UFC Fight Night 142 results: Biggest winners, loser for ‘Dos Santos vs Tuivasa’

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back at it again last night (Sat., Dec. 1, 2018) for its second event in as many days to stage UFC Fight Night 142 inside Adelaide Entertainment Center in Adelaide, Australia, live and free on Fox Sports 1. In the main event of the evening, Junior dos Santos and Tai Tuivasa threw bombs until one man fell, as “Cigano” scored a second round technical knockout win over “Bam Bam” (see it again here).

In the co-headlining act, Mauricio Rua showed he still has some fight left in him after mounting an incredible comeback to defeat Tyson Pedro via technical knockout in the third and final round (recap).

Biggest winner: Junior dos Santos

“Cigano” picked up a huge win over one of the most-talented up-and-comers in the Heavyweight division by taking Tai Tuivasa’s ferocious shots and playing it smart. “Bam Bam” was over-aggressive at times trying to score the one-shot kill, but in one of those moments, Junior connected with his hands down and dropped him with a sneaky bomb that dropped him. From there, “JDS” jumped on the attack and eventually scored a technical knockout win.

The win will move Junior up the rankings a bit and show the young pups that the wily old dog isn’t ready to give up his spot on the porch so easy. His back-to-back wins are the first consecutive victories he has earned in over six years. Calling for a rematch against Alistair Overeem, Junior does have options and leverage coming off a big win such as this one. Whether or not UFC matchmakers see it “Cigano’s” way, is another story.

Runner Up: Mauricio Rua

Don’t count the old heads out just yet, as like Junior, “Shogun” picked up a huge win over a young contender in the Light Heavyweight division. Indeed, after somehow surviving a clash of heads that wobbled him, leading to an onslaught of strikes from Pedro, Rua maintained his composure to escape round one.

From there, Rua stuck to his gameplan of not backing down, staying in the pocket to deliver his shot while taking one. During a takedown attempt, Rua apparently hurt Pedro’s ankle with a kick, as Tyson fell in visible pain. At the beginning of round three, seconds after Pedro wobbled due to his injury, Rua clipped his foe and dropped him, proceeding to deliver a ground-and-pound attack to put an end to the fight (video here). While many will point to Tyson’s injury as reason for the win, Rua fought a fairly good fight, and shouldn’t be discredited. As for his comments about getting a title shot with another win, I’m not too sure about that yet. Just enjoy the victory and that extra $50,000 in bonus money for now.

Biggest Loser: Mark Hunt

Hunt’s days inside the Octagon seem to be over, as “Super Samoan” declared during his post-fight speech that he’ll be competing somewhere else in his next fight. If this is indeed his last dance inside the eight-sided cage, he didn’t go out with a bang.

Hunt couldn’t pop off the offense he would’ve liked throughout the fifteen minute affair. In the third round, Hunt was getting clipped by Justin Willis and his jab at will. It was an odd sight to see, as a frustrated Hunt wouldn’t even play defense, almost letting Willis get his shots in. While he was looking for the one-hitter quitter, Hunt looked fatigue and Willis played it smart by circling his foe en route to a unanimous decision win. That is now three straight losses for Hunt, who will now have to solely rely on his name and history at the negotiation table.

For complete UFC Fight Night 142 results, including play-by-play, click here