Anderson Silva, Greg Hardy and the Real Winners and Losers from UFC Fight Night

Goodbye Fight Island. Hello Las Vegas.

The UFC returned to its pandemic bubble in the Nevada desert on Saturday night, producing an 11-bout show on ESPN+ that featured the voices of Brendan Fitzgerald and Michael Bisping on the mics.

And in the cage? Oh, just some guy named Anderson Silva.

The decorated Brazilian made what was advertised as his last UFC appearance against No. 10 middleweight contender Uriah Hall in the main event, a bout that was supported by camouflage-draped bantamweight Bryce Mitchell and former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy in separate matches.

A 12th fight was dropped after Priscila Cachoeira pulled out because of a bad weight cut.

The Bleacher Report combat sports team was back in its usual weekend position to record all the results and determine the real winners and losers from the fast-paced card.

Take a look at our thoughts and let us know what you saw in the comments.

Loser: Beating the Clock

It looked like Anderson Silva. It sounded like Anderson Silva.

And for a few intermittent moments, it might even have been Anderson Silva.

But after 16 minutes, as the former longtime middleweight king clung to the leg of referee Herb Dean following a series of ground strikes from Uriah Hall, the Anderson Silva era was over.

At least the UFC portion of the era.

"I enjoyed my moment. Sometimes it's very difficult for us to stop," he said, moments after a fourth-round TKO loss in Saturday's main event. "But today is the final day. I'm so happy to be here to be doing my last show for my fans in the UFC."

Within moments of telling Bisping he was finished, Silva pumped the brakes and said he'd decide on his future after going home and speaking to his family and teammates—which presumably allows for the possibility he'd fight for another promotion after a 14-year Octagonal run.

Now 45, Silva debuted in the UFC in 2006 and won a title in his second fight at UFC 64.

He proceeded to win 14 more at 185 and 205 pounds before dropping the middleweight belt and a rematch to Chris Weidman in 2013. It had been a long, slow decline since then for the Brazilian, who'd won just once in six subsequent fights and hadn't competed at all since a stoppage loss to Jared Cannonier in May 17 months ago.

As for Hall, it's a third straight win and fourth in five fights for a guy who'd arrived as the No. 10 contender in the division.

He wasn't particularly aggressive through the first 10-plus minutes but finally broke through at the end of the third round when he dropped Silva with a right hand and connected with a few ground strikes right before the buzzer to end the session.

The onslaught continued when he landed another right a minute into the fourth and was decisive after seven subsequent ground strikes drew the rescue from Dean at 1:24 of the fourth.

Hall sobbed and embraced Silva after the fight's completion.

"I can't really describe it. There are just so many emotions," Hall said. "I know the job was to go out there and get a W, but to separate those emotions, that was a job in itself."

Winner: Trying on New Clothes

Featherweight Bryce Mitchell was a known commodity among UFC purists thanks to a string of wins via a punishing, entertaining form of grappling.

But truth be told, he's been far more recognizable for his wardrobe preferences.

The outspoken Arkansan began campaigning for customized camouflage shorts shortly after his Octagon debut and was finally rewarded prior to Saturday's bout with Andre Fili.

And now, the shorts are 1-0.

Ranked 15th in the weight class, Mitchell stretched his win streak to five with a unanimous decision over Fili in a grinding three-rounder scored 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 by the three judges.

"It looked like a Bryce Mitchell fight," Bisping said. "He goes out there. He takes control. Most of the time it's usually domination. This man is a potential champion one day."

Mitchell landed 100 strikes to Fili's 51 across 15 minutes and had seven takedowns in 13 attempts. Nevertheless, he wasn't completely satisfied with the performance.

"He escaped. I don't want them to escape when I get them down," he said. "That's what I bring every time. I'm gonna fight until I can't fight no more."

Winner: The Greg Hardy Experiment

What was once dismissed as a novelty is gaining credibility.

Former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy turned pro on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series two years ago and continued with a string of knockouts alongside dubious outcomes, including a disqualification for an illegal blow and a no-contest for using an inhaler between rounds in a fight.

But all of a sudden, he may just be a heavyweight prospect.

Hardy got in with four-time UFC winner Maurice Greene in the middle bout on Saturday's main card and emerged with his most important victory, dropping the veteran with a single left hand and following with multiple ground strikes that yielded a stoppage win at 1:12 of Round 2.

"Any time a man that big lands clean," Bisping said, "there's a good possibility that you're going to hit the canvas."

It was the first stoppage outside of the initial five minutes for Hardy, now 7-2, who scored the win in his first outing with new coach and former UFC champion Rashad Evans.

"I feel incredible. Back to the old Greg Hardy," he said. "Get in, get out, get up. Stay dominant. Those little bitty details [from the new team] help me get through it."

Tie: Staying Busy

Two men entered the cage with a chance to notch a UFC-best fourth victory of 2020.

But only one left in celebratory bliss.

Lightweight Bobby Green began the main card with a three-rounder against Thiago Moises that would have provided not only a fourth win but also a record for the shortest time frame to notch such a feat.

Instead, he exited on the short end of a close but unanimous decision in which all three judges gave Moises the nod by a 29-28 tally. Bleacher Report saw it the same way, giving Moises the first and third rounds in an entertaining scrap that saw nearly 140 strikes, four takedowns and a submission try.

That left the quadruple-crown task to Kevin Holland, who arrived to take on Charlie Ontiveros and follow up on wins scored in May, August and September.

The 27-year-old middleweight got it done in short, albeit anticlimactic style, beating the UFC newcomer by verbal submission after the Texan sustained a neck injury after a first-round slam takedown.

Holland controlled what action there was before the stoppage, scoring an early takedown and flipping Ontiveros back to the mat as he tried to pull away. The 29-year-old landed awkwardly on his left shoulder and neck, which brought referee Mark Smith in for a quick stop at 2:39 of the first.

Ontiveros was taken from the cage on a backboard and stretcher, but UFC President Dana White told the broadcast team the fighter felt a pop in his neck and was examined and had feeling in all his extremities and was deemed to be healthy.

"I'm trying to break records," Holland said. "I wanna fight somebody with a name."

Winner: Sudden Impact

There's nothing like a one-punch knockout.

The sight of a shot landing and an opponent instantly crumpling is a thrill unique to combat sports, and six-year MMA veteran Miles Johns got to experience it for the first time in a UFC setting.

A former champion in the LFA promotion, Johns consistently evaded a persistent Kevin Natividad with movement, jabs and takedown defense before putting things to bed with a crunching right uppercut just past the midway point of Round 3 in their bantamweight bout on the preliminary card.

The two men were moving away from the fence with Natividad again in close when Johns responded with a shot that contorted his foe's face and dropped him flat on his back, prompting an immediate wave-off from Chris Tognoni at 2:51 of the final round.

Johns got back on the winning side after a February loss at UFC 247 ended a previous streak of 10 victories. For Natividad, it was an inauspicious UFC debut and snuffed out a five-fight win streak.

"I had a good time in there tonight and that's when I'm at my best," Johns said. "Getting that last one out of the way and shaking that off, I just felt like a whole different fighter."

Winner: Sudden Impact, the Sequel

Punches rock, but bantamweight kicks are pretty cool, too.

An ex-foe of Johns, fellow 26-year-old LFA alum Adrian Yanez, threw his hat into the "preliminary guys deserve bonus cash, too" ring with a left-footer to the head that left Victor Rodriguez stumbling like a preschooler on a post-Halloween crash in Round 1 of their 135-pound match.

Like Natividad before him, Rodriguez's strategy involved staying close to a foe who was primarily focused on striking. Yanez began finding success at range early and tagged his man with several right hands that left him reeling along the fence.

The decisive sequence began when one of those right hands landed and prompted Rodriguez to move to his right and directly into the path of a high kick that dumped him to the floor and earned an intervention from Dean at 2:46.

Yanez immediately strutted away and made a cash-counting gesture to those looking on at cage-side while Rodriquez got to his feet and stumbled on rubber legs before Dean walked him back to his corner.

Yanez, whom Johns defeated in an LFA title fight two years ago, is 12-3 and has won five straight.

UFC Fight Night 181 Full Card Results

Main Card

Uriah Hall def. Anderson Silva by KO, 1:24, Round 4

Bryce Mitchell def. Andre Fili by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Greg Hardy def. Maurice Greene by KO, 1:12, Round 2

Kevin Holland def. Charlie Ontiveros by verbal submission (injury), 2:39, Round 1

Thiago Moises def. Bobby Green by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Alexander Hernandez def. Chris Gruetzemacher by KO, 1:46, Round 1

Adrian Yanez def. Victor Rodriguez by KO, 2:46, Round 1

Sean Strickland def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jason Witt def. Cole Williams by submission (arm triangle), 2:09, Round 2

Dustin Jacoby def. Justin Ledet by KO, 2:38, Round 1

Miles Johns def. Kevin Natividad by KO, 2:51, Round 3