On paper, UFC Vegas 33 looked like it was going to be a bust. But despite the numerous fight cancellations, Saturday’s event at the home base APEX turned out to be an exciting night of fights.
The prelims opened with a Phil Rowe’s second-round TKO win over Orion Cosce. A pair of one-sided unanimous decision wins followed: Zarrukh Adashev over Ryan Benoit, and Jinh Yu Frey over Ashley Yoder.
The featherweight bout that followed was a bit painful to watch as we saw Danny Chavez absorb a hard eye poke and a groin shot shortly after. Despite having a point taken away, Kai Kamaka got the win via majority draw. Closing the prelims was a barnburner between Chris Gruetzemacher and Rafa Garcia, where the former got the nod from all three judges.
The bout that followed to open the main card was another firefight. Welterweights Bryan Barbarena and Jason Witt left everything in the Octagon, trading hard shots at each other until the final bell sounded. Once the dust cleared, it was Witt who won via majority decision. However, the two men won’t go home empty-handed as they’ve both won $50K for Fight of the Night.
The next three fights all ended via highlight-reel stoppages. Debuting Melsik Baghdasaryan scored a second-round TKO win over fellow newcomer Collin Anglin via head kick, earning him a Performance of the Night bonus. It was followed by Jared Gooden’s one-punch KO win over Niklas Stolze in the first round.
Capping off the list of bonuses for the night was Cheyenne Buys, who landed a clean kick on Gloria de Paula’s left jaw, en route to her first Performance of the Night bonus in the UFC.
The main event featured a five-rounder between middleweights Sean Strickland and birthday boy Uriah Hall. The former training partners traded leather for the most part, and it was Strickland who led the exchanges with his jabs and volume.
In the end, it was Strickland who won via unanimous decision, as he extended his win streak to five.
Performance of the Night: Cheyenne Buys and Melsik Baghdasaryan
Phil Rowe (TKO at 4:21 of round 2), Zarrukh Adashev (unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28), Jinh Yu Frey (unanimous decision 30-27 on all cards), Kai Kamaka (majority draw 29-27, 28-28, 28-28), Chris Gruetzemacher (unanimous decision 29-28 on all cards).
Fight of the Night: Bryan Barbarena vs. Jason Witt
Jason Witt (unanimous decision 29-28 on all cards), Melsik Baghdasaryan (TKO at 1:50 of round 2), Jared Gooden (KO at 1:08 of round 1), Cheyenne Buys (TKO at 1:00 of round 1), Sean Strickland (unanimous decision 50-44, 50-45, 49-46).
About the author
