Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Cowboy vs. Cowboy: The Story Behind the Card
3. Quick Stats
4. Main Event: Cerrone’s Triangle & Yamasaki’s Missed Tap
5. Brunson, Garbrandt, Camozzi & The Supporting Card
6. Full Results
7. Bonuses & Awards
8. Records & Milestones
9. Legacy & Impact
10. FAQ
Introduction
Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira both go by ‘Cowboy.’ UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs. Cowboy took place on Sunday, February 21, 2016 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. The card drew 7,330 fans for a gate of $572,547. It was the second UFC event in Pittsburgh and the first since UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry in June 2011.
Cerrone submitted Oliveira via triangle choke from top mount in round one — earning Performance of the Night — but the finish generated controversy when referee Mario Yamasaki failed to recognise Oliveira’s tap and Cerrone had to wave at the referee to signal the submission was complete. Dana White criticised Yamasaki publicly after the event. Chris Camozzi’s 26-second TKO of Joe Riggs earned the other Performance of the Night. Lauren Murphy and Kelly Faszholz earned Fight of the Night for a spirited women’s bantamweight bout.
Cowboy vs. Cowboy: The Story Behind the Card
The original Pittsburgh main event was Donald Cerrone vs. Tim Means. Means — who had earnt a PoN in his most recent UFC fight — was suspended by USADA for a potential anti-doping violation in the weeks before the event and removed from the card. Alex Oliveira, normally a lightweight, accepted the fight on short notice and moved up to welterweight (170 lbs) to replace Means. Cerrone had himself just moved up from lightweight to welterweight after being stopped by UFC LW champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 194 in December 2015. The fight was thus both fighters’ welterweight appearances under atypical circumstances: one a first-time WW move, one a short-notice weight-class jump.
The ‘Cowboy vs. Cowboy’ branding was genuine: both Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira went by the ‘Cowboy’ nickname in their professional careers. Cerrone’s nickname was long-established and the more publicly recognised; Oliveira’s Brazilian ‘Cowboy’ identity was less internationally known. The matchup was positioned as an identity contest: only one true Cowboy could win.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Sunday, February 21, 2016 (Sunday card)
📍 Venue: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2nd UFC event in Pittsburgh; first since June 2011)
👥 Attendance: 7,330
💰 Gate: $572,547
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1
🏆 Main Event: Donald Cerrone vs. Alex Oliveira — Welterweight (‘Cowboy vs. Cowboy’; both nickname ‘Cowboy’; Cerrone’s WW debut; Oliveira moved up from LW on short notice)
✅ Result: Cerrone def. Oliveira via Submission (triangle choke) — R1, 2:33 (PoN $50k; Yamasaki MISSED the tapout; Cerrone had to wave to signal finish)
Main Event: Cerrone’s Triangle & Yamasaki’s Missed Tap
Donald Cerrone’s fight plan against Oliveira was immediately effective. He landed early takedowns and worked to secure control positions, applying the relentless pressure that characterised his best ground-game performances. From top mount, he settled into the triangle configuration and applied the choke. Oliveira tapped. The submission was clean and the technique was textbook.
Referee Mario Yamasaki did not see the tap. Cerrone held the choke while waving his free arm clearly at Yamasaki to indicate that the finish had occurred. The referee eventually stopped the contest. The sequence — in which a fighter had to flag his own submission finish to the official — was widely distributed and generated immediate public criticism. Dana White stated publicly that Yamasaki’s performance was unacceptable. The referee had a history of high-profile errors; the Cerrone/Oliveira finish became one of the most cited examples of UFC referee criticism in 2016.
Brunson, Garbrandt, Camozzi & The Supporting Card
Derek Brunson’s first-round TKO of Roan Carneiro in the co-main was his fourth consecutive first-round stoppage. His combination of wrestling and power striking had produced four TKOs in a row, elevating him from a UFC mid-pack middleweight to a genuine top-ten contender. Cody Garbrandt’s early-career catchweight TKO of Augusto Mendes in round one was a glimpse of the finishing power that would later produce his UFC bantamweight championship. At 25, Garbrandt was one of the most physically gifted young fighters on any 2016 UFC card.
Chris Camozzi’s 26-second clinch-knee TKO of Joe Riggs was the card’s fastest finish and earned Performance of the Night. Camozzi had been on an extended losing streak before a 2015-2016 turnaround; the Riggs TKO was his second consecutive win. Tatsuya Kawajiri’s upset of ranked Dennis Bermudez was a quietly significant featherweight result. Lauren Murphy and Kelly Faszholz’ Fight of the Night women’s bantamweight bout was a competitive match that provided some of Pittsburgh’s most memorable crowd moments.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Donald Cerrone def. Alex Oliveira — Submission (triangle choke from top mount) — R1, 2:33 — Welterweight (PoN $50k; Yamasaki MISSED the tap; Cerrone waved to signal finish; 11th UFC performance bonus)
Derek Brunson def. Roan Carneiro — TKO (punches) — R1, 2:38 — Middleweight (4th consecutive first-round stoppage for Brunson)
Cody Garbrandt def. Augusto Mendes — TKO (punches) — R1, 4:18 — Catchweight (Garbrandt early UFC career; future UFC BW champion)
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Dennis Bermudez — Unanimous Decision — Featherweight (Kawajiri upset of ranked FW)
Chris Camozzi def. Joe Riggs — TKO (knee in clinch) — R1, 0:26 — Middleweight (PoN $50k; 26-second finish; Camozzi’s 2nd consecutive win after losing streak)
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1 / UFC Fight Pass)
Lauren Murphy def. Kelly Faszholz — Women’s Bantamweight (FotN $50k each; competitive bout)
+ Additional prelim bouts (26-fighter card)
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Lauren Murphy + Kelly Faszholz — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Donald Cerrone + Chris Camozzi — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Donald Cerrone’s 11th UFC performance bonus — a UFC record at that time for most performance bonuses earned by a single fighter.
• Mario Yamasaki missed a clear submission tap, requiring the winning fighter to wave and signal the finish to the official.
• Derek Brunson’s 4th consecutive first-round TKO — all coming inside one minute and thirty seconds.
Legacy & Impact
Cerrone’s Pittsburgh welterweight debut was the start of a productive UFC WW phase. He went on to beat Patrick Côté, Benson Henderson (twice), and Jorge Masvidal in 2016–2017 at welterweight before further career chapters. The Yamasaki missed-tap controversy was one of the most publicly criticised referee failures of 2016 and led to broader discussion of referee training standards and accountability structures in the UFC.
Cody Garbrandt’s Pittsburgh TKO was a building block for a 2016 bantamweight run that produced the UFC BW championship — he won the title from Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 in December 2016. Derek Brunson’s four-fight R1 stoppage streak positioned him for a top-five MW title contendership that lasted years, producing fights against Whittaker, Romero, and Adesanya. Chris Camozzi’s 26-second Pittsburgh TKO was a career rebound moment that extended his UFC tenure.
FAQ
How did Yamasaki miss the tapout?
Yamasaki was positioned slightly behind and to the side of the fighters during the submission. Oliveira’s tap was directed downward onto the mat — a common tap location when in a choke hold. The angle may have partially obscured Yamasaki’s view of the tap. However, Cerrone had to wave visibly at the referee multiple times before the stoppage, indicating that the tap was clear enough for the fighter applying the choke to notice. MMA referees are trained to observe fighter positioning and physical cues simultaneously; the Yamasaki failure was characterised as an attention lapse rather than an impossible viewing angle.
Was this Cerrone’s first welterweight fight?
Yes. Cerrone had competed exclusively at lightweight throughout his WEC and UFC career until the Pittsburgh fight. His December 2015 loss to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 194 — stopped in the first round — was his most comprehensive competitive defeat. The move to welterweight was presented both as a weight class adjustment and as a stylistic option: at 170 lbs, Cerrone’s physical frame (6’1”) was less disadvantaged than at 155 lbs, where elite LWs had fought him at strength equilibrium.
What was Tim Means’ anti-doping situation?
Means was flagged by USADA for a potential anti-doping violation in the weeks before the Pittsburgh event. The specific substance involved was announced subsequently as a contamination from a tainted supplement. Means served a suspension; the Pittsburgh event proceeded without him. His subsequent career resumed after the ban and he continued to compete in the UFC welterweight division. The case was one of several contaminated supplement situations in UFC 2015-2016 that generated discussion about supplement testing standards and athlete responsibility.
How significant was Brunson’s four-fight R1 streak?
Brunson’s four consecutive first-round TKOs between 2015 and 2016 were statistically notable in a UFC middleweight division where first-round stoppages were less common than in lighter divisions. The run produced wins over Sam Alvey, Roan Carneiro, and others, establishing him as a top-ten MW with finishing ability against veteran competition. His subsequent career trajectory produced fights against Whittaker, Romero, Adesanya, and Strickland — all at the highest level of the division — but the 2016 streak was his most emphatic individual run.
Where was Cody Garbrandt’s career before Pittsburgh?
Garbrandt had signed with the UFC in 2015 and won his debut fight. The Pittsburgh catchweight TKO of Mendes was his second UFC appearance. He was 24 years old, training with Team Alpha Male, and had a reputation for natural power and aggressive forward pressure. His subsequent UFC BW career produced wins over Augusto Mendes, Thomas Almeida, Takeya Mizugaki, and Urijah Faber before his December 2016 UFC BW title win over Dominick Cruz. Pittsburgh was the second step of a 2016 title run that positioned him as one of the division’s most fearsome offensive fighters.
Was Mario Yamasaki removed from UFC refereeing after the Pittsburgh event?
Yamasaki was not immediately removed after Pittsburgh. He continued to referee UFC events through subsequent years. However, the accumulation of high-profile officiating errors across his UFC career — including the Pittsburgh tap miss and the Oliveira/Arlovski fight in 2018 where he stopped a fight early — generated sustained criticism. The UFC’s relationship with Nevada State Athletic Commission-licensed referees is indirect: the NSAC assigns referees rather than the UFC selecting them directly. Public criticism from Dana White and fighters did influence commission behaviour over time, though the mechanisms were opaque.