UFC 170 featured a number of standout performances that seemingly came out of nowhere, as well as a number of fighters who disappointed in their bouts. Here’s three surprises and three disappointments from UFC 170. Surprises Ronda Rousey — In the main event of UFC 170, Ronda Rousey put on a muay Thai clinic as she defended the UFC women’s bantamweight title for the third time with a knee-to-the-liver knockout victory over Sara McMann. Although she was tagged by McMann early in the fight, Rousey showed a good chin by taking the punches and then she showed that her strength is on another level as she smothered McMann up against the cage and kneed her repeatedly. Rousey looked amazing, and she proved once again she’s the most dominant women’s fighter on the planet at 135lbs. Mike Pyle — The veteran showed that at 38 he’s still one of the most dangerous welterweights in the division as he knocked out TJ Waldburger in the third round with some brutal elbows and punches on the ground. Pyle’s overall game is amongst the most well rounded of any fighter in the entire division and he is deserving of his spot in the top 15 after what was the most impressive performance of his long career. Stephen Thompson — “Wonderboy” put on a striking clinic against Robert Whittaker in the opening PPV bout of UFC 170. He used a number of effective body kicks to open up Whittaker’s guard and knock him out with a straight punch followed up by ground and pound. Thompson is a deadly striker and could be a threat at 170 pounds if he improves his grappling. Disappointments Sara McMann — I know that Rousey is on another level, but I did expect McMann to be more competitive with her and possibly even take Rousey a few rounds deep. Instead, McMann suffered the first loss of her career after folding from a knee to the body early in the first round. McMann can probably get another fight with Rousey if she picks up a few more wins in a shallow women’s bantamweight division, but it’s clear she needs to work on her game if she ever wants to dethrone the champ. Robert Whittaker — Outside of landing a few clean jabs early in his fight against Thompson, Robert Whittaker didn’t really do much as he suffered the first KO loss of his career. It was also the second-straight loss for the 23-year-old Australian, who is a former TUF champion. Whittaker is young and can still improve, but his striking defence is really bad and he needs to go back to the drawing board. Yosdenis Cedeno — And in the first fight of the UFC 170 card, Yosdenis Cedeno put on a stinker of a performance and didn’t deserve to defeat Ernest Chavez, who eeked out a decision win. Cedeno did show some flashy striking early and came on late in the fight, but for the majority of it was on his back or backpedaling, two things the judges hate. Cedeno also showed poor cardio. He has a lot of improvements he needs to make going forward, that’s for sure.
