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UFC Vegas 32 was a highly anticipated show coming in, mainly due to the presence of an amazing-sounding main event between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw.
In the end, UFC Vegas 32 delivered above and beyond expectations, with some tremendous fights and plenty of explosive finishes too.
If anything, only a handful of questionable judges’ decisions spoiled the night’s action, as a number of fighters were handed victories they may not have fully earned.
Still, that didn't stop the event from being a highly enjoyable one and one of the best in the UFC's series at their Las Vegas APEX center.
So after a memorable night of UFC action, here are the five biggest winners from UFC Vegas 32: Cory Sandhagen vs. T.J. Dillashaw.
#5 Darren Elkins – defeated Darrick Minner on UFC Vegas 32 main card
Darren Elkins has now been in the UFC for over a decade, and while he’s never truly been a contender for the UFC featherweight title, he’s established himself as a hard-nosed veteran who is remarkably difficult to beat.
Recently, 'The Damage' has struggled a little – going 1-4 in his last five bouts. Last night’s fight against Darrick Minner also appeared to be going badly, as Elkins was outgrappled throughout the first round and almost fell prey to more than one submission attempt.
As always, though, Elkins proved to be a tough nut to crack. He survived that first round and then dragged Minner into deeper water in the second, scrambling with him until he was exhausted.
And from there, ‘The Damage’ put a real beatdown on his foe, finishing him off with strikes on the ground in the second round after pinning him down with a mounted crucifix. It was his first win via strikes since 2017.
The win won’t move Elkins up the ladder as such, but it definitely keeps him on track in the UFC, and suddenly he’s on a two-fight win streak for the first time since 2018.
Despite being 37 years old, there’s still clearly plenty of life in this old dog yet – and this was another stirring comeback win for him in a long list.
#4 Adrian Yanez – defeated Randy Costa
Although it didn’t win the Fight of the Night award, Adrian Yanez’s clash with Randy Costa was probably the wildest fight on offer at UFC Vegas 32, as the two men went toe-to-toe until Yanez eventually finished Costa off in the second round.
This was one of the show’s best comeback wins, as Yanez was taking a beating in the first round, with Costa keeping him firmly at the end of his jab to bloody him up and wobble him a few times too.
But Yanez stayed calm, and once Costa appeared to be tiring towards the end of the round, he turned up the heat, pushed forward and eventually forced him to wilt with a pretty nasty combination.
Yanez came into this fight with plenty of hype as one of the UFC bantamweight division’s brightest prospects, and not only did he live up to that hype, he’s now 3-0 in the octagon overall.
There are still tons of question marks around him – we’ve now seen him fight through adversity, but he still hasn’t gone the distance, and we haven’t really seen him tested on the ground at all yet. However, it’s clear that he has a lot of talent, and at the age of 27, he’s probably just reaching his athletic prime.
Hopefully this win means that the UFC puts him against a higher-ranked opponent next time, because on this display he’s earned a shot.
#3 Raulian Paiva – defeated Kyler Phillips
One of the more controversial fights at UFC Vegas 32 saw Raulian Paiva awarded a majority decision win over Kyler Phillips in a bantamweight clash. Whether the Brazilian truly deserved the nod is up for debate, but the fact that he picked up the victory makes him one of last night’s big winners.
A former flyweight, Paiva came into the fight as a big underdog, which was understandable given how good Phillips had looked in his last appearance - a win over Song Yadong. And early on, it looked like the bookmakers had it right.
Phillips hurt Paiva on numerous occasions in the first round, and came very close to finishing him off late on. In fact, had the round been maybe thirty seconds longer, the fight likely would’ve been stopped.
But Paiva managed to survive, and with Phillips beginning to slow down, the Brazilian fought his way back into the clash, just about edging the second round and then probably taking the third round too.
It should’ve been enough to net him a draw – any competent judge probably should’ve seen the first round as a 10-8 for Phillips – but incredibly, Paiva actually came away with 29-28 scores from two of the judges.
The nature of this win means he won’t be moving into the top ten at bantamweight – he may not even leapfrog Phillips at #14 – but it was promising for his UFC career as a 135lber going forward.
#2 Cory Sandhagen – lost to T.J. Dillashaw
It might seem bizarre to see a fighter who came away with a loss named as one of UFC Vegas 32’s biggest winners, but the truth is that the nature of his fight against T.J. Dillashaw means that Cory Sandhagen definitely won’t have lost any of his shine.
‘The Sandman’ fought a tremendous fight in his first-ever five round bout. Not only did he prove that he belonged in the octagon with a former UFC champion, but there was also a case that he should’ve been given the nod from the judges.
Sandhagen clearly outstruck Dillashaw in the second round, bloodying his right eye and leaving it in a real mess. And he also appeared to get the better blows in throughout the fourth and fifth rounds, while largely being able to fend off Dillashaw’s takedown attempts.
Was it the perfect fight? Certainly not, as Sandhagen threw too many low-percentage strikes that allowed Dillashaw to grab clinches and control him, but in terms of who did the most damage, ‘The Sandman’ was almost certainly the moral victor.
After this loss, Sandhagen may have to wait a little longer for a shot at the UFC bantamweight title, but this was more evidence that he’s a very real title contender. And the morning after, it shouldn’t feel like a loss for him, which has to mean something.
#1 T.J. Dillashaw – defeated Cory Sandhagen
Despite the semi-controversial nature of the judges’ decision, T.J. Dillashaw should undoubtedly be seen as last night’s biggest winner. He came into his fight with Cory Sandhagen having been on the shelf for two years, and in fact the last time he’d won a UFC fight was in 2018.
But Dillashaw showed absolutely no signs of ring rust, putting on an excellent performance to earn the nod from the judges, even if plenty of people saw the fight in a different light and would’ve had Sandhagen as the winner.
Dillashaw’s striking looked excellent in fits and bursts. He landed some heavy shots on Sandhagen, who did well to absorb them, and also used his powerful grappling to take ‘The Sandman’ down more than once and gain back control on numerous occasions.
Given Sandhagen’s form coming into this fight – with KO wins over Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes – this was a very dangerous fight for Dillashaw to take as his comeback bout, but it was as if he’d never been away at all.
Should it be enough to net him a title shot at the winner of the upcoming Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan rematch? Absolutely. And if he can improve slightly, it’d be hard to bet against him regaining his title.
