San Antonio was treated to another solid card from top to bottom. This card will set up some big time matchups in the future, and returning to the Lone Star state certainly did not disappoint.

Losing Fighters:

Domingo Pilarte: Jin Soo Sin or Vince Morales
Pilarte was the biggest betting favorite on the card, but came up short in San Antonio. He struggled with the ground and pound of Colares in the first round. The second round was very close with both guys having control time on the mat, and was full of scrambles back and forth. The strongest round for Pilarte came in the third when he was able to take Colares’s back and was fishing for a rear naked choke. Pilarte put up a fine effort in a very close fight that arguably could have gone his way. Pilarte will get another shot in the UFC for sure.

Jin Soo Sin: Domingo Pilarte or Pingyuan Liu
What a show these two fighters put on for San Antonio. They exchanged shots back and forth from the opening bell to the closing seconds. Sin put together a hell of an effort, but seemed to be just a tad behind Mario Bautista in terms of effectiveness. That kind of fight will keep Sin in the UFC because these two went to absolute war. This contest had fight of the night written all over it.

Gabriel Silva: Journey Newsom or Anderson dos Santos
This was a wrestling and grappling battle between Silva and Ray Borg. Silva in this case was simply out scrambled and wrestled by a former title challenger in Borg. Silva showed some solid work on the ground, and was able to take Borg’s back in the first round. He also showed an ability to get back to his feet continuously after being taken down. This is not a bad loss for Silva, as Borg is a legit athlete with solid wrestling. Silva needs to improve his takedown defense in the future.

Roxanne Modaferri: Montana de la Rosa or Maycee Barber
Modaferri showed a lot of toughness and determination in this fight. She just seemed to be overmatched by the bigger, stronger, and more technical Maia. Maia was able to land hard shots on a consistent rate hurting Modaferri several times. Modaferri tried to work in the clinch and forced a couple of takedowns but was shrugged off with ease. Maia did miss weight which would explain her having the weight/size advantage. Moadaferri is still a good litmus test for young fighters, and competitive in the division.

Sam Alvey: Mike Rodriguez or Paul Craig
Alvey just seemed much more tentative in this fight from the opening bell. He seemed content to backup, and allowed Abreu to control the pace of the fight. Alvey missed with the majority of his shots, and only was able to be effective mainly in the clinch. Alvey’s counter striking style at times hurts his ability to win rounds. As he is normally on the back foot in the majority of his fights. Alvey is still a solid proving ground for young opponents, and deserves to remain in the UFC.

Irene Aldana: Sijara Eubanks or Lina Lansberg
Aldana put together a solid performance against a tough customer in Raquel Pennington. She had a very solid opening round, but seemed to fade as the fight progressed. She was very active, but was not able to land with the amount of force as Pennington. She made a few tactical errors in the third and deciding round on the ground. She kept trying to force the leg locks, and paid for it with solid ground and pound from Pennington. Aldana had her moments, but seemed to be just a step behind Pennington.

Steven Peterson: Gilbert Melendez or Kevin Aguilar
The amount of heart and toughness that Peterson has is amazing. He constantly walked forward eating shot after shot from Caceres. He was able to steal the first round after wobbling Alex Caceres and taking his back. He wasn’t able to finish the choke, but had Caceres in a bad spot. He was able to end the fight landing ground strikes in round three, but it seemed to be too little too late for the judges. Peterson is fighter that will be loved by all crowds. He walks forward like a zombie eating big shots, and still pressing forward no matter what.

Ben Rothwell: Greg Hardy or Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Big Ben just did not have an answer for the striking of Arlovski. Rothwell showed a lot of heart, but was a bloody mess from the technical striking of Arlovski. He tried a couple of takedowns, but was unable to get the fight to the mat. He landed some good shots in the third round, but at that point it was just to little to late. Rothwell is still a solid heavyweight, and could be a roadblock for future contenders.

Francisco Trinaldo: Drew Dober or Vinc Pichel
The veteran was on the short end of a lackluster contest. I personally felt like Trinaldo won the fight with his forward pressure, but obviously the judges felt he did not do enough. This contest was pretty disappointing as both fighters were tentative, and no one really went for the victory. For Trinaldo, it’s a close and controversial loss, but he will certianly get another crack in the UFC.

James Vick: Alexander Hernandez or Beneil Dariush
Vick landed some solid strikes early in the bout, but got caught with a left hook and Dan Hooker sealed the deal. This is another fight where Vick’s chin was not able to hold up during the fight. He had a technical flaw by keeping his head up and unprotected when Hooker threw the left. Vick finds himself on a losing streak and outside the top 15 in the rankings.

Juan Adams: Allen Crowder or Sergei Spivac
Adams seemed to land a couple of good shots early on Hardy. He then decided to shoot for a single leg, and this ended up being a bad choice. Greg Hardy was able to use a nice whizzer to stuff the takedown, and then unloaded with a barrage of punches to finish the fight. Adams argued the stoppage, but he made no attempt to get out of the position, and seemed to be hobbled as he left the cage. Adams has a ton of promise, and I just feel the pressure of this fight got the best of him.

Aleksei Oleinik: Jairzinho Rozenstruik or Maurice Greene
Oleinik ducked right into the big left hand of Walt Harris that he never saw coming. He was simply overmatched by the power and speed of Harris. Oleinik has had his troubles with strikers, and just got caught with a shot from a very powerful Heavyweight: Oleinik could be a good test for up and coming heavyweights in the future.

Rafael dos Anjos: Elizeu dos Santos or Demian Maia
The Brazilian put together a valiant effort, but just could not put away Leon Edwards. dos Anjos was unable to get the momentum on the feet, and struggled when attempting take downs as well. I feel the size and physical intangibles of Edwards gave dos Anjos issues as well. He fought a solid fight, but just simply was beat by a better man in San Antonio. Rafael has become a gatekeeper in the UFC, and is still willing to answer any challenge that comes his way. The question is how much more does he have left in the tank?

Winning Fighters:

Felipe Colares: Benito Lopez or Mario Bautista
Congrats to Colares on picking up his first UFC win! Colares showcased solid takedown and grappling skills in this matchup. He also showed toughness and solid submission defense when having his back taken in the third round. We weren’t able to see the striking of Colares as the majority of this fight was taken place on the mat. It will be interesting to see how he builds off this victory going forward.

Mario Bautista: Felipe Colares or Benito Lopez
Bautista and Sin went to war in a crowd pleasing fight. Bautista was able to drop Sin in the first round, and seemed to be the fresher and crisper fighter on the feet. He did a solid job of getting back to his feet quickly after several takedowns by Sin. Bautista showed he is a real threat in the standup for future Bantamweight opponents. He is very young, and relatively green with only eight career fights.

Ray Borg: Ricardo Ramos or Jonathan Martinez
Borg did an excellent job of surviving the attacks in the first round, and taking over in rounds two and three. Borg was able to finally break out of a two fight losing streak, and used his wrestling and scrambling skills to outwork Silva. Borg looked much stronger and fresher at the Bantamweight weight then he did at Flyweight. Borg also had an impassioned speech about his son who has had to deal with multiple brain surgeries since birth. This was a feel good moment for a fighter who has dealt with a lot of outside the cage problems in the recent years.

Jennifer Maia: Katyln Chookagian or Joanne Calderwood
Despite missing weight, Maia was able to put together one of her better performances. She was dominant on the feet, and was able to consistently land hard shots stunning Modaferri on a couple of occasions. She also showed solid takedown defense easily shrugging off Modaferri’s attempts. Maia will have to prove she can make this weight going forward, but could potentially be a title contender if she keeps rolling.

Klidson Abreu: John Allan or Devin Clark
This was a nice bounce back victory for Abreu against a proven veteran. He was able to control the center of the octagon, and was able to dictate the pace as well. Abreu was the more active fighter, and showed improved striking skills in this fight. If Abreu can continue to improve the striking to match his grappling skills he could eventually be a force in the Light Heavyweight division.

Raquel Pennington: Aspen Ladd or Julianna Pena
Pennington was able to recover from a tough first round, and impose her will as the fight progressed. She used her solid boxing and punching power to bust Aldana’s nose, and ring her bell on multiple occassions. She was able to finish the fight figuratively with her takedown in the third round. Using her grappling allowed her to take round three, and ultimately win the decision from the judges. This was a solid bounce back win for Pennington who came in on two fight losing streak.

Alex Caceres: Daniel Teymur or Makwan Amirkhani
Caceres was able to use his techincal striking to consistently catch and hurt Peterson. He was able to land the better, crisper shots from a counter striking style. He found himself in danger a few times on the ground, but was able to survive and win the judges decision. Caceres is a solid striker, but just seems to be too inconsistent to make a real run. This performance tonight shows why the UFC hasn’t given up on him just yet.

Andrei Arlovski: Greg Hardy or Walt Harris
Arlovski always finds a way to end his losing streak when you start to think his career is coming to a close. He showcased his patented hand speed and technical boxing skill against Rothwell. He defended the takedowns and clearly outlanded Rothwell from the opening bell. Arlovksi continues to prove he is still a force in the heavyweight division

Alexander Hernandez: Drew Dober or James Vick
It wasn’t pretty, but Hernandez was able to win in front of his home fans. Alexander landed some decent shots, but struggled after being cut from a kick or punch by Trinaldo. He landed the better shots towards the end of the fight, and this may have swayed the judges to pick him as the victor. It’s always difficult to come back after a serious TKO loss, but Hernandez can take this victory and try to build on it.

Greg Hardy: Ben Rothwell or Andrei Arlovski
Hardy continues to finish the fights that are put in front of him. He showed solid takedown defense, and was able to close the show with some heavy shots as Adams held onto a single leg. Hardy has passed the early tests that the UFC has to offer, but needs to be tested against a higher level opponent. The UFC is trying to slowly build Hardy up, and so far he has passed all the test with flying colors.

Walt Harris: Alistair Overeem or Alexander Volkov
The big man from Birmingham, Alabama keeps on putting on a show. He has now won two in a row in impressive fashion by way of knockout. Harris has become a real threat with his speed, power, and pure boxing skill on the feet. The big question is can he thrive against a strong grappler which in the past has been his major weakness.

Leon Edwards: Stephen Thompson or Jorge Masvidal
This was a coming out party for the man they call “Rocky”. Leon Edwards showcased textbook striking, beating dos Anjos to the punch each and every time. He used his jab, elbows, and distance management nearly to the point of perfection. He also showed his versatility by taking dos Anjos down on several occasions. Edwards has become a legit threat in the Welterweight division, and has evolved so fast in a such a short span. He has put himself in the conversation for a title shot after this lights out performance.

Photo Credit: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2019/07/leon-edwards-manhandles-rafael-dos-anjos-calls-out-jorge-masvidal-ufc-on-espn-4