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The UFC visited Louisville for the first time in over a decade last night. Despite low expectations, the show they produced was excellent.
UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov was an event that scored low in name value, but more than made up for that with some insane action.
With some of the better finishes of 2024 to date, this turned out to be one of the most exciting events in recent memory.
Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov.
#5 This show was better than UFC 302, proving Dana White's theory correct
One of Dana White's most commonly stated theories is that fans shouldn't judge the quality of a UFC card before it actually happens.
The outspoken CEO often cites this argument when online fans criticize a card for lacking in star power or ranked fighters, hitting back at those who think the promotion spreads itself too thinly.
The truth of White's theory is still debatable. However, last night's event definitely backed him up. Despite lacking the big names and highly-rated fighters, this Fight Night show was far superior to last weekend's UFC 302.
That event featured just three finishes in 12 bouts, with a number of fights being disappointing, including the co-headliner of Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland.
In contrast, only one of last night's six main card bouts went the distance. More to the point, the middleweight tilt that pitted two unheralded fighters in Brunno Ferreira and Dustin Stoltzfus against each other was crazy.
This fight saw huge shifts in momentum both on the ground and the feet, and saw Ferreira land an insane spinning back elbow to finally put his foe away. In terms of excitement, it was better than anything that last weekend's pay-per-view offered.
Overall, then, the fans in Louisville dropped lucky, and this event was proof that real fans shouldn't skip any show for fear of missing out.
#4 A pair of brutal body shot finishes stood out
The UFC dished out four well-deserved $50k bonus awards at last night's event. Two of them went to fighters who won with absolutely brutal body shots, proving that such an attack can be just as effective as any other strike.
Firstly, welterweight Carlos Prates scored his eighth TKO stoppage in a row by violently dispatching Charlie Radtke. The Brazilian landed a knee so hard to Radtke's liver that it looked - and sounded - like 'Chuck Buffalo' had literally been shot.
Middleweight Zachary Reese's finish of Julian Marquez, meanwhile, did not come directly from a body shot per say. However, without the nasty body kick that caused Marquez to drop his hands, 'Savage' would not have seen the opening for the clean uppercut that put 'The Cuban Missile Crisis' out.
Attacks to the body are often overlooked in MMA, with many fighters preferring wild headhunting over aiming at the bigger target.
Both Prates and Reese showed that simply swinging for the head isn't always the best approach, though, and added to their reputations - and their bank accounts - in the process.
#3 Raul Rosas Jr. looks like he's for real
It's arguable that the most impressive showing at last night's event came from the teenage sensation Raul Rosas Jr. 'El Nino Problema' picked up his third UFC win, dispatching Ricky Turcios in the second round of their bantamweight bout.
The fight wasn't easy for Rosas Jr, who had to weather a pretty nasty storm from the TUF winner in the first round.
Clearly offended by something, Turcios swore at the teenager when he attempted to touch gloves to begin the fight. He then followed with a wild kick that Rosas Jr wasn't expecting.
Thankfully for 'El Nino Problema', he was able to avoid too much damage, and then fought off a strong rear naked choke attempt from 'Pretty Ricky'.
In the second round, though, the teenager turned things around. He took the back of Turcios in a scramble, locked up a tight body triangle, and after some effort, sunk in a choke of his own to force a tapout.
Rosas Jr is clearly a huge talent, and while the matchmakers would be best to continue to take baby steps with him, he could genuinely develop into something special. If he makes the right career choices, he could be a contender for the next decade.
#2 Dominick Reyes rescued his UFC career, but is he "back"?
Former light-heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes was probably fighting for his UFC career last night. With no wins to his name since 2019 and four losses in a row - three via knockout - 'The Devastator' looked all but done at the top level.
However, despite being faced with a stylistically tricky opponent in highly-rated kickboxer Dustin Jacoby, Reyes pulled through nicely.
Simply put, Jacoby came out far too aggressively, clearly hoping that Reyes was as gunshy as he'd looked in his most recent fights.
That wasn't the case, though. 'The Devastator' hurt him on the counter with a combination of punches, and then left him badly hurt with a big knee. A salvo of follow-up punches came next, and that was that.
The big question, then, is whether this is a fresh or false start for Reyes. After all, there have been plenty of fighters in the past who produced one final bit of magic in the octagon before fading again. Tito Ortiz against Ryan Bader, for instance, comes to mind.
Only time will tell whether Reyes' resurgence will continue, but for now, 'The Devastator' will remain part of the UFC. Frankly, that's probably all that matters to him today.
#1 The headliner was spoiled by a refereeing gaffe
The one black mark on last night's show was the fact that the headline bout ended up being decided by a bad refereeing error from veteran Jason Herzog.
Highly-ranked middleweights Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov had fought for the best part of four hard rounds when the ending came, with neither man quite finding the edge.
Unfortunately, when Imavov did find an edge, Herzog stepped in before it was necessary, leaving plenty of unanswered questions.
'The Sniper' definitely had Cannonier on the ropes. After stunning him with a right hook, Imavov followed 'The Killa Gorilla' around the octagon and continued to rock him with follow-up punches.
However, Cannonier never went down, and nor did he stop properly defending, as he was clearly covering up and looking for the right moment to unleash a counter. He was hurt, sure, but was never on the verge of being knocked out.
Despite this, Herzog decided to step in, angering basically everyone involved, Cannonier in particular.
Imavov called out Sean Strickland for a rematch in the aftermath, but in reality, 'The Sniper' is more likely to face a rematch with Cannonier next. After all, with a finish like this, there's definitely unfinished business to settle.
