The three stars of ‘UFC on FOX 12: Lawler vs. Brown’ in San Jose

The UFC is staging more than 40 events in 2014 with hundreds of fighters going in and out of the octagon. There’s only a brief window of opportunity to make a lasting impression on fans, and as we learned on Saturday at UFC on FOX 12, some do it better than others.

The FOX event took place at San Jose’s SAP Center, and of the 24 competitors to compete on the organization’s 12th network-televised fight card, three turned in performances that stood out from the rest.

Now that another night of UFC action has come and gone, here are MMAjunkie’s three stars for UFC on FOX 12.

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Third Star: Robbie Lawler

Since returning to the UFC, all Robbie Lawler (24-10 MMA, 9-4 UFC) has done is dazzle, amaze and unleash beatdowns on his fellow welterweights. Saturday was no different as “Ruthless” got the better of Matt Brown (19-12 MMA, 12-7 UFC) to earn a shot at the 170-pound title currently held by Johny Hendricks.

While Lawler didn’t look quite as sharp as he did in his victory over Jake Ellenberger in May, he was still on point enough to defeat Brown via a rather convincing unanimous decision.

Lawler’s success story since returning to the UFC has been impressive. He failed to take his run into Cinderella territory when he narrowly lost a title bout to Hendricks earlier this year, and while second chances don’t come around often in life, Lawler earned the opportunity to fight for UFC gold again and will be hoping for a better outcome.

Second Star: Dennis Bermudez

Even though it has taken a seven-fight UFC winning streak, Dennis Bermudez (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) has finally earned respect as a featherweight contender after choking out Clay Guida (31-15 MMA, 11-9 UFC) for his biggest victory to date.

Bermudez has beaten some good, but not elite-level, fighters during his recent stretch of success; however, the Guida victory legitimized him in a whole new way.

Now that he’s taken some of the spotlight for himself, it’s impossible to ignore “The Menace” as a fighter who could be challenging for UFC gold within the next year.

First Star: Anthony Johnson

Plain and simple, Anthony Johnson (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is a scary, scary man. He needed just 44 seconds to dust the legendary Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), and didn’t even appear to break a sweat in the process.

Johnson used Nogueira’s head as target practice for his vicious uppercuts, and he’s now won two straight since returning to the UFC earlier this year.

It was only a few years ago when “Rumble’s” weight issues cost him his job, but now that he’s got his affairs in order and is hitting his prime, the criticism has come to a screeching halt.

For more on UFC on FOX 12, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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