
Stock Down
Cody Garbrandt – That’s now two-straght KO losses by Garbrandt against Dillashaw, but at least it was the champ who knocked him out. He figures to be a top-five talent for a while but his chin is brittle.
Polyana Viana – The UFC gave Viana a spot on the PPV and she blew it with a poor performance in a loss to Aldrich.
Brett Johns – That’s two straight losses for Johns now and while he did show toughness and durability against Munhoz, at this point it’s pretty clear that he’s not the elite talent some of us thought he was back in Titan FC.
Montel Jackson – One of the top propsects off of the Contender Series, Jackson had a disappointing UFC debut as he was dominated by Ricky Simon, but he’s young enough that he can bounce back quickly.
Matt Sayles – A disappointing UFC debut by Sayles but at least he had a strong third round against Moraes and it might be enough to give him some confidence going forward.
Stock Way Down
Cub Swanson – He’s now lost three straight fights and this latest loss to Moicano wasn’t even competitive. Swanson is done as an elite talent and at this point it looks like he’s going to be a gatekeeper at best.
Jose Torres – Torres suffered one of the most brutal losses on the card when he was knocked out standing by Perez, and this is the kind of knockout loss that can potentially change a fighter’s career.
Danielle Taylor – Another loss for Taylor against Zhang, and it might be enough to get her cut by the UFC. She isn’t exactly an exciting fighter and she’s on a losing skid so that might be it for her.
Wuliji Buren – A really bad loss by Buren against Vera in the card’s opening bout as he was knocked out with a body punch. I really don’t see him going anywhere in the UFC.
