Saturday Night Takeaways: UFC 216

Saturday Night Takeaways: UFC 216 article feature image
UFC 216 delivered a spectacular night in Las Vegas as the UFC looked to put a smile back on the face of the city it calls home.

Here are our best (and worst) moments from Saturday night's fights at the T-Mobile Arena…

Mighty Mouse makes history

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson made history by submitting Ray Borg to successfully defend his undisputed UFC flyweight title for the 11th time.

Johnson dominated Borg for four rounds before finishing him with the most spectacular submission ever seen inside the octagon.



Tony Ferguson calls out McGregor after capturing interim title

The main event clash between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee was always expected to deliver a brilliant contest, and it certainly delivered as "El Cucuy" came out the victor thanks to a third-round submission via triangle choke.


Ferguson celebrated his win like an elated teenager, then got all serious when the topic of Conor McGregor was raised during his post-fight interview.


White says it's McGregor vs. Ferguson next

Despite rumors linking McGregor with a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz, UFC president Dana White said there was only one fight to make following Ferguson's interim title-winning performance.


UK bookmaker Skybet has the fight priced up already in its futures markets, with McGregor an 8-13 favorite. Ferguson can be backed at 6-5.


There's no avoiding it…

My fight night picks didn't fare well.

But there were some remarkable circumstances that saw me have such a shocking night on the picks front.

I had Lee to beat Ferguson, but a staph infection and a bad weight cut left Lee without a gas tank in the main event. Lee had a big opening round, but his energy noticeably dropped off in Round 2, and by the time Round 3 arrived, Lee was running on fumes.

I also picked Magomed Bibulatov to continue his remarkable undefeated run against veteran John Moraga, who had lost three of his last four bouts heading into the weekend. Even the UFC commentators were waxing lyrical about Bibulatov as a possible title contender of the future.

But then this happened…


Throw in two rare draws and two canceled fights and it decimated my predictions for the weekend.

Back to the drawing board we go…

[Main image credit: © Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports]


Follow Simon Head on Twitter @simonhead.


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