About Last Night at UFC Vegas 31...
Want to know what transpired inside the UFC APEX on Saturday night? You've come to the right place.
Just an Absolute Nightmare
Islam Makhachev continued his march towards the top of the lightweight division on Saturday night, dominating and finishing Thiago Moises in his first main event assignment, extending his winning streak to eight in the process.
This was one-way traffic from the outset, with Makhachev happily showing that he could hang with Moises on the feet for long stretches of the first two rounds before listening to his corner, shifting into grappling mode, and continuing to dominate on the canvas. Midway through the fourth, he put Moises out of his misery, lacing up the fight-ending choke pictured above.
There is a lot of debate about what should come next for the 29-year-old juggernaut, with plenty of names being bandied about, and opinions varying a great deal. Here’s what I think:
Makhachev feels undeniable in the same way Khabib Nurmagomedov felt undeniable before he finally reached the top of the division, so rather than continuing to have him move up the rankings in small steps, get him in there with another contender and see if he can secure himself a title shot before the year is out.
I know he was supposed to fight Rafael Dos Anjos last year, but that fight doesn’t feel like it makes as much sense right now as seeing Makhachev test himself against Michael Chandler or Justin Gaethje or Beneil Dariush would right now. Those guys are established and in the thick of the chase, each of them stationed inside the Top 5, while RDA hasn't fought since his return to lightweight last November and would be better served taking on someone like Gregor Gillespie or Brad Riddell or Arman Tsarukyan in my opinion.
However it shakes out, I know is this: Makhachev is a goddamn nightmare matchup for anyone in the division.
No Rust for Miesha Tate
After more than four-and-a-half years on the sidelines, Miesha Tate walked into the Octagon on Saturday night and looked like she never left, settling in quickly against Marion Reneau, ultimately securing a third-round stoppage win in her return to action.
This was about as good a performance as you could have scripted for Tate in her return as she looked like an immediate contender while being forced to work hard to get the victory, logging valuable cage time before getting Reneau out of there a little more than 90 seconds into the final frame. Her hands looked sharp and set up her grappling, which has always been her bread and butter, and she dominated on the canvas, securing the finish with impressive ground-and-pound.
A win like this puts Tate right back in the thick of the chase in the bantamweight division, and while a title shot is still a couple wins away, a Top 10 ranking and opponent next time out are not out of the question. Holly Holm suggested she’d like a rematch and that makes all kinds of sense — more than my initial suggestion of pairing Tate off with Irene Aldana, who should be matched up with the winner of next week’s fight between Aspen Ladd and Macy Chiasson to determine the next title challenger.
Reneau had announced she was calling it a career heading into this one and while she exits on a lengthy skid, the 44-year-old P.E. teacher fought nothing but quality competition and excelled after getting into this sport in her mid-30s, which is insane when you think about it. She was a fixture in the Top 15 and a consummate professional, and deserved the classy send-off she was afforded following the fight.
Game On
Mateusz Gamrot wasn’t messing around on Saturday night against Jeremy Stephens.
Right out of the gate, the Polish lightweight closed the distance, snatching up a single, dumping Stephens to the canvas, and chasing him to the ground. From there, “Gamer” got busy attacking a kimura, wrenching the left arm behind the back with incredible torque and force, leaving the veteran no choice but to tap. The whole thing lasted 65 seconds.
A two-division champion under the KSW banner before moving to the UFC, the 30-year-old lightweight has now earned consecutive stoppage wins to push his record to 19-1 with one No Contest verdict, announcing his presence as a player in the 155-pound weight class.
Don’t let Stephens’ struggles diminish the impressiveness of this outing — this was domination as a result of Gamrot’s skills, not Stephens’ decline — and don’t be surprised if the Polish rising star finds himself in the fast lane to the Top 15 after this one.
Big Rebound Win for Rodolfo Vieira
Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion Rodolfo Vieira got back into the win column in impressive fashion, securing a third-round submission win in a hard-fought scrap with Contender Series grad Dustin Stoltzfus, showcasing his tremendous grappling acumen in locking up the fight-ending choke.
This was the kind of gutsy, “show us you want to be here” type of effort many wanted to see from Vieira after he gassed hard and got submitted by Anthony Hernandez last time out. He’d looked good, but not great through his first two UFC victories, flagged against “Fluffy” before being forced to tap, and then was in tough here, and rather than wilt, the hulking middleweight strangler rose to the occasion, showing improvements in his striking and the gnarly grappling that made him an intriguing addition to the 185-pound weight class right out of the chute.
Vieira is such a good grappler that you can’t help but wonder if he can embark on a Demian Maia-esque run where he just plays to his strengths and chokes a bunch of people out, making steady progress up the rankings. This was a good start and as he keeps getting more comfortable inside the cage, becoming a Triple A version of his championship-level countryman isn’t out of the question.
In regards to Stoltzfus, I hope he gets another shot because while he’s 0-2 inside the Octagon, losses to Kyle Daukaus and Vieira aren’t “bad losses” and he gave the Brazilian a tough fight on Saturday. He’s better than his record suggests and I think he’ll show that next time out.
Remember Quarantillo-Benitez Come Awards Season
Billy Quarantillo and Gabriel Benitez didn’t waste any time getting after it in Saturday’s main card opener, swinging hammers right out of the chute and continuing battle tooth-and-nail until Quarantillo secured the finish late in the third.
Whenever we get to handing out awards at the end of the year, we don’t always think of fights like this — scraps between unranked featherweights on a random Saturday night in Las Vegas, our memories often holding onto marquee matchups and five-round brawls — but this one should definitely get some love in the Fight of the Year discussion.
This is exactly what everyone expected from these two as this is exactly who they are — aggressive, tough, durable competitors that bring the goods every time out, and while things don’t always go their way, they rarely fail to deliver and Saturday night was no different.
Now 4-1 in the UFC, having won 9-1 in his last 10, and sporting a 16-3 record overall, this was the best version of Quarantillo we’ve seen to date, as he showcased a full compliment of skills, coupled with the undeniable toughness and bottomless gas tank he’s always possessed. He’s entrenched in that glut of talent just outside the Top 15 in the featherweight division and is the kind of miserable matchup that several others in that group or further up the ladder will actively avoid in the second half of the year.
Preliminary Card Takeaways
Daniel Rodriguez did what we expect veteran competitors to do when they land opposite a last-minute replacement opponent, picking apart and putting away Preston Parsons in a little over three minutes.
Parsons came to fight and ran level with Rodriguez through the opening half of the round, acting as the aggressor, taking a couple clean shots, and responding in kind. But when Rodriguez blasted him with a punch that instantly blew up Parsons’ eye, the veteran swarmed, picking his spots and pouring it on to get the first round stoppage.
It was a very good showing for the Los Angeles native, who has now earned back-to-back wins and five victories in six starts over the last 18 months.
In Thursday’s 10 Things I Like column, I suggested Amanda Lemos was on the verge of becoming a contender in the strawweight division, positing that with one or two more impressive wins, the streaking Brazilian could be in the thick of the title chase.
Yeah, she’s there already.
Saturday night, Lemos pushed her winning streak to four with a first-round stoppage win over Montserrat Ruiz, staggering “Conejo” with a counter right hand as she tried to close the distance right out of the chute. A couple more big blows connected and referee Chris Tognoni jumped in, saving Ruiz from any further damage. Some objected to the quick whistle from Tognoni, but Lemos landed clean, Ruiz went down in a heap, and there as no reason to let things continue.
The 34-year-old has looked phenomenal over her last four and should land a serious step up in competition next time out. If I may, I’d like to recommend the winner of the upcoming rematch between Tecia Torres and Angela Hill, which takes place at UFC 265 in Houston next month.
Sergey Morozov handled his business on Saturday night, securing his first UFC win by out-hustling Khalid Taha, earning the unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27 across the board. It was a workmanlike effort from the veteran and a positive step forward in his second UFC appearance.
The bigger takeaway from the fight for me, however, was that Taha is another one of these non-wrestlers that could really benefit from a shift in mindset when it comes to the grappling exchanges because as soon as Morozov got inside and connected his hands, Taha ended up on the canvas. A big part of that stems from his initial reactions, which should be to pummel for underhooks and do everything in his power to disconnect Morozov’s hands, but instead, he was trying to land ineffective strikes and power out of those positions, and it didn’t work.
For me, it’s similar to how more people need to study the way Lando Vannata fights hands — if you don’t want to get stuck in the clinch or, even worse, stuck on bottom, you have to do everything in your power to avoid getting stuck there, and you have to do it immediately, without concern for anything else.
That may not have made a difference for Taha on Saturday, but it might have, and it’s just a good lesson in general.
Canadian flyweight Malcolm Gordon secured his first UFC victory on Saturday night, pulling off the upset against Francisco Figueiredo.
The Scarborough native came out quickly and never let off the gas, taking the fight to his Brazilian counterpart while showing a real sense of urgency from start to finish. After getting stopped in the first round of his first two outings, Gordon changed up his camp this time around it paid dividends, as he staved off a three-fight slide by securing a clean sweep of the scorecards.
I don’t enjoy being this guy, but through two fights, Figueiredo looks like a guy that got an opportunity at this level because his brother was champion. As the younger sibling to a brother that was successful and popular when we were growing up, I know all about those opportunities, and it actually sucks because the expectations are high and the pressure is great, and it seems like it might be too much for the younger Figueiredo.
Nice comeback for Rodrigo Nascimento, who looked dead to rights at a couple different points in the first round against Alan Baudot, only to turn things all the way around and secure a stoppage win less than two minutes into the second stanza.
The Brazilian entered in the best shape of his career, coming in well below the heavyweight limit after showing up at American Top Team at well over 300 pounds, and if he can maintain this physique and form, he’ll be an entertaining addition to the lower half of the heavyweight ranks. He lost last time out, but getting stopped early by Chris Daukaus is an increasingly understandable thing that can happen, and with a 9-1 record with nine finishes, the 28-year-old “Yogi Bear” is definitely someone to keep tabs on going forward.