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The UFC was back at the Las Vegas APEX last night. Last night's Fight Night show was, for the want of a better term, disastrous.
UFC Fight Night: Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber not only saw a lot of changes before the event, but it also saw its headliner scrapped at the latest possible notice.
While this wasn't a major event and won't dent the promotion's reputation, it will likely be remembered for all the wrong reasons for some time.
Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber.
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#5. Ramiz Brahimaj scored one of the nastiest submissions in recent memory
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Last night's event saw a huge number of late-notice changes, one of which saw Ramiz Brahimaj face off with Billy Ray Goff.
Brahimaj was initially pegged to fight Oban Elliott. When Elliott failed to get a Visa secured for the event, though, the UFC quickly pivoted and matched him with Goff, whose opponent had similar problems.
In the end, it was Brahimaj who came out on top in the last-ditch fight.
After initiating a grappling exchange early in the fight, the two men found themselves muscling for position along the fence. When Goff left his neck open, it proved to be a fatal error.
Brahimaj caught him in a standing guillotine choke, and quickly switched to the dreaded "prayer" variant utilised by Jon Jones on Lyoto Machida in 2011.
That fight saw a scary ending, as an unconscious Machida slumped to the ground moments later - and the same happened to Goff last night. It took him some time to come around, but thankfully, he appeared okay after the fight.
Brahimaj isn't likely to pull up any trees in the octagon going forward, but this was well worth a $50k bonus and stands as one of the scariest in recent memory.
#4. Dustin Jacoby was robbed of a $50k bonus
As with most smaller UFC events, last night's show saw four fighters go home with a $50k bonus.
Alice Ardelean and Rayanne dos Santos claimed the Fight of the Night award, while Jordan Leavitt and Ramiz Brahimaj claimed Performance bonuses for their submission wins.
Somehow, though, Dustin Jacoby was left out in the cold. Hopefully, he received one of the UFC's famous "under-the-table" bonuses, because he earned it.
'The Hanyak' fought a wild brawl with opponent Bruno Lopes, and the fight ended in truly frantic fashion.
After finding their way into the clinch, the action slowed down slightly before Lopes took an ill-advised gamble. He channelled the famous Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama fight, and triggered a wild exchange of punches from close quarters.
It was a huge error. Jacoby - a former top-ranked kickboxer with brutal power - hurt him badly, and eventually switched him off with an explosive left hook.
The win was Jacoby's second in a row via knockout. Even if it doesn't elevate him into the top fifteen at 205 pounds next week, it should net him a fight with a ranked foe next time out.
More than that, though, it should really have made him $50k richer.
#3. Mateusz Gamrot is a major dark horse at 155 pounds
Probably the weirdest piece of booking last night saw the UFC match No.7 ranked lightweight Mateusz Gamrot against L'udovit Klein.
Klein was coming into the fight on a seven-fight unbeaten run and needed a step up. But realistically, Gamrot probably deserved a bigger fight.
'Gamer' came out on the wrong end of a split decision against Dan Hooker last time out, but he also holds wins over Rafael dos Anjos, Rafael Fiziev and is one of only two men to beat Arman Tsarukyan.
Sure enough, he showed his mettle last night by easily outclassing Klein with his grappling, claiming a clear-cut three-round decision.
The fight wasn't memorable, and the fact that it ended up being the event's de facto headliner was disappointing, but that shouldn't take away from a skilled showing from Gamrot.
Put simply, the Polish fighter is a legitimate threat to the lightweight title right now, and deserves a better booking than this next time out to match his dark horse status.
#2. Was this the worst ending to any UFC show since 2000?
Last night's event wasn't the first in UFC history to see its headliner scrapped on the night of the show.
The most recent example of this came in November 2022, when a planned headline clash between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Spivac fell apart after Lewis suffered illness backstage.
On that occasion, though, everyone at least had some notice, as the cancellation was announced at the start of the main card, with Ion Cutelaba vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu the new headliner.
Last night, the abrupt announcement that Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber was off due to Barber suffering an illness backstage came after the promos for the fight had run.
It was a genuinely bizarre turn of events, and it will probably mean that this show becomes far more memorable than it had any right to be.
After all, there's an argument that this was the worst ending to any show in the history of the promotion, at least dating back to 2000, when UFC 24 saw its heavyweight title headliner scrapped on similar notice.
For once, fans and the promotion alike should be thankful that the event happened at the Las Vegas APEX. Had this happened in front of a raucous, live crowd, the consequences could've been devastating.
#1. What should the UFC do with Maycee Barber now?
It's arguable that the UFC should've pulled the plug on the fight between Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber after Friday's weigh-ins. Barber failed to make the 125 pound flyweight cut-off limit, and looked extremely unhealthy on the scale.
It looked like the bout would go ahead as planned, though, right up until moments before the fighters were due to walk. Then, the clash was abruptly cancelled.
It's been reported that Barber took ill and had a seizure backstage, which is scary to say the least. 'The Future' has had a number of health scares during her tenure with the promotion. But while it's too early to say for sure, it's easy to link this one to her terrible weight cut.
So what should the promotion do from here? They don't tend to force fighters to move up in weight, but in this case, they ought to make an exception.
Barber is a hugely talented fighter on the cusp of genuine greatness in the octagon, but that greatness will never come if she wrecks her body with heavy weight cuts like this.
Moreover, the promotion may see this as a blessing in disguise of sorts. The 135 pound division - which will see a title fight between Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison next weekend - is largely devoid of talent.
'The Future', therefore, could be an instant contender there. Hopefully - mainly for the sake of her health - Barber moves up in weight for her next fight.
