The Real Winners and Losers from UFC Fight Night 236

It's official: The UFC is in the mainstream.

OK, the truth is that the octagonal conglomerate has held that status for a while.

But there's no better evidence than the fact Dana White and Co. produced a Fight Night show less than five miles from the Super Bowl site on the night before the big game.

It wasn't particularly heavy on star power with just two ranked fighters—middleweight Jack Hermansson (11) and featherweight Dan Ige (13)—among the 28 on the card, but the buzz was no less palpable in a city filled for the weekend with gamblers, celebrities and those who've simply arrived with a craving for a big-event vibe.

The B/R combat team is among them and was in the house at the UFC Apex to deliver a real-list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with from this weekend's center of the sports world and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

It was possible. But it didn't look likely.

The optics around No. 11 middleweight Jack Hermansson in the first round, when he was being stalked and riddled with punches by younger and presumably stronger opponent Joe Pyfer, were not good.

In fact, the better bet after five minutes might have been how long it'd be before Hermansson folded.

Until he didn't.

Instead, the 35-year-old Scandinavian withstood the early offense from his younger foe, began dialing up the aggression and the calf kicks in the third round and gradually took things over on the way to a narrow but unanimous decision in the finale of the 14-bout show.

All three judges scored it 48-47, giving Hermansson three of five rounds.

It was just the second fight beyond two rounds and the first past three for Pyfer, who'd arrived with three straight wins since splitting a pair of appearances on Dana White Contender Series. And the grind seemed to take a toll on his gas tank in addition to his left leg and his face, which was reddened and bloody by the time 25 minutes had elapsed.

"I believed in myself. And in a long fight nobody has the cardio I do," Hermansson said. "I got hit in the beginning more than i should have, but the plan was to put on the pace the longer the fight went.

"And I'm drowning people when I do that."

Pyfer's corner implored him to press matters in the fifth, but he was taken down two minutes into the final session and never got back to a standing position. Still, he seemed at least slightly surprised that the judges had gone the other direction.

"I don't think anything surprised me," he said. "Jack was better, I guess."

Dan Ige has a reputation for being a good guy.

But you'd have never known it from the way he treated Andre Fili.

The amiable featherweight drilled his short-notice opponent and former training partner with a long right hand that sent Fili sprawling to the mat, then delivered one more punishing ground shot to put an exclamation point on his first-round KO in Saturday's co-main event.

The official time was 2:43.

"I couldn't be his friend. I had to go in there and let him know this was different," Ige said. "I knew if I got inside, I could get my right hand over the top. And I didn't want to throw that extra shot, but I had to put a stamp on it."

It was the kind of bonus-worthy performance that earned Ige his "50K" nickname and it's a sequel to an earlier script in which he scored a finish while his wife was about to give birth to a child. Ige's wife is once again about to deliver a child, which the winner referenced afterward.

"She's probably in labor right now so I had to make that one quick," he said. "I think we got the recipe. I gotta go home and get her pregnant and we can fight again."

The frustration from Brad Tavares was understandable.

He's a professional. He's a competitor. He wants to win.

But as he appeared to complain to referee Jason Herzog for stepping in to halt his middleweight bout with Gregory Rodrigues in the 31-year-old Brazilian's favor, he missed one important factor.

The referee, as he cradled the beaten fighter along the cage, seemed to be the only thing keeping him from falling to the floor.

Tavares, who'd already dropped the first two rounds to his automaton-nicknamed "Robocop" foe, was on the receiving end of a particularly vicious flurry that included a pair of right hands that left him, though still vertical, barely able to support his own weight as he weaved unsteadily.

"Two rounds were hard for me to find the timing. He got on the timing of my jab," Rodrigues said. "Third round I said, 'I'm a Robocop and it was a perfect time to use the explosion of my right hand."

The end came 55 seconds into the third and gave Rodrigues his second straight win and sixth in eight UFC appearances.

"I'm an MMA fighter. I'm prepared for everything. That's the fight I expected. I'm a complete fighter, I bring what people want to see. That's what Robocop does."

Rodolfo Vieira's strategy was simple.

Endure whatever punching and kicking was necessary from Armen Petrosyan in their main card opener at middleweight to get close to him, get him on the ground, and finish him.

And though his legs may bear the marks of the kicks he was strafed with early on, you can consider Vieira's mission convincingly accomplished.

The 34-year-old ducked a Petrosyan jab about two minutes into the first round, got him to the floor and never let him back up on the way to scoring a finish by head and arm choke at 4:48.

"I knew he wasn't that good in jiu-jitsu but he was high-level striking," Vieira said. "All I did was work my timing, I knew any space that he opened to me I would finish him. I was just squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. Thank god he gave up."

It was Vieira's second win in a row and fifth in seven fights in the UFC, while Petrosyan lost for the second time in five UFC fights since a 2021 win on Dana White's Contender Series.

The two had been scheduled to fight last year before Petrosyan pulled out with an illness.

"I'm very happy with my victory," Vieira said. "I think he was the toughest guy that I ever fought."

Trevin Giles had felt the effect of Carlos Prates' knees.

So, as he pulled back from the charging Brazilian welterweight late in Round 2 of their prelim finale, it was not without good reason.

But it didn't turn out so good.

Knowing hie foe was expecting one sort of onslaught, Prates shifted gears and delivered a straight left hand that connected flush and left Giles horizontal and semi-conscious with 57 seconds left.

Referee Mike Beltran immediately waved things off to provide the 30-year-old with a win in his official UFC debut, just six months after he'd arrived with a win on Dana White's Contender Series.

"The feeling is awesome," said Prates, who said he'd seen Giles react to the knees and figured he'd have an opening to throw one thing while Giles was expecting another.

Giles remained down for several seconds but regained his feet soon after and walked from the cage under his own power. He is 7-6 in the UFC with two straight losses.

Go ahead, Daniel Cormier, criticize Bogdan Guskov's technique all you like.

The Uzbek light heavyweight responded to the UFC hall of famer's chastising of his low hands with a sudden flurry that caught opponent Zac Pauga by surprise and left him unable to continue just 3:38 into the first round.

And when he and Cormier got together after the fight, Guskov was happy to remind him.

The 31-year-old had lost his first UFC appearance by first-round submission but dismissed the result as the product of a short-notice training camp.

He was fully prepared to produce menace against Pauga, however, and said the subtle approach of approaching with hands down helped him get to a decisive position.

Pauga didn't appear prepared for a barrage, to which Guskov said "Sure, sure, mother f—ker."

"First fight I didn't show anything," he said. "Now I'm ready to go to the top."

Opening a card with a guy nicknamed the "Mongolian Murderer" sets the bar high.

But Saturday's opener didn't clear it.

Unbeaten bantamweight Daniel Marcos was sharp and effective in the first round, rattling his menacingly labeled foe with punishing punches and knees that left his nose a bloody mess. But a low blow shortly past the midway point of the second round ended matters before he could finish properly.

The accidental foul left Aoriqileng writhing in pain for the entirety of a five-minute recovery period, prompting officials to declare the bout a no contest at 3:28 of the second.

It was a glitch on a previously pristine resume for Marcos, who'd arrived 15-0 as a pro since 2015 and 2-0 in the UFC after a previous win on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022.

Aoriqileng, meanwhile, is 3-3 in the Octagon and 25-10 overall.

What Saturday's opener lacked in, well...everything, the second fight contained.

Particularly for Hyder Amil.

The Filipino featherweight made his UFC debut memorable for all the right reasons with striking, grappling and, ultimately, finishing—defeating Fernie Garcia by TKO at 2:12 of the second.

Amil battered his foe with punches, took him to the ground and sought a finish with a rear-naked choke before Garcia escaped and rallied to rattle him with a hook.

The chaos continued after the one-minute break, but Amil continued his dominance, this time getting his finish with a barrage of punches at 2:12.

It was his 10th straight win as a pro and first since arriving on Dana White's Contender Series in August.

Main Card

Jack Hermansson def. Joe Pyfer by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

Dan Ige def. Andre Fili by KO (punch), 2:43, Round 1

Ihor Potieria def. Robert Bryczek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Gregory Rodrigues def. Brad Tavares by TKO (punches), 0:55, Round 3

Michael Johnson def. Darrius Flowers by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rodolfo Vieira def. Armen Petrosyan by submission (head/arm choke), 4:48, Round 1

Preliminary Card

Carlos Prates def. Trevin Giles by KO (punch), 4:03, Round 2

Bolaji Oki def. Timothy Cuamba by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Loma Lookboonmee def. Bruna Brasil by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Marcin Prachnio def. Devin Clark by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Max Griffin def. Jeremiah Wells by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Bogdan Guskov def. Zac Pauga by TKO (strikes), 3:38, Round 1

Hyder Amil def. Fernie Garcia by TKO (strikes), 2:12, Round 2

Daniel Marcos v Aoriqileng declared no contest (unintentional foul), 3:28, Round 2