Biggest Winner: Payton Talbott
Talbott defeated his second former world champion in as many fights last night, destroying Figueiredo in the opening frame via technical knockout. Prior to that, he retired former “champ-champ,” Henry Cejudo, via unanimous decision, putting him at 6-1 in his young UFC career. His performance last night will be a great way to put him on the fast track to a Top 10 ranking, which carries with it bigger and better fights (like this). The 28-year-old is well on his way to becoming a major star for the promotion, he just needs to keep performing at this level consistently enough to get him to the big dance. He called for a fight against Sean O’ Malley … and it’s a fantastic call out.
We would be remiss if we didn’t give Silva her props, as the Brazilian standout capped off the event with a dominant (though not overly-exciting) performance against Wang Cong, taking home the unanimous decision win, which also earned her the vacant women’s Flyweight title. She now joins Amanda Nunes and Mackenzie Dern as the three Brazilian women holding UFC titles at the same time, a first for the promotion. Silva is undefeated (9-0) inside the Octagon, and will hopr to one day face Valentina Shevchenko. And that shouldn’t be a problem.
Honorable Mention: Esteban Ribovics, Roman Kopylov
Ribovics secured his second straight knockout win last night, dominating and ultimately finishing King Green in the first round (highlights). Green has long been known as one of the most durable fighters under UFC’s banner, but Ribovics dominated him last night with ease, knocking him down a whopping three times in the span of four minutes before taking him out. It was one of the, if not the best, performances of his career thus far, and it will likely get him closer to the Top 15. As for Kopylov, he did not buy into the hype of his opponent, Ateba Gautier, as the 35-year-old Russian took it to him and knocked him out just three minutes into the fight, ending his undefeated run inside the Octagon (see it again here). Kopylov has now won two straight after suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Paulo Costa and Gregory Rodrigues.
Biggest Losers: Marvin Vettori, Rafael dos Anjos
While it was a great night for all of the up-and-coming talent, we can’t say the same for the old guard. Vettori suffered his fifth straight defeat after coming up short against Ismail Naurdiev, dropping him to 1-6 in his last seven fights with his last win coming against Roman Dolidze three years ago. It’s a drastic downfall for the former Middleweight title contender, which leaves him at a crucial point in his career. Speaking of downfalls, dos Anjos last tasted victory in 2022, losing four straight fights since then, including his knockout defeat at the hands of Alexander Hernandez last night. “RDA” was the former Lightweight champion of the world, but those days are so far gone that there is no telling just how much longer the 41-year-old Brazilian bomber plans to keep fighting.