Instant Reaction: UFC 182

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Related: UFC 182 Play-by-Play

1:04 a.m. ET Jesse Denis: I, too, had a 49-46 Jones scorecard. After a competitive opening, the championship rounds proved to be aptly named. That sort of grinding clinch fight is enough to break the will of most men after 25 minutes; the fact that both men kept it up is impressive on its own. It was a very strange ending with Jon Jones celebrating early, punches being thrown after the bell, Herb Dean getting hit, etc.

Regardless of it being a 4-1 score, this still felt like the most important fight in recent memory, bigger than Weidman-Silva, Cain-JDS, GSP-Hendricks, etc.. That feeling had seemed lost to me for some time now.

1:01 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: Championship performance by Jon Jones. My 49-46 scorecard matched all three official ones from judges Marcos Rosales, Cardo Urso and Tony Weeks, but many had the third round for Cormier as well. Though the pace slowed late, it was still a gruelling, back-and-forth tactical clinch war, and one of the best performances of Jones' career. The spotlight now turns to Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Johnson.

12:42 a.m. ET Jesse Denis: 29-28 Jones on my card heading into the championship rounds. This is one rugged, grimy fight that has delivered against all odds.

12:31 a.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Jon Jones keeps reaching out to keep Cormier away I see an eye poke coming this round.

12:08 a.m. ET Jordan Breen: Emphatic, dominating sweep of the scorecards by Donald Cerrone, handing Myles Jury his first official career loss. “Cowboy” had Jury shook from the opening grappling exchange, hitting him with an omoplata, sweeping him, taking his back and nearly choking him out. The high points of the fight for Jury were bridging and escaping a rear-naked choke, and somehow surviving a howitzer right roundhouse kick to the melon late in the fight. Complete shellacking for Cerrone. The real question is whether or not he'll wait for a title shot or be looking for another purse.

11:56 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: 10-8 Cerrone for a one-sided performance that saw Cowboy treat a composed Jury like a grappling dummy. That round had me feeling things I missed since the little blue octagon went away.

11:56 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: Had to go 10-8 Cerrone. Three solid sub attempts. One of them being an omaplatta which really isn't a sub as much as an eventual sweep. However, that was pure dominance.

11:55 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: You can always count on Donald Cerrone to make things exciting. #EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

11:47 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: This card jumped the shark for me on the prelims. However, I have hope that Cerrone-Jury fires me back up. If not, I know Jones-DC will get things right.

11:42 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Ever since Paul Felder destroyed MMA's foremost hot pilates proponent Danny Castillo with a spinning back fist, it's been downhill. Brad Tavares' uninspiring unanimous decision win over Nate Marquardt did nothing to make the ennui subside. Tavares is a rock solid middleweight fighter, but he tends to be a hard guy to watch as one of the poorest fight finishers in the UFC and a low-volume kickboxing style. His best attributes are his general well-roundedness and defense, which is a good reminder of why having him in the middle of a PPV like UFC 182 might not be the wisest, nevermind against a guy like Marquardt.

11:37 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: I feel like I was driving 100 mph and someone put my car in reverse. The prelims were so great but that seems like two UFCs ago now.

11:21 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: Someone that isn't a brawler and a headlock man, Jordan?

11:21 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Louis Gaudinot was too easy for Kyoji Horiguchi. The combination of Gaudinot not having much to offer in terms of sustained attack against a counter-oriented fighter as well as the massive cage made the fight drag a bit, but Horiguchi showed all his familiar techniques, speed and accuracy. For some reason, I feel like UFC brass won't love the performance, but if Sean Shelby can get Horiguchi a more recklessly offensive fighter, someone like a Dustin Ortiz, we can see a guy like Horiguchi open up more of the arsenal and start to operate at an elite level.

10:48 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: Rogan pontificating on this fight being evenly matched despite the 8-to-1 favorite status of Kyoji Horiguchi is the most UFC thing ever.

10:45 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: "I'm not looking past my opponent I'm looking through him." -- I have to admit I'm starting to come around on Conor McGregor I get excited to see him fight. #starpower

10:40 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: That Conor McGregor promo went hard, I won't even lie about it.

10:39 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: MacDonald jabs and leg kicks Lombard to death. That's actually one fight that despite the stakes and calibre of the fighters, I'd prefer three rounds, just to save myself the rinsing-and-repeating involved in a 25-minute unanimous decision win for MacDonald. Lombard would need to land the biggest left hand of his lifetime and I don't think he gets into the right area code.

10:38 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: Lombard-MacDonald is what makes sense now at 170. I am not interested in seeing Hector fight anyone else other than the champion. Also, Lombard has to be the first fighter ever introduced to fight with a different nickname than when he was announced as the winner.

10:30 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Regardless of what happens in this fight you gotta give it to Josh Burkman for returning to the UFC and fighting Hector Lombard, because there is not a long line standing in front of Lombard wanting to step into the cage with him.

10:27 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: Lombard opened the second much more aggressively; but he hasn't taken Josh Burkman to task for dropping his hands and staring him down, unprotected. I'm left to wonder how much faith someone has in their chin or how much they hate consciousness when I see that against a puncher like Hector.

10:27 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Burkman's quasi-Diaz brother routine might look weird, but he's still hit Lombard a few times. Most MMA media had the first round for Burkman, though I gave it to Lombard. In the second, Burkman got hit way more and is starting to show damage, but true underdogs need to do something unorthodox to gain an advantage. It's why upsets in March Madness usually don't happen with 14 seeds playing simple, half-court offenses. So, bearing that in mind, I applaud Burkman trying something wacky to get a stronger, favored fighter off balance.

10:26 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Burkman did a good job in round one keeping his back off the cage. Not so good in round two.

10:24 p.m. ET TJ De Santis: Burkman is doing well for having the worst style match up I can think of. Even though I don't think he beats a lot of top shelf guys. That first round justified his UFC return.

10:22 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: Seems like Hector Lombard is still measuring, to a degree, as we head into the second frame. Given that we've seen him slow in later rounds, in the past, he'll likely try to come with the thunder in the second period.

10:23 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: I would love to have the balls to pick Josh Burkman because he always seems to win fights everyone thinks he will lose. He is a seasoned veteran with a killer instinct. But I will just tuck and take Hector Lombard.

10:16 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Last call for folks to plant their flag down for Josh Burkman. Call the potential upset now, or forever hold your peace.

If Burkman pulled it off, it'd be more impressive to me than his major-league upset of Jon Fitch. Where Burkman is so reliant on his athleticism and doesn't have any area to really get the better of Lombard, he'll have to be consistently flawless in whatever distance striking and clinching exchanges there are. Lombard doesn't walk into knockout shots or submissions after getting tired; Burkman will actually have to find a way to create offense against a more powerful striker, better takedown artist and overall superior athlete for the full 15 minutes. Very tough row to hoe.

9:51 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Paul Felder's sensational spinning back fist knockout of Danny Castillo is just the third spinning back fist stoppage in UFC history, after Shonie Carter-Matt Serra at UFC 31 and John Makdessi-Kyle Watson at UFC 129. More importantly, we've got our first “Knockout of the Year” candidate, and one that could be sticking around come December.

Real talk, though, Paul Felder is a problem. He's big, he's athletic, he's a hardened man and he has quick, accurate, powerful, unorthodox striking. He looked good on his way up through the northeast, but the strides he's made in his last three fights, going back to his spinning hook kick KO of Craig Johnson at CFFC 38 in August have been tremendous. Definitely a prospect about to move into major matchmaking at 155 pounds.

9:50 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: As if there were any doubt, Goldie's dated references don't stop at Pete Williams for head kicks and Pedro Rizzo for leg kicks; Paul Felder ostensibly just landed the first spinning back-fist since Shonie Carter, who should apparently "move over"… nearly 14 years later.

9:30 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: Another standout from UFC 182’s “Tweets of the Night”:

Word is @CMPunk still has no opponent for @ufc debut. Making my last attempt here pic.twitter.com/EijkOtwpqd

— Ed O'Neill (@RealEdOneill) January 3, 2015

9:28 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Great UFC debut from Cody Garbrandt, punctuated by a late third-round knockout. Brimage made him work and gave him some of the most valuable cage time of his young pro career, though. Brimage kept him honest with combos and didn't reward him for putting his hands down and winding up. In fact, Garbrandt had his best success punching when he used his lead left hand creatively. It's the sort of fight that should illustrate to a prospect like Garbrandt the success you can have when you attack your opponent cleverly, rather than trying to spam big power shots relentlessly.

Also, where Garbrandt's offensive pace is so relentless, I worried about him getting tired and exploited by Brimage's punching. After nearly finishing the Alabama native at the end of the first round, he used his kicks to control the second round and stayed ready to close the show in round three. A mature and exciting performance from a great young prospect, who still has a ton of maturing to do. If it all comes to fruition, we could have another great bantamweight on our hands. From Alpha Male, naturally.

9:27 p.m. ET Jesse Denis: That's the problem with that fight-ending "showtime stuff" game right there.

9:25 p.m. ET C.J. Tuttle: The UFC continues with the clean, concise event posters.

8:54 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Speaking of the debuting Cody Garbrandt, get familiar. The 23-year-old Ohioan, now out of Team Alpha Male, has wrestled and boxed his whole life, but he's a fighter by nature. This is the sort of guy that grew disinterested in wrestling after he left high school because he wanted to fight. Better still, after showing promise as an amateur in Ohio but not taking his career seriously, Garbrandt decided to quit partying so much, take his training out west and get committed to MMA. The results so far have been stunning. Check out two of his poetic waxings below:





Garbrandt is still a raw talent, but it's very possible that some time not too long from now, we'll reflect on Marcus Brimage's record and think, “Damn, he was Conor McGregor's debut opponent and Cody Garbrandt's? Rough.”

8:50 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's college bowl season, I guess it makes sense that Shawn Jordan, the former LSU fullback, who won the national college football championship in 2007, would want to put on a show. One short, chopping right hand drops the previously unbeaten Jared Cannonier, and follow up hammerfists spark John McCarthy into action. Apart from Jordan getting a W and his win bonus, there's not much to see here. Fortunately, it was a one-round knockout, so we'll get the positively thrilling bantamweight clash between Marcus Brimage and Cody Garbrandt that much quicker.

8:48 p.m. ET Greg Savage: Heavyweight MMA folks. Not much else to add to that.

8:34 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Apparently Damm's corner had visa problems. I'm guessing that was not a great situation mentally for him fighting at #UFC182. He got beat to the punch about every time except for when he decided to go mad on his own face.

8:34 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Rodrigo Damm, all by his lonesome since his cornermen were denied their visas, really could've used an extra hand or two against Evan Dunham. Of course, this is to be expected, as this fight was more or less designed to get Dunham back on track while handing Damm his walking papers.

Dunham wins an easy unanimous decision with three 30-27 scorecards, beating Damm up for all 15 minutes on the feet. He's never going to be a top-flight lightweight contender, but Dunham is exactly the sort of well-rounded, rugged veteran needs in the division. Any division, really.

7:57 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Omari Ahkmedov's cardio remains his primary Achilles heel as he tries to work his way up the ladder. He deserved that 29-28 unanimous nod, but he was nearly choked out with a guillotine and a brabo choke in the final frame after getting sloppier and more desperate. Still, he's a guy that still keeps churning out offense while tired, which is positive, but he's got to learn how to work smarter and not harder in the cage. He nearly got Nilsson out of the cage in mere moments with hard ground-and-pound and struggled to recapture that overall command throughout the contest.

7:43 p.m. ET Brian Knapp: I think Akhmedov is part bear.

7:38 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Welterweights Omari Akhmedov and Mats Nilsson are next through the curtain. Surprised to see the Swede at +150, since this is such a tough style match-up against a vastly superior, dynamic striker. Think Nilsson is really gonna struggle to buy takedowns and suffer against the heavy punching and volume kicking of the Dagestani fighter.

Also, very surprised to hear Ahkmedov coming out to the “Last of the Mohicans” theme, since I think the UFC actively moved Demian Maia and T.J. Grant away from using it in the past. Did he convince Dana that the Red Hot Chili Peppers scored the film?

7:38 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Strong showing by the Central Valley tonight at UFC 182. Total domination for three rounds, and the fight should have been stopped at the end of round two. @Dougtherhino, @TheRenegade559 and Tom Knox have been putting work in with @BelizeanBruiser and it showed tonight.

7:37 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: A standout from UFC 182’s “Tweets of the Night” jawn:

"Dufresne" actually means "punching bag" in French. #TheMoreYouKnow

— Tim B (@TB_Money) January 4, 2015

7:28 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Reneau-Dufresne was a good reminder that size without complimentary skills and tactics is useless. Dufresne was twice the size of Reneau and just lumbered forward, getting ripped with jabs, crosses and knees to the face. This fight was a complete assault. I had it 30-25, but you could've easily gone 30-24. Ricardo Feliciano and Dufresne's corner should've considered holding her out of the third round.

That said, for as amateurish and outmatched as Dufresne looked, she was a favorite for a reason. This was a step up in competition for Reneau and she absolutely aced it. It's not just that Dufresne was a languid robot in the fight, Reneau really used a clean jab and accurate, speedy striking to tear her apart behind it.

We're one fight into the UFC schedule in 2015, and we already have a legitimate “Beatdown of the Year” candidate. And from a Doug Marshall training partner! Sherwood must be so stoked.

7:24 p.m. ET C.J. Tuttle: Marion Reneau is another former Resurrection Fighting Alliance competitor who is transitioning well to the Octagon. The promotion continues to house some of the brighter prospects in mixed martial arts.

7:16 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: After dominating the standup in round one, Marion Reneau is no joke on the ground as well. Tom Knox is a very underrated grappling coach, not to mention the ties with Chute Box in Orange County.

7:15 p.m. ET Brian Knapp: Man, Dufresne looks like she'd rather be anywhere else than inside that cage.

7:02 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Well, fight freaks, UFC 182 is upon us. You could even say "the time is now," although I would strongly discourage it. I hope you're overwhelmed with feelings.

7:03 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: UFC 182 begins at 135 pounds -- sort of -- with Alexis Dufresne and debuting Marion Reneau. Dufresne, for her first two UFC appearances, has blown weight spectacularly and came in at 138 yesterday, forfeiting another 20 percent of her purse.

Dufresne was ripped off against Sarah Moras in her UFC debut last July and should be able to use her size and top game to get a win here, but the real question is what kind of UFC future she can have. She's talented, but in her three attempts to make 135, has missed every single time. I doubt UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby takes a risk like that again any time soon.

Also, I can't overlook a chance to mention that Reneau trains with the one, the only, the master of the knockdead, “The Rhino” Doug Marshall, who is in her corner sporting a lumberjack beard.

6:00 p.m. ET Mike Fridley: Sherdog.com's UFC 182 instamt reaction will kickoff Saturday at approximately 7 p.m. ET.