The UFC returned to big FOX on Saturday night for the 20th iteration of UFC on FOX. The card was headlined by a women’s bantamweight bout between former champion Holly Holm and dangerous striker Valentina Shevchenko. The 11-fight card wasn’t the most anticipated heading in, and while the preliminary card sparked some fears, things picked up once the main card got started on FOX. All in all, 6 favorites won, while 5 upsets occurred. Here’s how everything played out based on the Several Bookmakers closing odds: Favorites That Won Another of Edson Barboza’s opponents will be walking with a limp for the next week or two. This time around former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez was the unfortunate party on the wrong side of the kicks, as his left leg and ribcage were covered in the welts by the time the judges scorecards came in. Barboza took the unanimous decision as a -230 favorite (bet $230 to win $100), and cemented himself as a lightweight title contender. In one of the most blatant displays of a squash match the UFC has put on in some time, Francis N’Gannou easily dispatched Bojan Mihajlovic. Mihajlovic looked hesitant to exchange with N’Gannou or attempt to take the fight to the ground, and went to his back after the first exchange. N’Gannou followed him to the ground and landed some clean hammerfists that forced Herb Dean to step in and stop the fight. The Frenchman closed as the biggest favorite on the card at -570, and easily warranted that number. In what was a trend on a relatively dull preliminary card, Darren Elkins used his wrestling and top position to take a unanimous decision over Godofredo Pepey. The Brazilian started early with a spinning wheel kick and some submission attempts, but didn’t help his own cause by repeatedly pulling guard in the second and third rounds. Elkins took full advantage and came through as a -230 favorite. Kamaru Usman was the beneficiary of a point deduction in his bout against Alexander Yakovlev, not that he needed any help. Usman’s wrestling and top control was absolutely dominant as he cruised to 30-25 scorecards across the board, and they arguably could have been even more lopsided. Usman remains undefeated in the UFC at 3-0, and looks to be ready to take a step up in competition after cashing as a -240 favorite. J.C. Cottrell came into his fight with Michel Prazeres on short notice, and moved up a weight class to get his foot in the UFC door. Both of those factors came into play as Prazeres was able to muscle him around, and Cottrell couldn’t take advantage even as ‘Trator’ faded in the third round. The Brazilian extended his UFC record to 4-2 as a -210 favorite. Alex Oliveira’s grappling game was simply too much for James Moontasri, as he became more and more dominant as the fight wore on and earned judges scorecards of 30-26, 30-26, and 30-25. Moontasri posed some early threat on the feet, but Oliveira instantly knew where he had an advantage and didn’t hesitate to use it early and often. The way the fight played out — and the scorecards — certainly justified Oliveira’s -210 price tag. Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, Valentina Shevchenko clearly outstruck former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm over the course of 25 minutes to cash as a +170 underdog (bet $100 to win $170). The win puts Shevchenko in line for a rematch with current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who Shevchenko lost a decision to recently. Given how strong Shevchenko has looked late in fights and Nunes history of slowing down, that could put the division in line for its fifth different champion in short order. It didn’t even take two minutes for Felice Herrig to make a successful return to the UFC. Herrig hadn’t stepped inside the Octagon for 15 months following her loss to Paige Van Zant, but showed no signs of ring rust as she quickly took Kailin Curran down and worked to her back. Curran tried to fight the rear-naked choke, but Herrig adjusted nicely to score the win at +130. Former WEC champion Eddie Wineland looked back to his old self against Frankie Saenz, as his movement and counter striking befuddled his opponent and allowed Wineland to score a third-round TKO as a +140 underdog. It was Wineland’s first win since January 2014, and perhaps his most impressive in the UFC. Being ranked 15th in the bantamweight division heading in, Wineland could jump back into the top 10. A lot of money came in on Jason Knight the past couple of days, but he still closed as a slight +105 underdog. All of that late money was right, as Knight made Jim Alers extremely uncomfortable on the feet and kept himself from being controlled on the ground. It was enough to net him a split decision in a fight most felt was far more clear than that. In the opening bout of the night, Luis Henrique took Dmitry Smolyakov into uncharted waters, and the Russian was unable to survive. Smolyakov landed some good shots early, but Henrique absorbed them and dragged the fight to the ground, where he exhausted his opponent. By the second round, Smolyakov had nothing left, and Henrique capitalized with a submission win as a +110 dog.
Quick One-Liners for UFC on FOX 20
