Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA Today Sports
UFC 167 kicked off last night, which featured an exciting card from top to bottom. There were a lot of good finishes on the main card, and a lot of controversy in the main event. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of the event.
Winners
Rashad Evans: Evans scored an impressive TKO over Chael Sonnen in the first round. It was a much-needed win for Evans, because he didn’t really have the killer instinct in his last couple of performances. Now, Evans puts himself in the mix in the light heayvweight division, and it seems like he has the hunger to challenge for the belt again.
Tyron Woodley: Woodley dominated Josh Koscheck in the standup last night, getting the KO in the first round. It’s one of his mosti impressive finishes, considering it was over a durable vet in Kos. Now, Woodley is one step closer to a title shot, and he’s going to be a tough outing for anyone do deal with in the welterweight division.
Robbie Lawler: Lawler was a big underdog going up against Rory MacDonald, but this didn’t matter, as he was able to beat MacDonald. He landed good shots standing that rocked Rory, and when Lawler was taken down, he got right back up. It seems like training with American Top Team is paying off in dividends, and he proved to be the better fighter last night. It’s quite a turnaround for Lawler, who is now on a three-fight winning streak. One more win and he could be fighting for the title.
Losers
Georges St. Pierre: GSP is the biggest loser of the night. Yes, he ended up walking away with the belt, but everyone and their mother knew that he lost, except for the judges. GSP was rocked, beaten up and taken down by Hendricks for the majority of the fight. And, at the end of the fight, he semi-retired, leaving many fans to question what was next for the champ. It wasn’t GSP’s best performance, and almost every fan was outraged that he won.
Johny Hendricks: Hendricks did all of the right things in his championship fight with GSP. He won a lot of the ground exchanges, he rocked GSP on several occasions, and he cut GSP’s face up bad. Still, the judges gave the split decision to GSP. Hendricks’ title dreams were taken away by the judges, and it’s one of the worst decisions that has happened in the UFC in quite some time. Hopefully, Hendricks will be granted an immediate rematch and sometime soon.
Chael Sonnen: Sonnen was dominated by Evans in his fight, which took many people by surprise. Sonnen was not able to secure any takedowns, which is not normally the case for him in his fights. Now, he will have to regroup and come back stronger as a fighter, which will be against Wanderlei Silva.
