Surprises and Disappointments is a column featured on MMAOddsbreaker.com after every UFC event, highlighting three fighters who had surprising performances and three fighters who disappointed. Here are the three surprises and the three disappointments from the TUF 19 Finale. Surprises Eddie Gordon — In the finals of the TUF season 19 middleweight tournament, Eddie Gordon knocked out Dhiego Lima in brutal fashion early in the first round. Gordon is a training partner of UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman and fights with the same sort of aggressiveness that Weidman does. He is a superb prospect and the UFC has found a good one in him. Dustin Ortiz — In the opening main card bout, Dustin Ortiz battled back from nearly being submitted early in the first round to come back and do enough on the judges’ scorecards to squeak out a close split decision win against Justin Scoggins. It was Ortiz’ third win in the UFC and two of his three wins have come as an underdog. He has turned into a fantastic fighter and is a top-fire contender at 125lbs. Leandro Issa — In a fantastic bantamweight bout that won “Fight of the Night,” Leandro Issa came back from being down two rounds to submit Jumabieke Tuerxun late in the third round with an armbar to claim his first UFC win. The submission also garnered Issa a “Performance of the Night” bonus so overall he made $100,000 in bonuses for less than 15 minutes of work. Not a bad day at the office, and the fans will surely be excited to watch his next fight. Disappointments BJ Penn — He said he was feeling great at 145lbs, but after eating a series of elbows and punches on the ground by Frankie Edgar, BJ Penn was stopped for the third time in his career by T/KO and retired immediately after the fight. Penn looked old, slow, and seemingly devoid of any sort of motivation and it makes you wonder why the UFC booked this fight. He retired after the fight, though, so thankfully the fans won’t have to watch their hero suffer another beating. Matt Van Buren — He took offence to being the betting underdog, but the betting public proved they were right as Matt Van Buren was TKOed in the first round by Corey Anderson to lose his chance at becoming The Ultimate Fighter season 19 light heavyweight winner. It was a poor performance by Van Buren and the only reason he’ll get another fight in the UFC is because of his TUF connection. Alexis Dufresne — There was a ton of hype surrounding Alexis Dufresne, but holding top control wasn’t enough for the Nevada judges as she lost a controversial decision to Sarah Moras. Although I did think Dufresne edged the bout out, it was close enough that the judges could blow it and sure enough they did. Dufresne needs a lot of work done to improve her skillset, and hopefully she rounds out her game before her second UFC fight.
