Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night 94

Saturday's UFC debut in Hidalgo, Tex., featured noteworthy performances on the main card by Michael Johnson, Derek Brunson and Chas Skelly.

The biggest highlight, a clip we'll likely be seeing over and over, saw Skelly and opponent Maximo Blanco run across the cage and both threw flying kicks at the same time. Skelly's landed, knocking Blanco flying, and Skelly followed by choking Blanco out in 19 seconds. It was the fastest submission in UFC featherweight history.

Johnson and Brunson, in the top two matches both had sub-two minute knockouts, that should put both fighters very close to the top of their respective lightweight and middleweight divisions.

But otherwise, it felt like a normal show, which dragged at times between the explosive highlights.

The Texas officiating curse, and curse is a nice way of putting it, continued with the evening's first match. A bantamweight contest between Alejandro Perez and Albert Morales saw both fighters punch each other after the bell in the first round, and again in the second. Referee Kerry Hately then penalized Perez one point, which ended up costing him the fight, although one could argue it was a fight he should have lost, and in a strange way the bad foul saw an injustice prevented.

By normal standards of point deductions, it was a shocking call because it wasn't flagrant or a cheap shot since both men were still fighting. Then, in the third round, Morales did a running knee to the jaw of Perez, who was down, as blatant a foul and potentially damaging, as you could have. And no point deduction was made. The judged called the fight a majority draw.

The bad call, and the non-call of the more flagrant foul, made the difference. Two judges had Perez winning rounds two and three. It wasn't terrible in the sense round two was close enough to have a difference of opinion. But media scores were 81 percent for Morales winning 29-27, based on tabulations from MMADecisions.com, with the other 19 percent scoring it a draw.

Later, for a knee by Antonio Carlos Jr., where it was a close call on whether or not it was legal, and whether opponent Leonardo Augusto Leleco had his hand down or not at the point of impact, Carlos Jr. had a point deducted. But that played no part in the outcome as Carlos Jr. won via choke.

The only real controversy once the main card started was the stoppage in the Brunson win over Uriah Hall. Brunson scored a knockdown with a perfectly landed left hook, but the follow-up shots on the ground were missing when Herb Dean stepped in. Hall got right up like nothing was wrong. The knockdown punch was hard enough to where Dean had cause for concern, but when fans saw the punches on the ground missing on the replay, they weren't happy.

Dustin Poirier, with four straight dominant wins since moving to lightweight 18 months ago, came in as the showcase star. His opponent, Michael Johnson, is talented enough to have wins over both Tony Ferguson and Edson Barboza, two of the division's top contenders, while also being inconsistent enough to come into the fight with a 16-10 record. But Johnson was too quick for Poirier, and finished him in just 1:35 of the first round.

Let's look at how Fortunes Changed and what's next for five of the key fighters on the show.

MICHAEL JOHNSON - Johnson came into the fight ranked as the No. 10 lightweight contender, due to his deceptive won-loss record. One could argue this win should put him as high as No. 5, given Barboza was tied for No. 4, Donald Cerrone at No. 6 isn't even fighting in the division, and Poirier was No. 7.

A rematch with Barboza (18-4) would make sense, as could fights with either Michael Chiesa (14-2) or Khabib Nurmagomedov (23-0). Of the three, a win over Nurmagomedov would be the most beneficial when it comes to the quickest future title shot.

DUSTIN POIRIER - After three first-round finishes and a dominant decision in his previous four fights at lightweight, Poirier (20-5) took a step back.

A good opponent for him next would be Gilbert Melendez (22-6). A win against someone with the reputation of Melendez would almost erase this showing. Another potential opponent, just because it's the type of fight that would be spectator friendly, would be with Joe Lauzon (26-12), who also has a big enough name to benefit Poirier's career.

DEREK BRUNSON - This was the fifth straight win for Brunson. His last loss, to Yoel Romero, came via stoppage in a fight he looked very good in until midway through the third round. Before that, he hadn't lost since a 2012 fight with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

Brunson's 16-3 record should put him in the category right below champion Michael Bisping and the big four contenders of Souza, Romero, Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman.

Because of that, and the timing, the perfect next opponent would be the winner of the Oct. 8 fight in London with No. 5 ranked Vitor Belfort (25-12) against No. 8 ranked Gegard Mousasi (39-6-2). Such a fight would be the career maker. If things go as seemingly planned, and Rockhold faces Souza, scheduled for November in Australia, and Weidman faces Romero, there will be the two winners and whoever emerges as champion in the Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson fight as the remaining big three.

If Brunson can beat the Belfort vs. Mousasi winner, he'd probably end up just behind them.

URIAH HALL - Hall (12-7) remains inconsistent and this loss takes him out of the top mix. A good next opponent is Tim Boetch (19-10). Of the fighters that would be at the level Hall should face next, he's the biggest name. And Hall would also be the highest-profile level guy for Boetsch.

Hall is coming off two losses after his memorable knockout of Mousasi last year. Boetsch has lost six of his last nine, but finished Josh Samann in his last outing.

EVAN DUNHAM - Dunham (18-6) had the night's best fight in a straight 30-27 win over late replacement Rick Glenn. Dunham came into the fight  as the No. 15 contender.  Either Chiesa or even Poirier could be next opponents. Rustam Khabilov (20-3) is coming off three straight wins, the most recent being on Sept. 3, and is also someone near Dunham's level who doesn't already have an opponent. There is also the winner of Beneil Dariush (13-2) vs. Rashid Magomedov (19-1) on the Nov. 5 show in Mexico City, but the winner of that fight may be slated for someone higher ranked.