UFC Vegas 58: About Last Night...

Recapping what transpired on Saturday night at the UFC APEX and the ramifications of those results

Fiziev Answers All the Questions

In his first main event, positioned against a former lightweight champion, Rafael Fiziev showed he deserves to be considered amongst the best lightweights on the planet, scoring a sudden stoppage win over Rafael Dos Anjos in the opening seconds of the fifth round.

The streaking Muay Thai stylist controlled the opening three rounds, showcasing outstanding takedown defense and his trademark quick striking, peppering Dos Anjos, never allowing him to get the fight to the canvas or establish any rhythm. After fading a little in the fourth, Fiziev came out to start the fifth, faked a long-range knee, and connected with a clean reaching left hook that sent the Brazilian tumbling to the canvas. The follow-up shots came swiftly and accurately, bringing the fight to a close.

This really was a terrific performance from Fiziev, who passed the biggest test of his career with flying colours while showing he’s ready for another step up in competition next time out. He’s won six straight and secured back-to-back final round finishes, working his way further up the depth chart with each outing.

The last person to stop Dos Anjos won the UFC lightweight title in the process. While Fiziev didn’t do that on Saturday, this was the kind of effort that makes you believe his doing so in the future is possible.

Borralho Grinds Out Win Over Fellow DWCS Alum

The co-main event between Dana White’s Contender Series alums Caio Borralho and Armen Petrosyan went as expected, with Borralho playing to his advantages in the grappling department to drag out a unanimous decision win.

In each of the first two rounds, Borralho put Petrosyan on the deck and eventually found his way to back mount, where he opted to stay and hand fight with the kickboxer; never doing any real damage, nor coming close to finding an opening for a choke. There were opportunities for the Brazilian to force Petrosyan belly down, where more opportunities could present themselves, but each time, he instead chose to ride out long stretches with a body triangle or basic hooks sunk in, taking time off the clock and doing little else.

This was honestly one of those rare fights where we didn’t really learn anything about either fighter. We knew Borralho had the grappling advantage and Petrosyan would struggle to defend the takedowns, and that’s essentially all that we saw. Borrahlo made a hopeful callout of Dricus Du Plessis following his victory, but after a performance like this, a date with a Top 15 fighter is a bit of a reach.

What I’d really like to see if the Brazilian stuck in there with an experienced veteran that will force him to be at his best — what’s Roman Dolidze up to? — so we can see if he’s someone that is legitimately capable of making a quick climb in the 185-pound weight class or simply the best of a mediocre crop of DWCS grads and lower half middleweights.

Hard Fought Learning Experience for Nurmagomedov

Said Nurmagomedov picked up his second win of the year and third straight UFCV victory on Saturday night, moving to 5-1 in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over Douglas Silva de Andrade.

This was every bit the hard-fought, grimy battle most anticipated most anticipated between these two surging bantamweights, as Nurmagomedov tried desperately to land spinning techniques, while Silva de Andrade countered with power punches and his patented resiliency. While the Russian fighter was clearly the more technical and getting the better of the vast majority of the exchanges, “D-Silva” didn’t make it easy on him, staying in Nurmagomedov’s face until the final horn.

Fights like this are crucial for the continued development of fighters like Nurmagomedov, who has struggled through stretches of inactivity and is still working his way forward in the loaded 135-pound weight class. Although it’s not as flashy as his rapid knockout of Mark Striegl or quick submission win over Cody Stamann, it will provide him with far more valuable information down the road, and prove to be a great benefit in is quest to continue climbing the bantamweight ladder.

Sherman Rallies for Stoppage

Chase Sherman had lost four straight and seven of his last eight UFC appearances, but Jared Vanderaa allowed the struggling heavyweight to hang around, and Sherman made the most of it, rallying to secure a third-round stoppage victory.

The big fellas spent the entire fights standing and trading blows, a surprising development given that (1) Vanderaa is a black belt, (2) Vanderaa willingly grappled (and had some early success) in his bout with Aleksei Oleinik, and (3) Sherman had been defeated by first-round submission in each of his last two outings. Both had some moments in the opening stanza, and Vanderaa grabbed a slight advantage in the second, but Sherman showed he wasn't going anywhere, landing in fits and starts throughout.

It was one of those bouts where it felt like Vanderaa was asking for Sherman to rally and hand him a loss, and that’s exactly what happens. Just when Vanderaa seemed to be starting to pull away, he got cracked, and Sherman swarmed for the finish.

This wasn’t necessarily a “Vanderaa lost more than Sherman won” situation, because Sherman had to rally and did, so he gets full marks. But man oh man did Vanderaa make some questionable decisions from the very start of this one, and it ended up resulting in a third consecutive loss, one that could cost him his place on the UFC roster.

Zahabi Lands, Turcios Does Stuff

The main card bantamweight fight between Aiemann Zahabi and Ricky Turcios highlighted the difference between “being effective” and “just doing stuff,” as Zahabi remained patient, landed at a high rate and fought effectively, while Turcios made a lot of big gestures and sounds, but connected with very little.

Zahabi earned 29-28 scores across the board, and I'm honestly at a loss, as I don’t think the recent TUF winner landed anything of substance in the 15-minute fight. He threw a lot and kept coming forward, but in terms of actual, effective offence, there wasn’t much with any kind of force that landed clean without Zahabi quickly offering a counter with a little more mustard on it.

This was a smart, professional victory for the Canadian, who secures a second straight victory after scoring a first-round stoppage win over Drako Rodriguez in his most recent fight before this. The Montreal native is well-rounded, crafty, and technical, and has spoken about finally being settled in to a point where he hopes to make a run in the talent-rich 135-pound weight class.

Saturday’s measured effort was another step in the right direction, and I’m curious to see who he gets matched up with next time out.

Opening Card Banger

Jamie Mullarkey and Michael Johnson beat the holy hell out of one another in Saturday’s main card opener, with the Australian coming away on the happy side of the split decision verdict.

In every way, this was a quintessential Johnson fight, as the veteran rocked and dropped Mullarkey midway through the first, seemingly putting himself on the brink of securing a finish. But as he followed his foe to the canvas, Johnson didn’t do much to follow up, and when he confidently rose to his feet, Mullarkey found a home with a good right hand that wobbled the former Ultimate Fighter finalist and turned the one-sided round into a much closer frame.

The Australian dominated the second, but the ever-game Johnson refused to give way, coming out and winning the third round, resulting in the fight hinging on how the first round was scored. Two officials awarded the frame to Mullarkey, handing him the victory and a return to the win column, while Johnson lands on the wrong side of things again.

This was a banger from the outset, and the kind of fun, entertaining scrap that is always a perfect way to open up the main card.

* * * * *

Preliminary Card Results & Discussion Points

Cody Brundage was expected to wrestle in his preliminary card pairing with TUF 29 alum Tresean Gore, and he did out of the chute. But once Gore was able to separate and stay in space, the Factory X Muay Thai representative was happy to keep things standing, and when Gore pressed forward late in the opening round, Brundage put him down with a short right hook. The follow-up blows from mount put Gore to sleep and woke him back up, prompting referee Mike Beltran to step in and halt the contest.

This is two straight first-round stoppage wins for Brundage, who came up short in his DWCS appearance and dropped a decision to Nick Maximov in is short-notice promotional debut. He’s still a little inexperienced and hurried at times, but it’s clear he carries some power in his hands and has a little wrestling in his back pocket, making him someone to watch for further development down the road in the middleweight division.

For Gore, it’s clear that he has athletic promise and upside, but he’s far too inexperienced to be competing at this level right now. This was just his fifth fight (and second in the UFC) and he’ll be better served heading back to the gym and the regional circuit in order to gain more experience and understanding before potentially finding a way back to the Octagon in the future.

Antonina Shevchenko landed on the happy side of a split decision verdict on Saturday night, edging out Cortney Casey, who is now dealing with a very familiar feeling.

The 35-year-old veteran had been involved in four previous split decisions and a number of close battles that went the distance throughout her UFC tenure, and more often than naught, she’s landed on the wrong side of those results. It’s been a point of contention for her throughout her career, understandably, as the record would look very different with three or four narrow defeats turning in victories.

Unfortunately for “Cast Iron,” her style is one that leads itself to fights like this — tight, competitive battles — because while she’s solid everywhere, she’s not overly strong anywhere, which usually results in these competitive battles where things can often go either way. It’s a difficult situation with no real solution — she is who she is as a fighter at this point, and it means that more of these frustrating, ultra-competitive fights are still likely in her future.

One of the harder things to do in MMA is look great in a short-notice contest when you’re the person that was scheduled to compete and are therefore expected to excel in the matchup.

David Onama was initially expected to face Austin Lingo on Saturday, but hit the start of the week unsure if he was going to compete after the Fortis MMA fighter was forced to withdraw. Garrett Armfield finally accepted the challenge, facing off with the man that handed him his only amateur loss in his UFC debut. While it wasn’t the cleanest effort, Onama got the job done, settling in towards the end of the first round and securing an arm-triangle submission midway through the second stanza.

The Glory MMA & Fitness representative looked great in his promotional debut in a similar position to Armfield, showing out while catching a loss up a division against Mason Jones before returning to featherweight and finishing Gabriel Benitez in the first last time out. Although he didn’t look quite as sharp here, Onama adjusted and found the finish, keeping things moving forward in the 145-pound weight class and adding a little bit more buzz to his name.

Kennedy Nzechukwu turned in the best performance of his UFC career on Saturday night.

The Fortis MMA man repeatedly dragged Karl Roberson to the canvas, controlling him on the ground for the first two rounds before opting to unleash strikes from top position midway through the third, getting the former kickboxer out of there with a hail of elbows. After some inconsistencies and learning experiences to begin his UFC tenure, this was a performance that illustrates why the tall, rangy, and powerful Dallas-based fighter has always been a person of interest to me.

Roberson is a solid veteran, and Nzechukwu steamrolled him, identifying right away that he had the clear grappling advantage and maximizing it from the outset. He chased some submissions that he couldn’t connect on, but he maintained control, kept working, and switched up to smashing out the finish midway through the third. Nzechukwu has always shown flashes of potential, and if he ever puts it all together, he could be a force.

Lovely effort from Saidyokub Kakhramonov in the opener, who cracked Ronnie Lawrence with a left hand out of the gate and then proceeded to wrestle the hell out of the Dana White’s Contender Series alum, garnering a complete sweep of the scorecards to collect his second straight UFC victory and fourth consecutive win overall.

Now training at Warriors Camp in Spokane, Washington, the 26-year-old bantamweight showed diversity in his game and even greater flashes of upside than he showed in his short-notice debut win over Trevin Jones. He nullified any wrestling Lawrence tried to muster, countering and dumping him to the canvas repeatedly, and landing damage while on top, looking like a real prospect to track going forward in the ever-crowded bantamweight ranks.

Lawrence didn’t wilt or go away easily, and shouldn’t lose too much ground off this effort, as Kakhramonov looked great. But now he needs to rebound next time out, and it will be interesting to see how he deal with that situation for the first time in the UFC.