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 were the three biggest surprises and the three biggest disappointments from UFC Fight Night 57. Surprises Frankie Edgar — In a featherweight match that served as the main event, Frankie Edgar dominated Cub Swanson for nearly five full rounds before pulling off a submission with just four seconds left in the fight. It wasn’t necessarily surprising that Edgar won, but the fact he was so dominant was, at least to me. It was Edgar’s most complete performance ever, and he proved with the win that he is absolutely worthy of getting a rematch against UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Akbarh Arreola — In a lightweight fight, Akbarh Arreola picked up the most important win of his career, a first-round tapout of MMA pioneer Yves Edwards. Arreola was a sizeable underdog heading into the bout but proved with the win he is indeed a UFC-caliber fighter. Beating Edwards at this point of his career isn’t going to vault Arreola into the top 10, but it will earn him at least one or two more fights inside the Octagon. Paige VanZant — In a women’s strawweight bout, Paige VanZant showed she isn’t overrated, but rather underrated as she came through as the underdog with a third-round TKO win over Kailin Curran. VanZant, who is only 20, showed terrific skills in the wrestling, striking and submission departments and is absolutely someone to watch out for in the future. I think she has star potential written all over her, and the UFC has to get her on TV her next time out. Disappointments Brad Pickett — In a bantamweight match, Brad Pickett was competitive but just didn’t quite have enough in the striking department to get by Chico Camus, who won a decision in his flyweight debut. Pickett is 1-2 since dropping down to flyweight and hasn’t looked good at all in any of his 125 lb bouts. I like Pickett a lot, but it looks like his career is coming to an end. Maybe he could try for one more run at 135lbs, but even that might just be a bad idea considering his poor performances against the killers at the top of the division before he dropped down. Jared Rosholt — In a heavyweight fight, Jared Rosholt looked good in the early goings against Oleksiy Oliynyk, beating his opponent up against the fence, but Oliynyk threw a haymaker punch out of nowhere that knocked Rosholt out cold for the upset win. Rosholt had won three straight in the UFC prior to this fight and had some hype surrounding him, but after this shock loss he’ll need to start back over again near the bottom of the heavyweight ladder. Luke Barnatt — In a middleweight bout, Luke Barnatt laid an egg for the second-straight fight, this time losing a split decision to Roger Narvaez. Barnatt looked slow and tentative to throw the whole fight, and while he did keep it close until the third, he got cracked by a Narvaez head kick in the final frame and was nearly finished. He did have a chance to win since he made it to the decision, but the judges sided with Narvaez. I like Barnatt but he’s looked terrible in two straight fights now, and the UFC is going to have to give him a total can next to get his career back on track.
