5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

The UFC made its return to Iowa last night for the first time since 2000. The Fight Night on offer wasn't overly loaded with stars, but saw some fun fights.

UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo will likely be forgotten next week as a big pay-per-view rolls in, but it's still a show worth talking about.

So with some fighters climbing the ranks and others proving their worth, there are definitely some discussion points.

Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo.

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#5. Azamat Bekoev might be a man to watch at 185 pounds

Unlike the usual Las Vegas APEX fare, the UFC's return to Iowa featured a number of solid-looking preliminary fights. One such bout pitted TUF 32 winner Ryan Loder against Azamat Bekoev.

Given how effective Loder had looked on TUF, many observers expected him to come through in his second official bout in the octagon.

Instead, 'Man of Steel' was utterly destroyed by Bekoev, who it appears could be a man to watch in the middleweight division.

The fight didn't last long at all. Loder might've been put away with an early right hand, hitting the mat, but when Bekoev couldn't quite finish him, he decided to let the TUF winner stand.

A dazed 'Man of Steel' then tried to trade, only for 'Kingpin' to level him again and this time finish him off.

It was unsurprising to see Bekoev given a $50k bonus for his work, and at 2-0 in the octagon and riding a winning streak of eight fights, he's clearly a fighter to keep a close eye on. With any luck, the UFC will choose to showcase him on a main card next time out.

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#4. Montel Jackson might be the dark horse in the UFC's bantamweight division

The last time UFC fans saw bantamweight contender Montel Jackson in action, he needed literally seconds to turn out the lights on a very dangerous opponent in the form of Da'Mon Blackshear.

'Quik' was faced with a different type of foe last night in the form of brawler Daniel Marcos, unbeaten at 17-0 with four wins in the octagon.

Marcos came in with a reputation as a ultra-durable hard hitter with a penchant for dragging his opponents into gutter-wars. In many ways, he looked like a bad match for Jackson on paper.

However, 'Quik' showed exactly why a lot of observers believe he's a dark horse of sorts at 135 pounds.

He beat up Marcos throughout the fight, never allowing him to get into any kind of rhythm, and landed almost double the amount of significant strikes.

Sure, he didn't pick up another big finish, despite a late attempt at a D'Arce choke, but it was still a highly impressive showing to knock off a previously unbeaten foe.

'Quik' isn't likely to move up the rankings with this win, but it absolutely showed that he needs a step up the ladder in his next fight. Based on this, he's got elite-level potential.

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#3. Santiago Ponzinibbio ought to consider hanging it up

Last night's event saw one UFC veteran hang up her gloves following a TKO defeat. Marina Rodriguez announced her retirement following her loss to Gillian Robertson on the preliminary card.

However, there really ought to be a second retirement following this event, as it's probably a good time for Santiago Ponzinibbio to call it a day.

'Gente Boa' was beaten badly on the main card by Daniel Rodriguez. 'D-Rod' wobbled him badly with a left hand in the first round, and despite clearly flagging as the third began, managed to crush the Argentine with a combination for a stoppage.

Rodriguez is a good fighter, but realistically, he's more of a grinder than anything. In fact, this was his first knockout finish since 2021.

Ponzinibbio, on the other hand, has now been stopped via strikes on three occasions since that year, and in his other three defeats in that period, he's been hurt too.

'Gente Boa' is now 38 years old. Where he was once a hard-nosed, ultra-durable brawler with underrated power and fast hands, he's now markedly slower on his feet and clearly can't weather punishment like he once did.

With 39 professional fights under his belt - 20 in the UFC - it's becoming clear that his body is beginning to betray him. It's time for him to step away for his own sake.

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#2. The hype train on Bo Nickal was derailed by Reinier de Ridder

It's arguable that the best performance overall last night was put on by Reinier de Ridder.

'The Dutch Knight' came into his clash with Bo Nickal as a big underdog, but completely dominated the highly-credentialed wrestler throughout the bout.

After outgrappling him in the first round, he then turned up the heat in the second, and knocked Nickal out with a series of knees to the body, followed by a big combination.

The win will undoubtedly move de Ridder up the ladder at 185 pounds, but it's probably worth considering what happens to Nickal from here a little more.

The former three-time NCAA Division I national champion has long been touted as a potential title threat at 185 pounds, and even went as far as talking up his chances against Khamzat Chimaev.

In reality, though, he just hasn't developed nearly as well as many UFC fans expected. His tight win over Paul Craig last year was a big red flag, and this loss to de Ridder should derail his hype train for good.

Can Nickal still reach the top? At the age of 29, time is still on his side, but it's clear that he needs to sharpen up everything outside of his wrestling. Perhaps pushing the UFC to fight more often would help, as he's only fought on five occasions since 2022.

Either way, for now it's back to the drawing board for him.

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#1. Cory Sandhagen proved why he's more than a gatekeeper at 135 pounds

Leglock finishes in the UFC these days are unfortunately rare. Always a risky hold to go for in an MMA fight due to the way it leaves a fighter open for strikes, seeing an athlete drop for a heel hook has become less and less of a common sight in the octagon.

That wasn't the case in last night's bantamweight headliner between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo, though. Both rounds of the clash saw leglock attempts play a huge part in the action, and in the end, it caught up with Figueiredo.

After eating a lot of strikes from 'The Sandman' when going for a heel hook in the first round, 'Deus da Guerra' was forced to defend one in return in the second round.

His response was to again hunt for one of his own, and with the fighters in a dueling leglock position, something had to give.

That "something" was Figueiredo's knee, and the former flyweight champ was forced to tap out in serious pain moments later.

How much credit Sandhagen should get for Figueiredo's knee being torqued is debatable, but this was another excellent showing from 'The Sandman', who has now beaten five of the top fifteen at 135 pounds.

Will this be enough to net him a title shot, though? That's debatable, as it's arguable that Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov remain ahead of him in the queue.

If the UFC wants to go with Sandhagen as a fresher challenger to either Merab Dvalishvili or Sean O'Malley, though, few would be able to argue.

Before this fight, it was arguable that 'The Sandman' was the highest-level gatekeeper in the bantamweight division. Now, it's hard to dispute the idea that he's an elite-level fighter.