Six favorites lost at UFC Fight Night 29, which means that there were a lot of disappointing performances from fighters expected to win. I’ll give TJ Dillashaw and Iliarde Santos passes since they both came to fight, but the other four favorites that lost should have performed way better. And there was also one favorite who had an extremely disappointing performance on the card, who I’ll give a dishonorable mention to below as well. Five disappointing fighters at UFC Fight Night 29. Here we go. Demian Maia (-330) In the main event of the evening Demian Maia got outgrinded by Jake Shields and lost the fight by a close split decision on the judges’ cards. I was expecting Maia to run through Shields like he had everyone else in the division but instead he was taken down and controlled by Shields throughout the course of five rounds, losing as a huge favorite and essentially eliminating any possibility of a title shot, at least in the near future. Erick Silva (-170) Many were picking Dong Hyun Kim to upset Erick Silva, but no one expected the young Brazilian phemom to get knocked out. That’s what happened in the second round, and Silva now drops to 3-3 in UFC, a very disappointing record for a fighter many expected to contend for the welterweight title. Silva is a good fighter but it’s clear he was overhyped by everyone and while he might beat guys in the mid tier of the division, I don’t think he’ll crack the top 10 anytime soon. Thiago Silva (-380) Yes, he did get the win, but how could anyone say anything about Thiago Silva’s performance against Matt Hamill? He came in fat, missed weight, looked awful in the cage and couldn’t even finish Hamill despite the fact “The Hammer” was in dire straits at numerous points throughout the match. This isn’t the kind of win that is going to elevate Silva in the standings and instead the UFC might actually give him a lesser-ranked guy than Hamill his next time out, which would really say something about how they view him. Mike Pierce (-230) Mike Pierce was submitted with a heel hook by Rousimar Palhares in the first round in what was a giant upset in my eyes. I really though Pierce would fight smarter than he did, but instead of keeping the distance he quickly got inside with Palhares and ended up nearly losing his knee for it. This is a big loss for Pierce and he will drop down considerably in the welterweight ranks while Palhares likely jumps into the top 15. Ildemar Alcantara (-345) The preliminary card fighter who disappointed the most was definitely Ildemar Alcantara, who looked like absolute dead meat against TUF 16 vet Igor Araujo. Alcantara was one of the biggest favorites on the card and should have been able to beat a fighter who couldn’t even cut it on The Ultimate Fighter, but instead he was just content to lie on his back for 15 minutes and take a chance the judges would screw up. They didn’t, Alcantara lost, and now he’ll be in a must-win situation the next time we see him in the Octagon.
