MMA Gradebook: Rating Every Fight From UFC Uruguay

If you’re like us and watch an absurd amount of mixed martial arts each week, you probably wish there were some sort of rating system so you’re not forced to sit through a boring fight waiting for something to happen. In order to help, we rate the fights on major cards for your convenience. If you happen to miss an event, check back here for ratings so you can pick and choose which bouts to watch and which to skip.

Fights are ranked on the scale shown below, based on competitiveness, the skill and technique on display, excitement, and the story and drama of the contest. Wherever possible, the fights are described without spoiling the outcomes. Here's the MMA Gradebook for UFC Fight Night 156.

Veronica Macedo vs. Polyana Viana

We open up UFC Fight Night 156 in Uruguay with a flyweight bout between Macedo and Viana, two promising women who really, really need a win. Macedo has yet to get a win in the UFC through three fights while Viana won her debut but has lost her last two. Quick finish and fantastic technique from the winner earns this one 3.5 stars.

Rodrigo Vargas vs. Alex da Silva Coelho

Next up Vargas, who came into the fight 10-2, with nine of those wins by stoppage, makes his UFC debut against 23-year-old Coelho, who came in at 20-2, with all 20 wins coming by stoppage. There’s no way this fight can suck, right? Wrong. Unbelievably boring fight. Cut them both. [0.0]

Geraldo de Freitas vs. Chris Gutierrez

Nova Uniao prospect de Freitas steps inside the Octagon for the second time to take on Gutierrez, who has gone 1-1 since joining the UFC last year. Average fight for the first two rounds but then both men decided to let their hands fly for most of the third, which saved its rating. There were multiple weird moments of de Freitas on the ground with Gutierrez standing in front of him doing absolutely nothing, and it messed with the scorecards a bit. [2.0]

Rogerio Bontorin vs. Raulian Paiva

Contender Series Brazil standout Bontorin returns to the Octagon for the second time this year to take on Team Alpha Male prospect Paiva. Wild fight but the anti-climactic finish gets this fight 2.5 stars. A definitive finish would have earned this one of the highest ratings of the night, but beggars can't be choosers.

Tecia Torres vs. Marina Rodriguez

No. 8-ranked strawweight Torres takes on Rodriguez in this strawweight prelim bout. Torres is somehow still ranked despite coming off three consecutive losses while Rodriguez is a perfect 11-0 in her career including a win over Jessica Aguilar earlier this year. Impressive performance from the winner but nothing special about this fight. [2.0]

Ciryl Gane vs. Raphael Pessoa

Former boxer and current Francis Ngannou training partner Ciryl Gane takes on Brazilian knockout artist Pessoa in the sole heavyweight fight of the night. Both men are undefeated and making their UFC debuts and with the division desperate for new contenders, one of these men could find himself in the top 15 by years end. The result of this fight was far from what anybody expected and it ended up being one of the best performances of the night. [3.0]

Gilbert Burns vs. Alexey Kunchenko

We cap off the prelims with what I had thought of as a sleeper “Fight of the Night” contender between UFC veteran “Durinho” Burns and the undefeated 20-0 Kunchenko. Unfortunately I was very wrong and instead, we got an extremely average fight. [2.0]

Enrique Barzola vs. Bobby Moffett

We kick off the main card with a featherweight bout between Barzola and Dana White's Contender Series alum Moffett. If it wasn’t for the wild co-main event this would have won fight of the night but in my opinion, they were dead even. Very close fight with both men trading rounds which forced it to come down to the third and final round. Multiple momentum shifts and false finishes along with good action on the feet and brief moments on the ground earns this bout 4 stars.

Rodolfo Vieira vs. Oskar Piechota

Next up is the UFC debut of Brazilian submission specialist Rodolfo Vieira, who as a four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club gold medalist, is one of the most decorated grapplers ever to cross over to MMA. Vieira takes on Oskar Piechota, who is a high-level BJJ black belt in his own right, but there’s a reason Vieira’s nickname was “The Black Belt Hunter.” The fight went precisely as everyone expected but the finish was still good enough to earn this a slightly above average rating. [2.5]

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Ilir Latifi

Former title challenger Oezdemir returns to the Octagon for the second time this year to take on UFC veteran Latifi in a fight that the UFC has been trying to put together all year. I expected this fight to be much closer but instead, we got a one-sided domination. The winner looked better than ever, though, and proved he is still a top contender. [3.0]

Luiz Eduardo Garagorri vs. Humberto Bandenay

The undefeated 13-0 Garagorri makes his Octagon debut against Peru’s Bandenay, who is just 1-2 since joining the UFC. Garagorri is the only fighter on the card from Uruguay -- and the only one in the UFC, in fact. Staying true to the theme of tonight’s card, this was far from a close fight but the loser did have his moments which kept the fans feeling there was a chance for a comeback. [3.0]

Vicente Luque vs. Mike Perry

In the co-main event, we get Luque, who has won nine of his last 10 fights, with the only loss coming to fellow welterweight contender Leon Edwards, taking on Perry, who is coming off an impressive win over Alex Oliveira. As expected, Luque and Perry went to war and put on the best fight of the night. Both men decided to stand and trade for all three rounds and it was anybody’s fight right up until a final flurry that probably swayed the judges. [4.0]

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche

[NOTE: spoilers] Finally, we get to a rematch between Shevchenko and Carmouche that has been nearly 10 years in the making. Great showing from Shevchenko as always, but she was more cautious than usual and put on a boring but dominant performance. Shevchenko proved once again that she is arguably the best striker in MMA today and the rest of the division isn’t even close. Hopefully, this sets up a trilogy fight with Amanda Nunes to finally solidify who the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time is. [1.0]