3. Jimmie Rivera does work on short notice
[autotag]Jimmie Rivera[/autotag] might be one of the more underrated fighters on the UFC roster, so it was nice to see him get a unanimous decision win over Cody Stamann, even if he was rather critical of the performance afterward.
Rivera took 13 months off after his loss to Petr Yan at UFC 238 and had to deal with some personal issues along the way, including contracting COVID-19. His return to the octagon came on eight days’ notice when he was booked against Stamann, and he picked up the win.
The only people to beat Rivera in UFC competition are the now-bantamweight champ Yan, former title challenger Marlon Moraes and No. 1 contender Aljamain Sterling. Only Moraes managed to finish him, too, and it was a 33-second knockout where Rivera was caught with a big shot.
Point is, Rivera belongs in the conversation with the upper heap of the stacked 135-pound division.
[jwplayer mmVHoxqe-RbnemIYZ]