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 186. Surprises John Makdessi – John Makdessi did not get much respect from the betting public against Shane Campbell, but he showed all the money coming in on his opponent was wrong as he beat the daylights out of Campbell, finishing him in brutal fashion with just a few seconds left in the round. While Campbell showed impressive toughness in the fight, Makdessi showed awesome everything else, emerging as a bonafide lightweight darkhorse with a huge victory in his adopted hometown of Montreal. Alexis Davis – Alexis Davis entered her trilogy fight against Sarah Kaufman down 0-2 in their series, but she took the trilogy with an upset armbar submission win in the second round. Davis was looking terrible in the first round and was well on her way to a loss, but she came on strong in round two, achieved a position on the ground to exhibit her sub game, and eventually found the tapout of Kaufman. It was a huge win for Davis, and keeps her in the division’s top 10. Bryan Barberena – He didn’t win his fight, but I was still impressed with Bryan Barberena’s performance against Chad Laprise. Barberena entered the fight as a massive underdog but he held his own for 15 minutes and made it to the cards. The judges in Laprise’s adopted home of Montreal unanimously agreed with Laprise winning the fight, but if this matchup took place anywhere other than Canada it could have possibly been one of those controversial split decision types of fights – it was that competitive, and Barberena earned a lot of newfound respect with a very workmanlike performance. Disappointments Fabio Maldonado – The odds had Fabio Maldonado listed as a big underdog to Quitnon “Rampage” Jackson, but it seemed clear during the fight that Maldonado had a very good chance to win it – if he actually threw any punches. Known for his volume boxing attack, for some reason Maldonado didn’t throw enough punches on a clearly-gassed “Rampage” in the second and third rounds and ended up losing a decision he could have won had he actually did anything in the fight. Just a disappointing performance by Maldonado in a fight he could have won. Sarah Kaufman – Sarah Kaufman looked to be in cruise control in her fight against Alexis Davis in round one, clearing winning nearly every single one of the striking exchanges, but in the second she was taken down by Davis and tapped out to an armbar. Kaufman is a great boxer, but she’s been submitted with three armbars now and clearly needs to work on his submission game. Overall, for someone favored so highly going into this fight, it was a very disappointing performance by Kaufman. Chris Clements – After getting a knockout win in his last fight, I felt like Chris Clements had a very good chance of upsetting Nordine Taleb, a grinder with a limited skillset on the feet. Instead, Clements looked like he was not prepared for the takedowns as he was taken down in every round and grinded out en route to a boring decision loss. Clements is 39 and after such a boring loss, you have to wonder if he’s going to call it quits.
