A month ago this looked like a card worthy of network television. Going against boxing on NBC and the NBA playoffs, the UFC and Fox pulled out the big guns.
Top lightweights Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov were scheduled to do battle in a fight likely to crown an eventual title challenger. Meanwhile veteran mainstays Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans were booked to give the young stars plenty of support among casual fans.
By fight night, however, only one original contest survived. Thanks to injuries and the continuing PED plague, Evans and Teixeira became the main event by default.
The bout, scheduled for five rounds, ended quickly courtesy of a Teixeira left hook. It's a victory that will give him a second chance at title glory and send the 36-year-old Evans home with some important decisions to make about his career and life.
"My focus is always to finish fights," Teixeira said after the fight. "I am here to take care of business and always want things to end as quickly as possible. The fight could have easily gone to five rounds but it didn’t."
The main event, of course, wasn't the only bout on the card. Technically there were 10 other winners and 10 losers. You'll find a complete account on the last slide.
But, as any MMA fan could tell you, official results only mean so much. What follows are the real winners and losers, the men and women who impacted the card for good or ill.
Have some thoughts of your own to share? Sound off in the comments.
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