UFC Sacramento left one of those nights that change much more than it might seem on paper. Gregory Rodrigues defeated Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez in the main event, Reinier de Ridder returned to light heavyweight with a devastating performance and Vitor Petrino took another important step among the heavyweights. All this on a card with a lot of movement and ten finishes in thirteen fights.
The big story of the night was Gregory Rodrigues.
"Robocop" arrived in Sacramento against one of the worst opponents possible for anyone who wants to get close to the middleweight belt. Hernandez arrived trying to rebuild his path to the title after Sean Strickland ended his impressive eight-fight winning streak in February. His suffocating pressure, cardio and chained fight continued to make him one of the most uncomfortable opponents in middleweight, but Sacramento was precisely the opportunity to prove that that defeat had only been a setback.
Rodrigues found the answer.
The Brazilian punished Fluffy's forward leg a lot and, above all, managed to prevent the American from transforming the match into the endless wrestling session that he usually proposes. Hernandez insisted again and again with the takedowns, but Rodrigues defended the vast majority and managed to get a good part of the fight to be played where it was most convenient for him.
It was not an easy victory.
Fluffy had important moments, continued to press even when his mobility was clearly compromised and managed to turn the confrontation into a physical battle for five rounds. But Rodrigues did more damage and managed the decisive moments better.
The judges saw it 48-47, 49-46 and 48-47.
A unanimous decision that cuts a streak of eight consecutive victories for Hernandez and completely changes the panorama of the upper middleweight zone.
Rodrigues, on the other hand, has already won four games and is no longer just that tremendously dangerous fighter that no one wants to face. Beating Fluffy in five rounds shows that he can also compete in long fights, defend top-level fights and maintain his power when the fight gets complicated.
After the victory he put the name of Dricus du Plessis on the table.
It makes sense.
Rodrigues may still need another win to seriously talk about a belt fight, but facing a former champion like Du Plessis would be exactly the kind of fight that would test how far Robocop can really go.
The co-main event also left an important conclusion at heavyweight.
Vitor Petrino defeated Serghei Spivac by unanimous decision with a resounding 30-27 on all three scorecards.
The result is quite valuable because of the profile of the opponent. Spivac has been a particularly uncomfortable test for any heavy who does not have a good fighting defense for years. Petrino managed to neutralize that threat and control the fight during the three rounds.
It was not the most spectacular fight of the night, but it was one of the most useful victories from a sporting point of view. In heavyweight you don't need too many important victories to get close to the privileged positions and Petrino has just overcome an opponent that serves perfectly to separate good fighters from real contenders.
Reinier de Ridder, on the other hand, did not need to reach the judges.
The Dutchman returned to light heavyweight against Roman Dolidze and the difference was huge. De Ridder managed to take the fight to his turf, established the dominant position and began to discharge punishment from above until the referee stopped the fight at 4:01 of the first round.
It was probably one of the most interesting performances of the whole night.
De Ridder had had irregular results in his last appearances, but his return to 205 pounds may open a new stage. His size and, especially, his grappling pose very different problems than those offered by most light heavyweight contenders.
It's not a striker trying to win trades for fifteen minutes. If he manages to get you down, the fight changes completely.
Roman Dolidze proved it in the worst way.
MarQuel Mederos also left Sacramento heavily strengthened by stopping Mason Jones in the second round.
Jones is a tough fighter, experienced and capable of maintaining high paces, but Mederos managed to impose his punch and finish the fight by TKO. The victory keeps his undefeated status intact and places him as one of those names that is worth following carefully during his next appearances.
Carli Judice starred in another of the great performances.
Jeisla Chaves was undefeated, but Judice ended that condition in the first round. A body kick completely changed the fight and the subsequent punishment forced the fight to be stopped.
Judice continues to grow and chains a dynamic that begins to make her more than a prospect. In the women's divisions, where sometimes it is difficult to find consistent finishers, having real ability to finish fights always makes a difference.
Anthony Wint did not miss his opportunity either.
In his debut in UFC he submitted Terrance Chatman via an arm-triangle choke in the first round. Getting into the company and getting an immediate finish is pretty much the perfect introduction.
The preliminaries maintained the same pace of finishes.
Jamall Emmers needed only one round to finish Lerryan Douglas by TKO. Emmers arrived with much more experience in UFC and managed to make that difference count against an opponent who faced a complicated test.
Shamil Gaziev was even more forceful against Kennedy Nzechukwu.
The heavyweight landed the right hand he needed and closed the fight by KO at 1:20 of the first round. Gaziev remains a fighter with limitations when fights drag on, but his power makes the first few minutes in front of him a constant danger zone.
Chris Padilla and Nasrat Haqparast starred in one of the most striking endings of the night.
After nearly fifteen minutes of fighting, Padilla managed to close out an arm-triangle choke with literally one second left to end the third round. The finish came at 4:59.
It's hard to find a better demonstration of why you can never disconnect in MMA.
Haqparast was a second away from hearing the horn and ended up losing by submission.
Marcio Barbosa didn't leave too much work to the judges either. He defeated Ryan Kuse by TKO at 2:47 of the first round and got a resounding victory to continue advancing at featherweight.
Stan Dorsainvil was one of the few winners who needed to complete all three rounds. He beat Gauge Young by unanimous decision in a fight less explosive than much of the rest of the card, but important to continue building his run within UFC.
Jackson McVey finished off Wesley Schultz in the first round. The outcome came after punishing the body and continuing with punches, demonstrating once again the value of attacking areas that often receive less attention than the head.
And the person in charge of opening the evening was Shanelle Dyer.
Dyer defeated Elise Reed via TKO in the third round, progressively closing out a fight she had had to work for more than ten minutes before finding completion.
The general balance of UFC Sacramento leaves a lot of material for the next cards.
Petrino continues to advance in heavyweight. De Ridder may have found in the light heavyweight a particularly interesting scenario to rebuild his path to the elite. Mederos keeps his progression intact. Judice is once again attracting attention and several names from the preliminaries achieved finishes that should guarantee them new opportunities.
But Sacramento belonged to Gregory Rodrigues.
Anthony Hernandez arrived in front of his home crowd and with a streak that had brought him very close to the big middleweight fights. His style seemed especially prepared to break Rodrigues as the rounds progressed.
Robocop did the exact opposite.
He defended takedowns, progressively destroyed Fluffy's mobility with his kicks and showed that he also knows how to win when the knockout does not appear.
He may not leave Sacramento with an immediate shot at the belt.
But after five rounds against one of the division's most uncomfortable contenders, Gregory Rodrigues has accomplished something almost as important: he is no longer considered just a dangerous fighter and is treated as a real problem in the title race.