5 biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Ketlen Vieira vs. Miesha Tate

#4. Adrian Yanez – defeated Davey Grant in a UFC bantamweight bout

Adrian Yanez was impressive in his win over Davey Grant last night

After comfortably swatting aside his first three opponents in the UFC – defeating Victor Rodriguez, Gustavo Lopez and Randy Costa all by KO – Adrian Yanez was faced with a trickier test last night in the form of Davey Grant. Considering Yanez not only passed this test, but did so in style, claiming a $50k bonus for putting on the Fight of the Night, makes him one of last night’s biggest winners.

Early on, the aggressive Grant took the fight to Yanez somewhat with his striking, making the most of his slight height advantage.

However, as the fight went on, it quickly became clear that the native of Houston, Texas was the more comfortable striker. Yanez landed plenty of heavy counters on Grant, particularly in the later rounds. In the third round, he blooded his eye up with a ramrod jab.

Yanez didn’t come close to pulling off a finish this time around as ‘Dangerous Davey’ was tough enough to take his best shots. However, the fact that he pulled off the win without really getting into any danger was still impressive.

Who’s next for this high-end prospect? It’s hard to say, but there can be no doubt that Yanez is a fighter to keep an eye on going into 2022.

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#3. Taila Santos – defeated Joanne Wood in a UFC flyweight bout

After her win over Joanne Wood, Taila Santos should be considered a UFC flyweight title contender

Given that she produced the only finish on last night’s entire card, Taila Santos was always going to be considered one of the night’s bigger winners. However, this flyweight prospect deserves praise for more than just that.

Incredibly, Santos took her fight with veteran Joanne Wood on a month’s notice, replacing Alexa Grasso who withdrew due to injury.

Despite being 3-1 in the UFC, it’s probably safe to say that the Brazilian hadn’t quite been tested on this stage before. Sure, her win over Roxanne Modafferi was impressive but, prior to last night, she’d never appeared on the main card of a UFC event.

Santos showed no nerves whatsoever though, hurting Wood with a nasty combination as she forced her on the retreat. She then finished her off on the ground with a textbook rear-naked choke.

Given that Wood was ranked as the No.5 flyweight in the UFC coming into last night’s event, it’s likely that Santos will leapfrog into that spot come next week. In a very thin weight class, that means there’s every chance of her fighting UFC flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko in a title bout next year.

Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but the fact that this win has moved her into title contention makes Santos one of last night’s biggest winners.