The Winners & Losers From UFC Newark

The Winners & Losers From UFC Newark

By Claudia Peterson

UFC on ESPN 5 went down in Newark, New Jersey this past weekend. The fight night had a strong card, with many notable and upcoming fighters showcasing their skills. However, there are a few fighters who had the most to gain and the most to lose from their performances.

Colby Convington was by far the biggest winner of the night. A former interim welterweight champion, Chaos was out of action for about one year before Saturday. Colby certainly did not suffer from any ring rust, and came into Saturday’s fight with full dominance and cardio for days. He executed the perfect fight, mixing up his wrestling with his striking, to outclass former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, and set a new record for most significant strikes landed in a single bout in the process.

With this win, Colby now has wins over two former champions, and notable wins over Damien Maia, Don Hyun Kim and Bryan Bareberana. On top of that, Chaos now has 7 wins in a row and has not lost in four years. It will be tough to deny him a title shot and we should expect him to face the champion Kumaru Usman next.

Antonina Shevchenckko: Coming off a unanimous decision loss to Roxanne Modaferi, La Pantera put on an impressive performance against Lucie Pudilova on the preliminary card, and earned her first career win by submission as well as fight of the night for the first time in her career.

Shevchenko showed a lot of power and resilience early on in the fight, dominating the clinch and fighting through a bloody left eyebrow through the first round. What was most impressive about Shevchenko was her ability to sneak in two submission attempts, one being  an armbar attempt towards the end of the first round, and the second a rear-naked choke that finally got her the win as she put Pudilova to sleep in the middle of the second round. Her ability to move into a quick submission gave us a reminder of her sisters win over Julianna Pena two years ago.
Jim Miller: The veteran Jim Miller once again reminded us of why he is still one of the best at lightweight. Coming off a performance of the night win over Jason Gonzales back in April, Miller put Clay Guida to sleep within the first minute of the very first round, after suffering an early knockdown. It is unclear whether Miller will attempt to make a run to place himself in title contention at 35 years old and with 45 fights under his belt, but if he chooses to stay round, there are numerous matchups for him to take advantage of.

Robbie Lawler: The one fighter who lost the most at UFC Newark was former welterweight champion Lawler. Coming off a questionable and disappointing loss to Ben Askren, Lawler had a strong start in the first half of the first round, but then was at a loss against Colby Covington’s wrestling.

Lawler seemed lost as the fight went on and was unable to keep up with Colby’s pace. He had some good moments in the striking exchanges, but they were not enough to get a finish, and he ultimately lost by unanimous decision. Lawler is now on a three fight losing streak, although all these losses are to former champions.

At 37, it is not likely that he will be able to put another run together to get himself at title contention, especially since he now drops to below #11 in the welterweight rankings. There are certainly fights he can take if he wants to stay active, but we have to be honest and admit that we no longer have the fighter who once ruled his division.

Dong Hyun Ma: Saturday night will most likely be a forgettable night for Dong Hyun Ma. Coming off a TKO loss to Devonte Smith back in February, Ma was looking to get back into the win column. However, Ma first missed weight by two pounds and was forced to surrender 20% of his fight purse. Then on fight night, Ma looked pretty good on the feet and on the ground, although Scott Holtzman proved to be too strong for him.

Ma took a right punch to his left eye area, and by the end of the second round, he was unable to see out of his eye, as it was completely shut. The doctor waved off the fight and he lost by TKO. Ma had some good moments in the striking exchange and was able to hurt a somewhat careless Holtman at times.

The defeat is another setback and it is unlcear of where Ma can go from here.