Junior dos Santos returned at UFC Boise Saturday night, and picked up where he left off -- a threat in the heavyweight division.
#8 JDS welcomed former WSOF/PFL Champion Blagoy Ivanov to the company with five rounds of feints and extended jabs, in a five-round main event that won't be landing on any "Fight of the year" lists. Dos Santos was recently exonerated by the United States Anti-Doping Agency of any wrongdoing in a situation that kept him sidelined for a year.
Currently unranked, former UFC title challenger Chad Mendes returned from a two-year USADA suspension and immediately put himself back in the conversation of featherweight contenders. It took less than three minutes for Mendes to flatten and TKO #12 Myles Jury. The win ended a two-fight losing streak, and was Mendes' first in three years.
Mendes wasn't the only fighter riding a long winless streak to return to glory. #6 Cat Zingano curiously came in ranked higher than #7 Marion Reneau, despite having no wins and a three fight losing streak since 2014. By keeping her range with outside body kicks and stellar wrestling, Zingano effectively got herself on the board and put herself in contention for Bantamweight and Featherweight championships considering she has a victory over title holder Amanda Nunes.
Alexander Volkanovski defeated #10 Darren Elkins, extending his record to 18-1, but also making it back-to-back weekends that an unranked UFC fighter would end up defeating his top-10 opponent. Despite failing to finish the fight in favor for several guillotine attempts that just didn't work out for him, Volkanovski said that he wants a highly ranked opponent after going 5-0 in his first two years in the UFC.
While not a fight that will have anyone clamoring for him to take on a top-10 opponent, #13 Alejando Perez extended his UFC unbeaten streak to 7 fights after a unanimous decision victory over #15 Eddie Wineland.
#7 Liz Carmouche emerged victorious for his first ever Flyweight win in the UFC, and her third victory in four UFC fights with a unanimous decision win over the highly touted former Invicta Flyweight Champion Jennifer Maia.
You can see our full live coverage of UFC Boise at this link, and our post-show podcast at this link.