The Real Winners and Losers from UFC Fight Like Hell Night
Some fight cards are merely pedestrian.
Some others go far beyond such simple description.
And it's safe to say that Saturday's 12-bout show from central Texas—billed as the UFC's fifth annual Fight Like Hell Night—was most accurately placed in the latter category.
Indeed, the televised extravaganza from the Moody Center in Austin was framed as a tribute to late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, a rabid MMA fan who died from cancer nearly nine years ago at age 49, and proceeds from the event were donated to the V Foundation memorial cancer research fund that bears his name.
The six-fight main card included four head-to-head matchups of fighters ranked in the top 15 of their respective weight classes, including the five-round main event pitting fourth-ranked lightweight Beneil Dariush against No. 8 contender Arman Tsarukyan.
The high-end competition stretched to the preliminary show as well, where ex-bantamweight champ Miesha Tate faced four-fight UFC veteran Julia Avila in a meeting of the 12th- and 13th-ranked fighters at 135 pounds.
The B/R combat team was in place to take it all in with an aim to compile a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Click through to see what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments section.
Winner: Entering Elite Status
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As torch passing's go, it was particularly brutal.
Eighth-ranked lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan staked his claim to a top-end position at 155 pounds with stunning authority in Saturday's main event, finishing No. 4 Beneil Dariush with a series of devastating strikes after just 64 seconds.
Though the winner may not have been a surprise given his standing as a nearly 3-to-1 favorite going in, the idea that it happened via quick KO rather than long-haul strategy was shocking.
But not to Tsarukyan, who'd won seven of nine in the UFC since arriving in 2019.
"I was expecting a KO," he said. "I didn't want to win by decision."
It wasn't an issue once he grazed the side of Dariush's head with a knee before delivering a precise overhand right that landed before his foot had returned to the floor. Dariush tumbled like a fallen tree and Tsarukyan landed three hammer fists before Mark Smith intervened.
In fact, Tsarukyan, as the highlight was being shown in the arena, smiled and "It's a 50 G."
It was the ninth finish of the night across 12 fights, and the fifth by KO, including four in one round.
"Nobody saw that coming," analyst Michael Bisping said. "In a night full of highlights, Arman Tsarukyan might have stood out among the rest because of who he beat and the way he beat him."
Loser: Humane Officiating
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Jalin Turner's KO was easily the most impressive of the night.
But it wasn't the main takeaway of his co-main event defeat of Bobby Green.
Instead, it was the image of a semi-conscious veteran and fan favorite, already beaten into a helpless, face-down position on the mat, taking another dozen or so shots to the head before referee Kerry Hatley finally pulled the trigger and ended the bludgeoning at 2:49 of the first round.
So before Daniel Cormier climbed into the cage to chat up the winner, he took a few shots of his own at the veteran of a few hundred MMA officiating gigs.
"That was a terrible stoppage," the former two-division champ said.
"Three or four big shots too late. What the hell was he waiting for? This is a person's long-term future at stake. That was disgusting and disgraceful."
He wasn't wrong.
Though Green came out with his typical frenetic style with his hands held low around his waist, he was in tough against the taller and longer Turner and incurred trouble when his foe landed an overhand right alongside his left ear and immediately left him wobbly.
Turner stepped forward with another combination that drove Green to the floor and he quickly turned away from a series of ground strikes and gave up his back. Hatley would not have been blamed for stopping it at that moment, but he remained off to the side as Turner continued to land punches to either side of Green's defenseless head before the end finally came.
Even the winner wondered why the assault went on so long, rendering Green still stiff-legged as he walked to congratulate Turner several minutes later.
"I don't wanna talk down on the ref but yes, I am (surprised)," Turner said. "I wanna help my brother, but you've got to do what you've got to do."
Winner: Bantamweight Interest
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Attention, Sean O'Malley.
A new bantamweight threat arrived Saturday night.
That was the consensus impression left by the 135-pound debut of former two-time flyweight boss Deiveson Figueiredo, who swept all three rounds against eighth-ranked Rob Font in his first appearance in a non-title fight in more than four years.
The Brazilian earned a trio of 30-27 scores in a fight that wasn't the barnburner he's often involved in but was no less impressive because of his precision, his ability to rattle a bigger opponent, and his ability to maintain his gas tank with an extra 10 pounds.
"I'm very impressed with Deiveson Figueiredo's ability to take a shot," blow-by-blow man Brendan Fitzgerald said. "But his power seems to be there, too. Regardless of weight class, he seems to be one of those guys who's going to be powerful."
Though Font had a slight edge when it came to striking numbers over the first two rounds, it was the ex-champ's shots that were more impactful. Add that to the three takedowns across those first two rounds, and four overall, and it was certainly impressive if not breathtaking.
"I'm a little sad because I didn't put on the show of the night tonight," Figueiredo said. "But I'm feeling great representing 135."
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Winning: Shutting Mouths
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Maybe it was in his head. Maybe it was reality.
But whatever the case, Sean Brady believed no one believed in him.
The previously unbeaten Philadelphia welterweight hadn't fought since a loss to Belal Muhammad took his 0 in 2022, and with a foe on the level of former interim middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum this time around, the perception was understandable.
And to him, it was motivating.
"Everyone said for the last 2-3 months, 'You're gonna get knocked out,'" Brady said, moments after prompting Gastelum's surrender by third-round kimura. "Ain't nobody getting knocked out. He got submitted. And that's what I'm gonna do from now on."
The level of dominance prior to the tap at 1:43 of the third warranted the confidence.
Brady got Gastelum to the floor in both the first and second rounds and largely kept him there while chasing submissions and doling out ground strikes. The same script was being followed down the stretch, too, before Brady seized Gastelum's right arm and wrenched it until the third submission of his UFC run was in the bag.
Brady arrived ranked ninth at welterweight while Gastelum was 11th at middleweight. Following the victory, Brady called for a bout with Ian Garry, who's ranked 10th.
"It feels great," he said. "I just believed in myself. My physical has always been there."
Loser: Fan Favoritism
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The judges knew it. Joaquim Silva knew it.
And in his heart of hearts, it's a good bet Clay Guida knew it, too.
But it seemed the only folks in the Moody Center unaware that Silva deserved a narrow but fair decision over Guida in their main card lightweight scrap were the fans who loudly booed the trio of 29-28 scores read off in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace's favor.
Guida was hopping up and down and holding a finger in the air as Bruce Buffer began to make the official announcement, but even he clapped when referee Smith raised Silva's arm, realizing that his 13th loss in 22 UFC fights since mid-2011 was legit.
Still, while the partisan Texas crowd eschewed graciousness, Silva had plenty.
"This guy is a legend of the UFC," he said. "This guy's amazing. It's very tough to fight him."
Indeed, though Silva controlled the first round with more precise strikes and quality takedown defense, the 41-year-old whirling dervish seemed to even things up through sheer will and aggressiveness in Round 2. That left the third round as the decider and Silva was again the better man, landing 19 strikes to Guida's 15, scoring the session's lone takedown and record its lone submission attempt when he chased a guillotine finish.
"I knew that the third round was the one to win," Silva said. "Clay is such a tough fighter. I went for the guillotine twice and it was so tight, but he got out twice."
Winner: Waking Up the Echoes
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Maybe Miesha Tate's elite days aren't quite finished, after all.
Though it's a reality, even with Saturday's comprehensive dominance of Julia Avila, that the 35-year-old former champion has won just twice in the last seven years, it's no less true that her performance on the way to a third-round submission was eye opening.
And according to Tate, that was exactly as it was drawn up.
"I was dead set that I was going to go back and remember who I am," she said.
"This is what made me. People say 'quit, give up.' I had to show people that you do not quit on yourself."
Back at 135 pounds after a brief, unimpressive drop to 125, Tate, ranked No. 12, thrashed her 13th-ranked opponent from the opening horn, scoring four takedowns on five attempts and running up better than 10 minutes of control time.
Avila was both physically spent and mentally beaten by the time things got to the floor in the third and she had little resistance left by the time Tate locked in a rear-naked choke that prompted a fight-ending tap at 1:15 of the third.
It was her seventh win at bantamweight, which is tied for fourth in weight class history.
"A flawless victory. An impressive victory," Bisping said. "That looked like a prime Miesha Tate out there. That was as dominant as it could possibly get."
Winner: Welcome to Slamboree
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Whaddya know? Lightning can strike twice.
Just minutes after Drakkar Klose exited the ring after a "you never see that" slam KO of Joe Solecki, it turned out Cody Brundage had a response.
In similar arm peril against Zachary Reese as Klose had been versus Solecki, Brundage followed Klose's example by picking his opponent up and slamming him to the canvas.
It took him eight seconds longer to finish the job, cracking the right side of Reese's head against the mat to get his instant finish while Klose dumped his man on the left side.
Both sounded like bowling balls hitting a floor and they resulted in the 13th and 14th slam KOs in UFC history, and the first time there have been two on the same show.
"They always say don't slam to get out because you can get in deeper and have more damage," Bisping said. "Well, so much for that."
Brundage was in an arm triangle when he went for his unorthodox escape.
Klose was in an armbar.
Both wound up not only victorious, but side by side in the running for KO of the year.
"I watched the guy before me do the same thing," Brundage said. "This sport has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and when you're on top I don't know if there's anything better."
Winner: Rapturous Resilience
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You can watch a lot of fights and a lot of rounds.
But chances are you won't see many better than Round 2 of the light heavyweight scrap between Rodolfo Bellato and Ihor Potieria.
Because it was violent and it was dramatic.
And if you're a fan of MMA, it was beautiful, too.
An extended barrage of strikes, particularly when his foe was flat on his back and essentially defenseless, made it appear as if Potieria was a lock for his second UFC win since graduating from Dana White's Contender Series two years ago.
Problem was, Bellato wasn't quite ready to give in.
Referee Jacob Montalvo was remarkably patient in allowing the Brazilian to recover and he eventually did, starting to reply with his own strikes when an arm-weary Potieria slowed down. The octagonal newbie's zeal took over, prompted a takedown and a ground strike salvo of his own to which Potieria was unable to respond.
A second rally never came and Montalvo waved things off at 4:17.
"I was knocked out over there," Bellato said, gesturing toward the spot on the mat where he'd incurred so much punishment, "but I never stopped. I believe so much in my Jiu-Jitsu, so I was always confident."
That confidence ultimately begat gratitude.
"It's a big dream for me to be here," he said. "When I was a child I dreamed I'd be fighting in the UFC. I am so happy to be here."
Winner: Keeping It Cool
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Jared Gooden was savoring the moment.
Just a few days short of his 30th birthday and at the outset of his second run in the UFC, the Georgia-based welterweight strolled to the Octagon to the sounds of James Brown and seemed completely relaxed as he entered the 32nd fight of an eight-year MMA career.
And it was the comfort under pressure that allowed him to get through a particularly tumultuous prelim bout with Wellington Turman.
Gooden was on the short end of a competitive first round and found himself wobbling after absorbing a strike early in the second, but he replied with a conscience-altering shot of his own in a follow-up exchange and continued to seize the advantage - ultimately getting to the mat in full mount and seizing Turman's neck when he turned to avoid punishment.
A rear-naked choke made things academic soon after, ending matters at 1:11 of the round when referee Jeff Rexroad intervened.
"Like a shark when he smells blood in the water," Gooden said, "I knew I could finish him and that's what I did."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Arman Tsarukyan def. Beneil Dariush by KO (strikes), 1:04, Round 1
Jalin Turner def. Bobby Green by KO (strikes), 2:49, Round 1
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Rob Font by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sean Brady def. Kelvin Gastelum by submission (kimura), 1:43, Round 3
Joaquim Silva def. Clay Guida by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dustin Stoltzfus def. Punahele Soriano by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:10, Round 2
Preliminary Card
Miesha Tate def. Julia Avila by submission (rear-naked choke), 1:15, Round 3
Cody Brundage def. Zachary Reese by KO (slam), 1:49, Round 1
Drakkar Klose def. Joe Solecki by KO (slam), 1:41, Round 1
Rodolfo Bellato def. Ihor Potieria by TKO (strikes), 4:17, Round 2
Jared Gooden def. Wellington Turman by submission (rear-naked choke), 1:11, Round 2
Veronica Hardy def. Jamey-Lyn Horth by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
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