On a rare Sunday evening card, UFC Fight Night 61 went head-to-head with the likes of WWE Fastlane, the Oscars and the Walking Dead. They’re likely the underdog in the ratings battle, one they won’t win, but the underdogs on their fight card did exceptionally. The Brazilian card made a little history, as well.
Headlined by aging heavyweights Frank Mir and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, the card was one of the weaker in recent history, one in which has been facing depth issues for quite a while. Frank Mir managed a career saving knockout, as Antonio Silva looked like his career may be in question now that he’s unable to use TRT, which he probably actually needs. Mir’s win is excellent for the UFC, who would probably love to book a third fight with current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.
Despite being ranked at #12 and being on a three fight win streak, Michael Johnson was listed as a slight underdog to opponent Edson Barboza. Johnson beat Barboza at his own striking game on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Iuri Alcantara had his three fight winning streak stopped by Frankie Seanz, undefeated Sean Strickland had his unbeaten record stained by Santiago Ponzinibbio, and top-15 lightweight Rustam Khabilov was downed by unranked Adriano Martins. It didn’t stop there, however, as highly favored Cezar Ferreira was knocked out by Sam Alvey, and #10-ranked Jessica Andrade was submitted by 37-year old Marion Reneau. In all there were a UFC record ten upsets on the show.
Full UFC Fight Night 61 results are below:
Main Card
Frank Mir (#13) def. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (#8) via knockout (punches and elbows), Round 1, 1:40
Michael Johnson (#12) def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Sam Alvey def. Cezar Ferreira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:34
Adriano Martins def. Rustam Khabilov (#14) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Frankie Saenz def. Iuri Alcantara (#8) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Sean Strickland via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Prelim Card
Marion Reneau def. Jessica Andrade (#10) via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:54
Matt Dwyer def. William Macario via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:14
Mike De La Torre def. Tiago Trator via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:59
Douglas Silva def. Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Ivan Jorge def. Josh Shockley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
