After another controversial night of action in New Jersey, UFC Atlantic City will go into the record books and not just for ‘most eye-pokes’ in a single event.
Early stoppages, eye-poke finishes, self-inflicted knockouts, and overturned decisions – UFC Atlantic City had it all – and is now tied for an all-time UFC record in one key area.
UFC Atlantic City results at a glance
In the main event of UFC Atlantic City, Manon Fiorot dominated every single round as she earned a unanimous decision victory over Erin Blanchfield.
Joaquin Buckley also earned the biggest win of his professional career to date in the co-main event as he finished Vicente Luque with some vicious ground and pound shots in the second round.
Elsewhere on the card, Chris Weidman won via technical decision after an eye poke ended the contest only moments before the final bell. Nursulton Ruziboev got the 12th KO/TKO victory of his career over Sedriques Dumas, and Nate Landwehr delivered yet another back-and-forth war to claim his fifth win in the UFC.
Eight KO/TKO finishes means UFC Atlantic City ties all-time event record
Whilst UFC Atlantic City will certainly go down as one of the weirder events in recent memory, the New Jersey showcase also tied the all-time record for most KO/TKO finishes in UFC history.
There were eight KO/TKO finishes on the card; Jacob Malkoun (round two), Ibo Aslan (round three), Dennis Buzukja (round three), Julio Arce (round two), Nate Landwehr (round one), Kyle Nelson (round one), Nursulton Ruziboev (round one), and Joaquin Buckley (round two).
Only a handful of past UFC events have ended with eight KO/TKO finishes, now tied with UFC Atlantic City: Blanchfield vs Fiorot, including:
- UFC 92: The Ultimate – Griffin vs Evans (2008)
- UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Melendez (2013)
- UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs Miller (2014)
- UFC 199: Rockhold vs Bisping 2 (2016)
- UFC 218: Holloway vs Aldo 2 (2017)
- UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Rodriguez (2021)
- UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs Emmett (2022)
- UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs Holland (2022)
Post-fight bonuses went to Anton Turkalj vs Ibo Aslan for Fight of the Night, with Nate Landwehr and Dennis Buzukja also earning an additional $50,000 each for Performance of the Night.
‘A strange night of fights’ with multiple controversies
UFC Atlantic City started off on a usual note after Andre Petroski appeared to lose by self-inflicted TKO after he rushed in for a double leg, only to hit his head on Jacob Malkoun’s hip with so much force that he dropped to the canvas.
Then, the local crowd erupted in boos when the referee stopped Bill Algeo vs Kyle Nelson seemingly early, followed by Ruziboev winning by KO only moments after appearing to poke Dumas in the eye; with many expecting an appeal incoming.
Eye poke controversy continued into the people’s main event, with Weidman poking Silva in the eye four times during the contest including the finishing sequence. After being announced as a KO victory for Weidman, the result was overturned to a technical decision.
“The reality is that it was a bit of a weird one, bit of a strange night of fights,” noted Michael Bisping, sharing his reaction to the event via his official YouTube channel.
“There was some great action of course and some great finishes – there was a lot of eye pokes, my word it was like a record-setting eye poke evening.”