The three stars of 'UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida' in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The UFC kicked off the first half of its Independence Day weekend doubleheader on Saturday night with UFC 175 at Mandalay Bay Events Center. The annual fight card in “Sin City” was touted as one of the best of the year, and when it came to a conclusion, those sentiments were proven correct.

It was arguably one of the UFC’s best cards of 2014 thus far, meaning several performers stood out due to their spectacular efforts.

Now that another night of UFC action has come and gone, here are MMAjunkie’s three stars for UFC 175.

Third Star – Rob Font

In 2008, Rob Font (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was a deliveryman for his local Pizza Hut with little idea where his life was going. Six years later, he is the winner of a UFC bout and earned a $50,000 fight-night bonus due to a spectacular first-round knockout of George Roop (15-11-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC).

Font took the matchup with Roop on short-notice and faced an opponent who had as many UFC fights as he did professional bouts. That’s a big step up, but clearly he was ready for it, as he needed a little more than two minutes to connect with an overhand right for the knockout victory.

Font told MMAjunkie at the post-fight news conference that he has spent the past several years living off his girlfriend in Boston. It’s safe to say that following his win over Roop, the circumstances will change going forward.

Second Star – Chris Weidman

Questions surrounded the validity of Chris Weidman‘s (12-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) title reign due to the somewhat controversial circumstances surrounding his two victories over Anderson Silva. With a thrilling decision win over Lyoto Machida (21-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) after five hard round, those questions were squashed in more ways than one.

By most scorecards, Weidman took four out of five rounds from “The Dragon,” but still faced numerous moments of danger on in the fight. In the fourth round specifically, it looked as if the American was on his way to suffering a come-from-behind loss. However, he showed his heart and championship spirit by finding success in the fifth to seal the deal and defend his 185-pound belt for the second consecutive time.

There is a lot of pressure that comes along with being undefeated, and even more when holding a world championship. Weidman appears to rise to the occasion every time out, though, and that makes one wonder how long he’ll be able to keep hold of the belt.

First Star – Ronda Rousey

Winning a UFC fight in less than 20 seconds is extremely difficult to do. To achieve the feat on a championship level is a near anomaly, especially against arguably the most difficult challenge of one’s career. Yet somehow, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) makes it look easy, as she did with her 16-second finish of Alexis Davis (16-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

Rousey put forth a flawless effort against Davis as she charged her Canadian foe at the opening bell, wobbled her with an overhand right, landed her patented judo throw and finished the job with a series of short punches on the ground.

As the 27-year-old progresses through her MMA career, she is evolving at a rapid pace and somehow makes every fight look less challenging than the last. That’s a terrifying proposition for anyone who signs to meet her in the octagon.

It’s pretty impossible to imagine anyone dethroning Rousey at this point in her career. The fact is, she is simply leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else in the women’s bantamweight division.

For complete coverage of UFC 175, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.