Beating the Odds: UFC 154

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Sam Stout had a bad night at UFC 154 on Saturday, as he faced fellow Canadian John Makdessi in a preliminary lightweight bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Despite entering as a -200 favorite -- Makdessi was a +160 underdog -- the man they call “Hands of Stone” had to contend with the skilled hands of his opponent. Makdessi’s excellent head movement, good timing and counterstriking skills were evident throughout the encounter, as the Tristar Gym representative utilized a stiff jab as his primary weapon. Although Stout grew increasingly more aggressive throughout the fight, “The Bull” stuffed his takedowns and walked away with a unanimous decision victory.

Prior to the fight, Makdessi had suffered back-to-back losses. He succumbed to a first-round submission from an overweight Dennis Hallman at UFC 140 and dropped a decision to Anthony Njokuani at UFC 145. Stout, on the other hand, had won his previous fight, handily defeating Spencer Fisher at UFC on FX 4 in June.

Stout’s Team Tompkins teammate, Mark Hominick, also came up short, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Pablo Garza despite entering as a -290 favorite. This was Hominick’s fourth setback in a row, coming on the heels of a unanimous decision defeat to featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 129, a seven-second knockout loss to Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 and a split decision defeat to Eddie Yagin at UFC 145.

Despite the Canadian’s recent skid, UFC president Dana White was quick to point out that “Hominick always comes to fight” at a post-fight press conference. “That was a really good fight. They both went at it,” he added. Although White said the UFC does not make decisions during the presser about which fighters will get cut, he made it a point to express his respect for Hominick.

Garza had lost two in a row before the bout; he was a victim to a Dustin Poirier brabo choke at UFC on Fox 1 and lost a decision to Dennis Bermudez at UFC on Fox 3 in May. An improved striking game paved the way for his victory.

Stout and Hominick have seen brighter times. They fought on six of the same cards for the now-defunct Canadian MMA promotion TKO Championship Fighting, with five of the events taking place in Montreal and the other in Victoriaville. The two Team Tompkins teammates also made their promotional debuts at the same Ultimate Fighting Championship event: UFC 58 “USA vs. Canada” in March 2006. There, Hominick submitted Yves Edwards with a triangle choke, while Stout walked away with a split decision in his first matchup with Fisher.