The UFC made a rare appearance in Manchester, England this weekend, hosting UFC Fight Night 30.

Lyoto Machida, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, immediately catapulted himself into title contention in his 185-pound debut Saturday night, taking out friend and perennial contender Mark Munoz with a brutal headkick.

Additionally, the co-main event ended in a controversial stoppage that resulted in a no contest, while a surging contender added another TKO to his impressive resume on the undercard.

These are just a few of the developments that took place inside the Octagon on Saturday, check out whose stock is on the rise, as well as whose stock took a nosedive, as a result of the fights.

BIGGEST WINNER

Lyoto Machida – “The Dragon” compiled a pedestrian 5-4 record ever since capturing the UFC light heavyweight strap in May 2009, so he was long overdue to compete at 185 pounds.

Following a controversial loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163 this summer, Machida finally decided to shed the extra 20 pound and it sure looks like it paid huge dividends.

The knockout victory puts Machida on the short list of middleweight contenders and is probably just one win away from getting another shot at UFC gold.

WINNER

Jimi Manuwa – The fairly overlooked light heavyweight prospect continues to impress, improving to 14-0 after a round 2 TKO over an outmatched Ryan Jimmo.

While the fight was technically stopped due to Jimmo suffering a leg injury, “Poster Boy” has now won three straight, all TKO’s, inside the Octagon and even UFC President Dana White admitted its time to give the 33-year-old a serious step up in competition.

WINNER

John Lineker – There are few young talents in MMA that have as many question marks around them as John Linker. As has become par for the course, Lineker steamrolled his flyweight opponent, scoring a TKO in the second round, making it four victories in a row.

However, the 23-year-old has missed weight in three of his past five appearances, so there’s no way the UFC can risk putting him in a title bout. Hard to see where he goes from here given that fact.

WINNER

Nicholas Musoke – The Swedish prospect just completely outclassed scrappy veteran Alessio Sakara, submitting him with a phenomenal belly down armbar in the first round.

The newcomer, who filled in for Tom Watson as a short-notice replacement, is currently enjoying a seven-fight unbeaten streak and has just become an interesting name to watch for.

BIGGEST LOSER

Mark Munoz – “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” has won five of his past seven bouts, but just can’t seem to hang with the elite fighters at middleweight.

Coming off a decisive win over Tim Boetsch at UFC 162 this summer, many expected a competitive bout between Munoz and Lyoto Machida.

That didn’t happen, as Munoz didn’t land a single strike before getting kicked unconscious in the opening frame.  Losses to Yushin Okami, Chris Weidman and now Machida show that Munoz just doesn’t have the tools to be a champion in the UFC.

LOSER

Melvin Guillard – “The Young Assassin’s” crisp, powerful striking look like it earned him another quality stoppage victory inside the Octagon on Saturday, but it wasn’t meant to be as his bout with Ross Pearson was ruled a no contest.

Pearson was cut open on what was deemed to be an illegal knee strike, even though it looked pretty clean on the replay. Now, Guillard will have to dedicate another training camp to Pearson since they’re going to throw down again on March 8.

LOSER

Ross Pearson – “The Real Deal” may have lucked out with a technicality, but there was nothing he showed inside the cage to make anyone believe he stands a chance against Guillard a second time around.

Pearson is a tough, hard-nosed striker, but his lack of grappling credentials and inability to deal with other aggressive power punchers means he is never going to be much more than a gatekeeper at lightweight.

LOSER

Alessio Sakara – This one’s pretty self-explanatory: Sakara’s loss to newcomer Nicholas Musoke was his fourth in a row.

While one of those losses involved a questionable call, it’s very hard to imagine the UFC would keep “Legionarius” around given his recent struggles inside the cage.