UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas (UFC Fight Night 63) was live from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia for a rare North American morning card on April 4, 2015.
With the UFC 189 World Tour including UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo and Conor McGregor just concluding, the featherweight division had never been under a bigger spotlight and it was a perfect opportunity for someone in the division to make a statement. Both Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas had that opportunity at UFC Fight Night 63 as they faced off in the 5-round featherweight main event.
UFC Fight Night 63 saw a bunch of fighters pick up a win and take one step further in their career while others dropped their fight and were knocked down a peg for the time being. With that being said, check out our biggest winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 63 below.
Winners:
Chad Mendes
Chad Mendes was looking to capitalize on a great opportunity at UFC Fight Night 63 and that was exactly what he did. Mendes made quick work of Ricardo Lamas in one of the best performances of his career as he picked up the TKO victory at 2:45 of Round 1. Although it will likely take another win for him to get another title shot, ‘Money’ surely made a statement and proved that he is still amongst the very best in the division.
Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier was looking to bounce back from a loss to Conor McGregor as he made his UFC lightweight debut against Carlos Diego Ferreira at UFC Fight Night 63. Poirier looked better than ever as he put on a spectacular performance on his way to a knockout victory at 3:45 of Round 1. ‘The Diamond’ was near the top of the featherweight division, so if by moving back up to lightweight and not cutting a huge amount of weight betters him the way he believes it will then Poirier could be a force within the lightweight division. Another thing that could give Poirier a lot of momentum within the division is that he is likely to make a quick turnaround. After picking up this big victory the Louisiana native all but made it official that he will be on the UFC Fight Night 68 card on June 6, 2015.
Losers:
Carlos Diego Ferreira
Carlos Diego Ferreira was looking to bounce back from his first career loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 63. Poirier is a tough test for anyone and he proved just that as Ferreira was unsuccessful in the fight and got stopped in the first round by ‘The Diamond’. Ferreira was once one of the bigger prospects in the lightweight division, but has struggled as of late with tougher competition and has now dropped his last two fights.
Gray Maynard
Gray Maynard was looking to get back on track at UFC Fight Night 63 against Alexander Yakovlev, but that was not the case. Yakovlev defeated Maynard via unanimous decision and marked Maynard’s fourth straight loss. ‘The Ultimate Fighter 5’ alum got caught a few times on the feet resulting in him getting very desperate with his takedowns and putting on a rather disappointing performance. The former title challenger has only one win since 2010 and has taken lots of damage over his last few fights. Although the 16-fight UFC veteran just recently signed a new contract, it will be interesting to see if he decides to continue fighting.
