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Another UFC Fight Night card has passed us by and with it came some memorable talking points. Brendan Fitzgerald, Dominick Cruz and Daniel Cormier called the action from the commentary desk and Bruce Buffer provided enthusiastic introductions that never fail to get us hyped for the action inside the octagon.
Taking place inside the oh-so-familiar UFC Apex, fans were treated to 11 matchups. The card featured exciting prospects looking to make a name for themselves, contenders looking to edge closer to a title shot and veterans looking to show that they haven't lost a step inside the cage. Alongside a blockbuster main event between Cory Sandhagen and the returning former 135-pound champion T.J. Dillashaw, the likes of Kyler Phillips, Adrian Yanez, Brendan Allen and Miranda Maverick were also in action.
With that said, here are the positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 32.
Positive - Alan Jouban back behind the desk
How good was it to see Alan Jouban back behind the ESPN desk? As an analyst, Jouban is up there with the best. Having had to deal with firing questions at Stephen A. Smith at UFC 264 a few weeks ago, Karyn Bryant must have been relieved to see the faces of Michael Chandler, Michael Chiesa, Anthony Smith and Jouban for the last two Fight Nights.
When the likes of Jouban exist in the world of MMA, it's almost insulting to favor names like Smith and Max Kellerman over him. 'Brahma' offers real insight and analyzes each fighter's movement, style and strengths. Having only retired from the sport following his victory over Jared Gooden at UFC 255, it's clear the 38-year-old has a long future in the sport behind the desk.
Credit also has to go to 'Lionheart' for the valuable addition he was to tonight's card, as well as Chandler and Chiesa last week. But Jouban's insight really nailed home how much better it is to have athletes and former competitors speaking on the sport over clueless personalities.
Positive - Julio Arce is a problem at bantamweight
At UFC Vegas 32, the bantamweight division continued to go from strength to strength. Making his return to 135 pounds for the first time since his loss to Brian Kelleher at ROC 54 in 2016, Julio Arce announced his presence in one of the top UFC divisions.
Having beaten the likes of Dan Ige and Julian Erosa at featherweight, the 31-year-old made the move down this weekend following a defeat to promising prospect Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 244 in 2019.
Against Andre Ewell, Arce looked back to his best. His combinations and vicious hooks looked too much for Ewell from the very first minute. Deep into the second round, the Miami-born fighter finished the bout with a flurry of brutal punches against the fence. The stoppage was perhaps slightly early, but given the shots he was taking and the likelihood that the cage was the only thing keeping him standing, I don't think Ewell can have many complaints.
Along with many names from the world of MMA, the voice of the UFC, Jon Anik, posted his reaction to Arce's performance on Twitter.
TSN's Aaron Bronsteter also took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Arce as a bantamweight contender.
Positive - Mickey Gall back to his best
Mickey Gall has often displayed the immense potential he has as a UFC welterweight. However, in-between them there have always been setbacks and inconsistency. At UFC Vegas 32, Gall was looking to begin a change in fortunes with a return to the win column. In about as impressive a fashion as he could have, he did exactly that.
After looking a step ahead and rocking Jordan Williams on the feet, Gall took the fight into his wheelhouse and ended it like he often does. Yet another rear-naked choke victory now means the 29-year-old has secured six out of his seven wins by way of that particular submission.
After disappointing defeats against Diego Sanchez and Mike Perry, Gall will be looking to finally begin to realize his potential following his best performance in the UFC to date.
Positive - A masterclass from Brendan Allen
It's time for Brendan Allen to be recognized as the top prospect in the UFC middleweight division. At UFC Vegas 32, Allen secured that title by becoming the first man to defeat Hawaii's Punahele Soriano.
Against an incredibly powerful and skilled up-and-comer, 'All In' Allen entered the bout with the perfect gameplan. Despite boasting nine submission victories and being known for his grappling, something we saw on full display in his win against Karl Roberson at UFC 261 in April, Allen put his striking talents on full display last night.
Consistent throughout the three rounds were brutal body kicks. Not only did they tire Soriano but they also did heavy damage. Along with knees up top whenever his opponent dropped his head while throwing powerful shots, Allen perfectly avoided the attack of Soriano while attacking with conviction and accuracy.
Allen has now won nine of his last 10 fights and has only lost once in the UFC, a loss which came against one half of next week's main event, Sean Strickland. It's time Allen faces a ranked opponent.
Positive - Yanez and Costa deliver
For as long as it lasted, this fight was crazy. It was almost as crazy as the UFC's original decision not to have it on the main card. Very few matchups have been so clearly suited to being a main card opener like Adrian Yanez vs. Randy Costa.
The fight was incredibly fast-paced and was exactly what most had expected. But few would have predicted the onslaught of jabs and strikes 'Zohan' delivered to Yanez in the opening round. In a similar fashion to Sean O'Malley's performance against Kris Moutinho at UFC 264, the 27-year-old connected with virtually every shot he threw and beat Yanez's face bloody. But unlike 'Sugar', Costa couldn't maintain his pace and dominance.
After some hard shots to the body forced Costa to defend, Yanez landed a brutal uppercut that sent his opponent to the floor. With no response from the Massachusetts-born bantamweight, the fight was stopped.
With another entertaining performance and a victory that extended his winning streak to seven, Yanez will no doubt have enhanced his reputation as a fan favorite and should enter the octagon with another tough opponent next time out.
Positive - Buffer and Dillashaw reunite
Is there a better announcer-fighter combination in MMA? We'd been starved of Bruce Buffer's electric introduction of T.J. Dillashaw for over two years. At UFC Vegas 32 we finally heard it again and it was as hype as ever.
When I interviewed Buffer early last year, he told me his favorite names to introduce were ones with multiple syllables. Specifically, he named the great Georges St-Pierre. As good as his introduction for the Canadian legend is, for me, nothing beats the aggression and commitment behind his classic Dillashaw intro.
Positive - What a main event
Wow. What an incredible end to a great card. T.J. Dillashaw is well and truly back.
At a time when Conor McGregor's failures have sparked discussions about inactivity and its effect, Dillashaw looked close to his best despite over two years away from the octagon. After perhaps a slow start, which involved a popped knee and a deep cut, the former 135-pound champ found his flow and secured a split decision victory over Cory Sandhagen.
The five-round war is certainly a Fight of the Year contender. Both men connected hard and left everything inside the octagon. The main positive is that Dillashaw has somewhat maintained his legacy as one of the greatest bantamweights of all time by returning after his suspension and putting in a performance like that as a clean fighter.
Adding the 35-year-old into an already stacked division is a mouth-watering prospect, as are some of the matchups we can now get.
Negative - Aspen Ladd's UFC return will have to wait
Although the scheduled co-main event between Aspen Ladd and Macy Chiasson was pulled from the card before the weigh-ins, it was still a shame not to see the great matchup take place on Saturday night, especially given the journey Ladd has been on to recover from surgery following a torn ACL and MCL.
Before suffering a serious injury, Ladd had returned to the win column in style against Yana Kunitskaya following her first defeat in MMA five months prior against Germaine de Randamie. With a 4-1 record in the UFC, Ladd looked set to continue her rapid rise in the promotion before being sidelined. She’d have hoped to pick up where she left off at UFC Vegas 32.
Unfortunately for the 26-year-old and for the fans, we're going to have to wait a little longer to see her first walk to the octagon since 2019 after Chiasson withdrew due to a stress fracture in her foot.
Negative - Bad matchmaking and bad judging succumbs Maverick to defeat
The result of this fight was always going to be one of the night's negatives, purely because a great prospect and future star was going to be defeated. Perhaps the only result that could have made it any worse than it already would have been is the exact one we got.
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who scored the bout between Miranda Maverick and Maycee Barber in the latter's favor. Nevertheless, two of the judges managed to. Stats aren't always everything, but for the second round, it helps paint a picture of a terrible scorecard. Maverick edged Barber in virtually every category, including significant strikes, total strikes, takedowns and control time.
Former two-division UFC champ and UFC Vegas 32 commentator Daniel Cormier revealed the odds at the end of the fight and his own disbelief at the result:
MMA journalist Adam Martin made no effort to hide his dismay at the result:
UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson suggested the judges must have been consuming alcohol to come up with those scores:
Aside from the result being terrible, the matchmaking was poor in the first place. Stylistically it gave us a good fight, but to match up two prospects under the age of 25 in an aging women's flyweight division is baffling.
That's without even considering the fact that a loss to Maverick would have succumbed Barber to a three-fight losing streak, something that wouldn't have been easy to recover from. Instead, a poor decision has left Maverick with a loss and a setback. So many people need to do better in regards to this fight and this result.
Negative - The inconsistency with 10-8s
The fight was great, the judging was not.
Kyler Phillips and Raulian Paiva delivered an absolute three-round war, and yet we were left discussing judging once again. The fight was arguably a Phillips win but by my money, a strong final two rounds from the Brazilian was enough to secure a draw. The only way for Paiva to win was if two of the judges hadn't given Phillips a 10-8 first round.
How on earth that happened I'll never know. The inconsistency is frightening. How can Michael Chandler's performance in the opening round of the UFC 262 main event with Charles Oliveira be a 10-8 if this wasn't? How can Dustin Poirier's performance in the opening round of the UFC 264 main event with Conor McGregor be a 10-8 if this wasn't? Answers on a postcard please because I have no idea.
