Report Card: New blood reigns at UFC 192

— -- New blood. That's what UFC 192 was about. Daniel Cormier's light heavyweight title defense against Alexander Gustafsson was one of the best title fights of the year and worthy of the main event, but if there was a theme to follow in Houston, it had to do with youth.

Sergio Pettis (age 22), Rose Namajunas (23), Albert Tumenov (23), Yair Rodriguez (22) and, of course, Sage Northcutt (19). Remember these names. Not only did all these youngsters record wins, they did so with style and authority. Let's dive into individual performances from the weekend with fighter grades.

How do I give Northcutt the best grade of the card for fighting an overweight opponent with a serious dad bod, who displayed the confidence of a walking corpse all fight week? Because he's 19 years old! I drank the Northcutt Kool-Aid and it's delicious, OK? Critiquing the actual fight? I mean, it was a blowout. There's not a lot to break down. What impressed about Northcutt was how comfortable he looked. I would venture to guess Northcutt had no trouble sleeping during fight week. He was excited, but not anxious. He looked like he belonged, to put it simply. Nineteen.

She good. Before Paige VanZant was the darling of the 115-pound division, we had "Thug" Rose and it was good to see her back for the first time since the loss to Carla Esparza in "The Ultimate Fighter" finale. Namajunas just has an extra dose of badass in her. It's impossible not to pick up. She showed off a nice jab against Hill, a clean, opportunistic takedown and then she got a finish. And that's what had us all excited about Namajunas to begin with. She's a nasty finisher.

The confidence is on another level for Rodriguez, which Hooker definitely seemed to pick up on. Hooker is a good featherweight, but it didn't seem like he wanted much of Rodriguez. The 10-second clapper of each round has basically become a "heads up, Rodriguez is about to throw some spinning flip kick" warning. He's dangerous everywhere, as evident by the cut he gave Hooker with an elbow to the face from off his back. Rodriguez is on a short list for "most fun to watch" in the UFC right now. Watch him.

This is a violent 23-year-old. Additional mandated signed waivers by his opponents might be in order. Those uppercuts he laid on Jouban were fire, as was the finishing sequence, against a durable, big opponent. Tumenov is a bit small for welterweight but there's certainly no need for him to move up at the moment. Maybe lightweight is in the future. For sure, plenty more knockouts are.

Pettis has now seen both sides of having a famous name. It has been great in getting him attention very early in his career. And it has brought negativity, mostly in constant comparisons to his older brother, and former UFC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis. I've seen Sergio's' name attached to the word overrated. What's lost in those criticisms is his age. He turned 22 two months ago. If you have to compare him to Anthony, which I don't think is really necessary by the way, Anthony's career really took off right around where Sergio is now. Sergio is a different fighter than his brother. His offensive wrestling is extremely underrated, probably because it's not what Anthony is known for. I still see a potentially special talent here.

He looked sloppy at times during this title defense, but in a weird way, that was almost by design. The mantra in Cormier's corner was to come forward. Always. Even at the occasional expense of technique. Nothing about this fight was easy, but Cormier is so good at closing distance on bigger opponents, we probably somewhat take for granted the challenge it was for him to do so for the entire fight. It was surprising to see Cormier not dominate the wrestling, and even allow himself to be taken down by the sneaky Gustafsson. Not a huge worry, but definitely unexpected.

You could have Benavidez fight Bagautinov 100 times and it's quite possible not a single one of them would be your traditional crowd pleaser. The pressure to engage fell completely on Benavidez's shoulders, as it does on anyone and everyone who fights Bagautinov. Benavidez did a perfectly acceptable job in that role -- mixing up his offense and avoiding Bagautinov's traps while actually setting traps of his own on several nice counters. His stand-up looked more refined than it has in other fights. For those keeping score at home, Demetrious Johnson's pressure wrestling and clinch work made his win against Bagautinov look like a breeze compared to the effort Benavidez turned in, but they obviously have different approaches. There's nothing wrong with this win.

Maybe some deja vu here for Gustafsson. Once again, he gave the defending UFC champion a tough fight. Even though Saturday was ruled a split decision versus the unanimous decision he lost to Jon Jones in 2013, I thought he was actually closer to a win when he fought Jones. As Cormier pointed out prior to UFC 192, Gustafsson received a lot of positive attention for giving Jones a close fight two years ago. And though his performance here was admirable, I doubt it will have that same effect. When it comes to getting credit for almost winning a title, it only happens once.

The chances of Pena getting the fight she's now asking for -- a title shot against Ronda Rousey -- seem extremely slim, but she's smart to at least float the idea now. In the meantime, Pena needs to continue to improve. Physically, she has a lot of tools. Her current style is a little reckless, though that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Eye is a far better striker than Pena at this point, but that didn't stop Pena from overwhelming her and getting the fight on the floor. Rousey, herself, actually used to do something similar.

First off, that's a big win for Bader. He's not going to get a title shot based on anything other than a winning streak. You've got other guys who can cut promos or have certain markets behind them, they're always only one or two wins away from the title. Quiet winners like Bader? It's going to take him five, six, seven wins in a row to get that opportunity. That's added pressure on him every time. All that said, man, Bader really is bred more for the wrestling tournament-based systems than he is for what pro MMA uses. His wins are underwhelming. With about six minutes left in that Evans fight, you got the impression Bader was looking for it to end as soon as possible, as opposed to wanting to knock Evans out and put an exclamation on it. That's fine, but it keeps you jogging in place.

He got the win, but if we're making observations here, it felt as though Jordan basically wrote a blueprint for beating Magomedov, he was just incapable of executing it. Credit Magomedov for being in great shape, the best he has looked in three UFC fights, but it's hard not to foresee some elements of disaster with the way Magomedov puts his own back on the fence and keeps his hands precariously low. Also, for as good a kickboxer as he is, the man seems to have no power as of late. He has zero knockouts since 2011; not a good statistic for a stand-up heavyweight.

This was a hard grade to arrive at because on one hand, I loved Evans' grit on Saturday. He could have wilted late, but instead he kept coming. But whether it was the long layoff or signs of his overall physical decline (I think it's the latter), Evans wasn't the same. That standout athleticism he has always brought to the table just wasn't there. A couple of years ago, maybe one of those flurries on Bader along the cage turns into a knockout. And I'm completely convinced a couple of years ago, Evans takes down Bader. When you lose even a half-step at this level, it shows. Not saying Evans needs to hang it up, but that decision should at least be in the back of his mind. If there's one thing that doesn't return with age, it's that explosive athleticism. Unless you're Vitor Belfort in 2013.

It doesn't strike me as a coincidence that since moving up to bantamweight to sign with the UFC, Eye is officially 1-3. Eye isn't the only flyweight attempting to be a full-time bantamweight due to the lack of a 125-pound weight class in the UFC, but you could argue she has been the most affected by it so far. Her style doesn't mesh well with fighting bigger opponents. She's not a big puncher. I think she's actually a better defensive wrestler than she gets credit for, but she's still being taken down and controlled by larger opponents. No excuses for Eye, just saying. She'd benefit from an additional weight class.