It was a main card filled with upsets, as Rafael Dos Anjos capped off the evening with an impressive performance over five rounds to defeat former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Dos Anjos seemed to have the perfect strategy to dismantle Lawler as he chopped away at his foundation with a series of brutal leg kicks before then pressing forward with a flurry of strikes over and over again. Dos Anjos did his best work from inside the clinch as he continuously punished Lawler to the head and body, wearing him down round after round.
Dos Anjos was always wary of Lawler’s ability to fire back in the pocket, but the Brazilian contender was just too savvy over five rounds as he poured on the damage en route to a unanimous decision victory.
The main event matchup between Lawler and Dos Anjos was very close on paper, which is why the fight was worth an extra 120 points. Ultimately, it was Dos Anjos who got the job done, but only 25 percent of players actually picked him going into the card. Another 43 percent correctly predicted that Dos Anjos would win by decision, which certainly helps those point totals at the end of the night.
Of course, the biggest upset on the entire card took place in the co-main event, where Josh Emmett stunned the Winnipeg crowd with a vicious first-round knockout of former featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas. Emmett landed a picture perfect left hook that sent Lamas crashing to the canvas with the referee quickly rushing in to stop the fight.
Emmett was only selected by 13 percent of fantasy players, which was easy to understand, considering he was unranked and stepping up to take on a top five fighter. Still, the players who picked him definitely benefitted by his performance while also picking up an extra 50 points because he did take the fight on short notice.
The hits just kept on coming as Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Mike Perry in a three-round slugfest in the welterweight division. While Ponzinibbio was ranked No. 10, he was still the underdog according to fantasy players, with just 39 percent picking him to beat the heavy-handed Perry.
Former light heavyweight title contender Glover Teixeira capped off a main card filled with upsets as he defeated highly-touted Misha Cirkunov by first-round TKO after 47 percent of fantasy players selected him.
Jan Blachowicz picked up another impressive win as he continues to climb the light heavyweight ranking, as he defeated Jared Cannonier via decision in the featured preliminary bout. Blachowicz was also considered an underdog, with 34 percent of fantasy players picking him.
After debuting on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Julian Marquez made good on his first UFC appearance with a win over Darren Stewart while he was a very slight underdog in the matchup. Only 49 percent of fantasy players picked him to win and Marquez also earned an extra 40 points because it was his debut.
The first favorite on the card to come away with a victory was Canada’s own Chad Laprise, who finished Galore Bofando by TKO after 71 percent of fantasy players had picked him to win. Nodine Taleb also got the job done in front of a home audience as he took out Danny Roberts with a nasty first-round knockout with 72 percent of fantasy players picking him. Taleb also earned players who selected him an extra 120 points because his fight with Roberts was a close a matchup.
John Makdessi picked up a big win over Abel Trujillo over three rounds with just 26 percent of fantasy players selecting him. Alessio Di Chirico also pulled off an upset as he defeated Oluwale Bamgbose by knockout after just 22 percent of fantasy players picked him. Di Chirico also earned an extra 120 points thanks to the fight with Bamgbose being so close going into the event.
The only other favorite to get a win on Saturday night was Jordan Mein, who got past Erick Silva with a very impressive outing with 53 percent of fantasy players picking him in the welterweight matchup. Once again, because it was a tight matchup on paper, Mein earned an extra 120 points for the players who selected him.
When the event was over, nine total upsets occurred based on the selections made by fantasy players, with only three favorites coming away victorious in what ultimately ended up as one of the biggest cards for underdogs in all of 2017
