Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) delivered yet another event from South America on Saturday night (Aug. 3, 2013), where the mixed martial arts (MMA) action unfolded within HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the UFC 163 main event, Featherweight champion Jose Aldo successfully defended his title for the fifth consecutive time in the Octagon, having not lost a bout since 2005. Aldo's performance was a slower-paced one that we are not used to seeing from the champion, taking his time to carefully pick his shots and inflict damage to "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung. In the fourth round, Jung suffered a grotesque injury as his shoulder popped right out of the socket while he was throwing a combination.
Not long after, Aldo noticed the injury and pounced on Jung en route to a merciful technical knockout stoppage.
The co-main event was another controversial judging call that we have seen enough times, as Phil Davis may have put on a decent performance against Lyoto Machida, but it was highly debatable whether or not he won all three rounds. Giving Davis the benefit of the doubt, he did win the second round and although the first and third rounds were close, this was Machida's fight, especially if all three scorecards came back 29-28 in favor of "Mr. Wonderful."
Unfortunately, in a sport like MMA, each bout can only have one winner and one loser. Earning a victory inside the world-famous Octagon is the highest of highs, while suffering a defeat in front of millions of viewers can be the lowest of lows.
Every competitor who steps foot in the eight-walled cage is looking for that moment of glory. Some capture it, others don't.
There were several shining stars on UFC 163 fight card as well as an equal amount of disappointments. With that said, it's time to name the biggest winner and biggest loser from the event in Rio.
Biggest Winner
Anthony Perosh -- yes, that Anthony Perosh -- came into his fight with Vinny Magalhaes a 5-1 underdog and an even greater odds of 25-1 were presented for him to win by knockout in the first round. Not only did he do exactly that, but it took him only 14 seconds to annihilate Vinny Magalhaes, catching him with the first punch thrown in the fight and followed up with nasty ground-and-pound which resulted in Magalhaes going unconscious in his hometown.
Watch the full (albeit brief) Anthony Perosh vs. Vinny Magalhaes fight video highlights right here.
Perosh is a 40-year-old fighter who many would say was a journeyman until last night. He did not exactly sway the eyes of the entire division, but he took home the "Knockout of the Night" honors, becoming $50,000 richer and will now face a step up in competition.
More impressively, he had the entire crowd against him fighting in his opponent's homeland and silenced the Brazilian faithful quite fast. To think this is the same guy who stepped up on short notice to face Mirko Filipovic years ago and looked like he was getting a second chance out of sheer sympathy is quite a stretch of the imagination.
It is interesting to note that "The Hippo" got knocked out himself in his last fight in just seven seconds at the hands of Ryan Jimmo, having a combined amount of cage time in his last two fights that clocks in less than 30 seconds. He pencils his name in the record books for now, earning the third fasted knockout in Light Heavyweight history.
That's how you shine in the headlining slot of a free televised portion of "Prelims" fights.
Runner Up
Ian McCall was almost guaranteed to have a meeting with the president and his supervisors Monday or Tuesday morning had he not defeated Iliarde Santos in the "Fight of The Night," which opened up the FX broadcast on the "Prelims."
McCall had three previous fights in the Flyweight division under the Zuffa banner, but could not find a win, dropping two and ending up with one "No Contest" because of a baffling judging error. McCall's footwork looked outstanding on Saturday night, tricking Santos into thinking he was going elsewhere when delivering his most effective blows.
"Uncle Creepy" also got caught a few times and showed his chin could be one of the best at 125 pounds, pleasing the crowd by engaging in a back-and-forth brawl with his opponent before getting the nod on all three scorecards in a close and highly-entertaining war.
McCall's blossoming popularity and exciting fighting style could have him matched up with anybody in the division, but more importantly he can relax .... he got the win he desperately needed to save his job.
Biggest Loser
Chan Sung Jung certainly does not have anything to be ashamed about, giving Aldo a good fight while he withstood the championship pressure for four rounds and lasted a hell of a lot longer than most would have given him credit for. Sadly for "Korean Zombie," a freakish shoulder dislocation in the fourth round was his downfall, as he tried to pop it back in mid-fight, but just could not withstand the pain to keep it going against "Scarface."
The reason Jung lived the most unfortunate fate on Saturday night is because with a strong fourth and fifth round, who knows how his chances would have played out in the championship rounds? And if you add the factor of incompetent judges into the equation, as we saw with the co-main event, Jung could have gotten extremely lucky (even though it is not likely but then again, who knows).
The shoulder injury cost Jung dearly and the reason he finds himself in the lowliest of lows is because he already had shoulder surgery last year and this will clearly keep him out of action for a long time. All the credit in the world for him to show up at the post-fight press conference (watch full video replay here) in good spirits when he was clearly in excruciating pain.
Runner Up
This would be a toss up between Light Heavyweight fighters Lyoto Machida and Vinny Magalhaes.
Machida certainly is not a loser in the eyes of many, but the judges did cost him a potential title shot with their controversial decision. The moment Machida lost the fight, it was obvious that all fingers would point to Glover Texeira (who needs to get through Ryan Bader first) and to make matters worse, his opponent Phil Davis did not do a convincing enough job for him to skip the line and challenge the winner of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson at 165 in Toronto.
His position is now a bit of a mess because it is understandable he should not take this loss as a setback because it was so controversial, but there was enough riding on this fight for his stance at 205 pounds to now be unclear. Who does he face next and where would a victory over that opponent put him? Does he need to work his way up again?
Magalhaes had some strong words for Anthony Perosh coming into this fight. Not only was "Pezao" fighting on his home turf, but he discredited Perosh's abilities and even brought forth a condemning assessment of himself, saying that he deserved to be axed had he not gotten a victory over Perosh.
"The Hippo" undoubtedly made him eat his words in front of the city he grew up in and Magalhaes did not even last half a minute against a man he had such low regard for. If Magalhaes finds himself on the receiving end of a pink slip this week, he sealed his own fate.
He may not have the best UFC record with one win out of four Octagon appearances, but if he himself declared he should get fired with a loss, imagine what his bosses are thinking right now.
For complete UFC 163: "Aldo vs. Korean Zombie" results be sure to check out our comprehensive coverage stream right here.