Biggest Winners And Loser From UFC Vegas 8

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UFC Vegas 8 went down last night (Sat. Aug. 29, 2020) inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, wrapping up a busy month for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In the main event of the evening, Aleksandar Rakic defeated Anthony Smith after 15 minutes of action (see it again here). In the co-headlining act, Neil Magny did enough to defeat former Welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler (recap here).

Biggest Winner: Aleksandar Rakic

Don’t look now, but the UFC’s Light Heavyweight division has a serious contender on its hand, as Rakic proved he’s a legit threat after defeating former title contender, Anthony Smith, after 15 minutes of action. The victory brings him to 5-1 inside the Octagon, which should be 6-0 since I had him defeated Volkan Oezdemir — his lone loss with UFC — back in 2019. Nevertheless, “Rocket is back in the win column and should be climbing the ranks next week. And since Jon Jones is now gone from the division (as is former top contender, Corey Anderson), Rakic could infiltrate the Top 5 very soon. That means he’s not too far off from a title shot if he can keep his momentum going.

Runner Up: Neil Magny

Magny had the old switcharoo pulled on him after his original opponent — Geoff Neal — was pulled from the fight after he caught pneumonia and replaced by Robbie Lawler. No fret, Magny did what he had to do to adjust and after 15 minutes of cage time, Magny proved victorious, giving him one of the biggest wins of his career, as well as his third straight win, five of six overall. Magny has always seemed to fall short just when he’s on the cusp of getting over the hump and closer to a title shot. With three straight wins — his third streak of three or more wins inside the Octagon — Magny’s on the right track and could be two more wins away from a title shot. And while you still get the feeling his name won’t be thrown around the test of the top names in the division, at the end of the say I’m sure it won’t matter for Neil, as he won’t be denied for too long if he just keeps on winning.

Biggest Loser: Anthony Smith

It’s been a rough 15 months for “Lionheart.” After losing to Jon Jones at UFC 235 in March of 201 in his lone championship fight, Smith was able to get back in the win column against a struggling Alexander Gustafsson. A year later, he was knocked out by Glover Teixeira — who also took some of Smith’s teeth with him — in the fifth round. It was a tough and painful loss. He followed that up with a unanimous decision loss to Aleksandar Rakic, who had his way with “Lionheart” in “Sin City.” Being just 1-3 isn’t going to cut it if Smith wants to get back to a title shot. Smith also lost out on a big opportunity to keep his name in title consideration, which is huge considering UFC has not one, but two, less contenders in the weight class. He’ll now drop a spot or three in the rankings, which will only make it that much tougher for “Lionheart” to get back into a title fight. He can always drop back down to Middleweight in search of a fresh start, but it won’t get any easier for him.

For complete UFC Vegas 8: “Smith Vs. Rakic” results and play-by-play, click HERE!