UFC Vancouver: De Ridder vs Allen - Oct 18 ??

[wandshogun09]

Heading off to Canada for this…

ESPN MAIN CARD
Reinier De Ridder vs Brendan Allen 

Kevin Holland vs Mike Malott

Marlon Vera vs Aiemann Zahabi 

Manon Fiorot vs Jasmine Jasudavicius 

Charles Jourdain vs Davey Grant

Kyle Nelson vs Matt Frevola

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Drew Dober vs Kyle Prepolec

Cody Gibson vs Aoriqileng

Bruno Silva vs Hyun Sung Park 

Danny Barlow vs Djorden Santos

Stephanie Luciano vs Ravena Oliveira

Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui 

Melissa Croden vs Tainara Lisboa 

 

Not the best. The original De Ridder vs Fluffy Hernandez main event was doing most of the heavy lifting for this card. Losing Hernandez was a big blow. But it’s not a terrible Fight Night. Couple of fun fights scattered around and a few Canadians in fairly significant matchups so the crowd should be hot. I don’t think the bout order is finalised yet, I’ll update as we go.

 

 

Reinier De Ridder vs Brendan Allen then. Massive downgrade here. This was supposed to be De Ridder against Fluffy Hernandez, which was a cracking fight and a legit battle of top contenders, both on the cusp of a title shot. Fluffy dropped out a few weeks before show time, Allen’s in. Given the short notice, this was probably about as good a replacement as they were gonna get. But it’s really a shit situation. De Ridder’s one more strong win away from securing the title shot. A win over Hernandez would’ve done just that. Now he’s matched with #11 ranked Allen, not so much. The big winner in all this is surely Nassourdine Imavov. He’s fresh off that win over Caio Borralho in Paris and he’s the front runner to get the next crack at Middleweight gold. But had De Ridder beat Fluffy here, he might well have leapfrogged Imavov. He’s unlikely to do that by beating Allen unfortunately. You never know, I guess. Imavov went the distance with Borralho and it wasn’t an amazing fight. If De Ridder absolutely steamrolls Allen here, combined with the streak he’s been on and how active he’s been, they might favour him. We’ll see. But I’d say Imavov’s chances of bagging the title shot increased big time with the Hernandez drop out.

Tough break for De Ridder here. It’s mad to think that in less than a year in the UFC he’s already 4-0 and has got himself into the #4 ranked position at Middleweight. By the time this fight is in the record books, he’ll have fought five times inside his first year in the UFC. This after being frustrated by struggling to get fights and being left on ice by ONE previously. Talk about making up for lost time. Subbed Gerald Meerschaert in his debut last November, subbed Kevin Holland in a round in January, derailed the hype train of Bo Nickal with a TKO in May, then scored the biggest win of his career taking a decision off Robert Whittaker in July. It’s been quite a year. Facing Allen now is a significant step backwards but here we are. Can’t help feeling bad for De Ridder but he can’t be that fussed because he’s still taking the fight. He could’ve declined. I guess still going ahead with the fight could work in his favour actually as well. If he wins this fight impressively, maybe the UFC will take into account that he saved their bacon a bit here. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

I’m not a big fan of Allen. He’s not the worst in the division but he’s not great either. He’s 25-7 now and coming off a decision win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 318 in July. In fairness, I remember that being a more enjoyable fight than I expected going in. They actually got FOTN over Holloway vs Poirier 3, believe it or not! I didn’t agree with that but it was an entertaining scrap. Allen was on a semi-decent little win streak at one point with wins over Paul Craig and Chris Curtis in there, but he got derailed in back-to-back points losses to Imavov and Fluffy. The Vettori win was his bounce back. Big opportunity for him, I don’t fancy his chances but he’s got more to gain than lose at this point. The risk is all on De Ridder here.

That’s that then. Our main event. Not even a terrible fight but it just feels like a massive downer compared to what we were supposed to get. It’s a fight I’m pretty sure De Ridder wins. Allen’s game is grappling and De Ridder is just better at it. We’ve seen Allen get shut down in the grappling before and I’ve no doubt De Ridder can do the same to him. Plus De Ridder’s got limited and unorthodox but weirdly effective striking. The kind that’s gonna be hard to prepare for at the best of times, let alone on a few weeks notice. It’s odd because De Ridder’s striking seems to consist of about 90% spamming that knee to the body, but it’s brought him a lot of success so far. He stopped Bo Nickal that way and had Whittaker badly hurt a few times with it. I just don’t see Allen coping well here. But…you know how it goes in MMA. We’ve been conditioned to expect weird shit to happen because it does quite often. I wouldn’t expect De Ridder to slip on this banana skin but stranger things have happened.

 

Kevin Holland vs Mike Malott. Ehh, might be alright but I’m not feeling it really. I’m just not particularly arsed about either of these two. Holland’s just way too inconsistent. People seem to love him for some reason but you never know which Kevin Holland is gonna show up and for the longest time I’ve felt like he doesn’t even really give a shit. I get the impression that if he thinks he can run through an opponent, he comes in motivated. But if he’s in a tough stylistic matchup, he’ll try initially, but as soon as it starts feeling like hard work he folds. He’s got undeniable skills, he just never seems all the way committed. He’s 28-14-0-1 now and 3-5 in his last eight fights. Lost to Daniel Rodriguez on points in his last fight in July. Ontario’s Malott will be the crowd favourite here. He’s 33 years old and and 12-2-1 with 11 finishes. Again though, I’m not convinced by him. He’s looked alright at times and he’s only lost once in the UFC to Neil Magny. But the way he lost that one kind of exposed him. He was winning the fight right up until the closing seconds of the last round, then seemed to just fall to bits and Magny subbed him with 15 seconds left in the fight. He’s got a couple of wins since but against lower level opposition.

 

Marlon Vera vs Aiemann Zahabi is solid enough, although a bit of a strange one really though because they’ve both been on completely opposite trajectories. We haven’t seen Chito since August last year. He had a shite 2024. Lost to Sean O’Malley in their title fight in March, then lost to Figgy in August. He was supposed to face Mario Bautista at UFC 316 in June but pulled out for ‘undisclosed reasons’. Not sure what’s been going on with him but it’s like he’s become the forgotten man at 135. He was one of the more popular fighters in the Bantamweight division not too long ago but he’s been out over a year now and I haven’t even seen anyone asking about him. It’s a harsh game. Out of sight, out of mind. On the flip side, Zahabi’s riding high at the moment.

He’s coming off the biggest win of his life, beating the legendary Jose Aldo by decision in their fight at UFC 315 in June. To make that win even sweeter for him, it was at home in Montreal. Even though Aldo was clearly past his best at that point, and retired after the fight, it was still a huge moment for Zahabi. He’ll be 38 years old in November, it’s not like he’s some young up and comer with a bright future ahead of him. Chances are, when it’s all said and done, that win over Aldo will be the highlight of his career and the defining moment in it. He’s got a record of 13-2 and he’s on a six fight winning streak but I think we’ve seen him peak already with that Aldo win really. Even if he wins this fight, it doesn’t top that. Not sure how this goes. Chito’s struggling and coming off a layoff but this is a step down in levels compared to his last couple of fights. But then Zahabi’s coming in with momentum and his confidence will be sky high coming off the Aldo win. Should be a good fight either way.

 

Manon Fiorot vs Jasmine Jasudavicius isn’t setting the world alight but it’s a step up for Jasudavicius and a big opportunity for her in front of the home Canadian crowd. She’s currently ranked #6 and on a five fight winning streak, coming off a first round submission over Jessica Andrade on the Montreal card in May. Now she’s up against Fiorot who’s ranked #2 so a win here puts her right in the conversation for a title shot. We’ve got the Shevchenko vs Zhang title fight coming up at MSG in November and there’s Natalia Silva sitting at #1. But if Jasudavicius can win in impressive fashion here, she could potentially overtake Silva as next in line after Shev vs Zhang plays out. She’s 36 years old now so time is of the essence. I’d like to see her do it. I don’t think she’s good enough to give the very elite problems but she’s been one of the more watchable Flyweights lately and she’s definitely more entertaining to watch than her opponent here. Fiorot’s coming off the loss to Shevchenko in their title fight in May. Before that she was on a win streak but a very dull one. Yeah, rooting for Double J here.

 

Charles Jourdain vs Davey Grant has serious barnburner potential. Both have been really fun to watch over the years. I’m not sure it’s gonna be as good in 2025 as it would’ve been a couple of years ago though. Feels like Grant is slowing down a bit now. Or calming down anyway. Not even a knock on him. He was churning out blood and guts wars like there was no tomorrow for a while there. He had a bunch of shitty breaks with injuries and stuff years ago, came back in 2020 and just seemed to think ‘fuck it’ and threw caution to the wind every fight. Seriously, his six fight run starting in July 2020 of Day, Martinez, Chito, Yanez, Smolka and Assuncao is well worth firing up Fight Pass for if you’re at a loose end on a rainy night. Since then he’s lost a decision to Daniel Marcos, then won a couple of decisions over Ramon Taveras and Da’Mon Blackshear. None of which were particularly great to watch. Like I say, not even a criticism of Grant. He’s gonna be 40 in November and he’s had more than enough dogfights. I think there’s still a couple in there but he’s gotta be winding down now. Jourdain’s the much younger man at 29 and he’s the home fighter being Canadian. He’s 16-8-1 and coming off a submission win over Victor Henry. Blows hot and cold but can be very fun to watch with the right dance partner. No reason why this should be anything less than at least ‘good’.

 

Kyle Nelson vs Matt Frevola is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** for this one and I’m expecting a really fun scrap out of these two. ‘The Monster’ against ‘The Steamrolla’. Nelson’s Canadian, 34 years old and has a record of 16-6-1 with 10 wins coming inside the distance. From what I remember of him he’s a fairly entertaining and aggressive fighter, he was just stuck on the prelims forever so never got any anyone’s radar. He was on a three fight winning streak and knocked out Billy Algeo before he got derailed and TKO’d by Steve Garcia last September. He hasn’t fought since for some reason, so it’s been over a year now. Frevola last fought last September as well. Although it’s a bit more obvious why he’s taken some time out…

Christ! Yeah, he got absolutely obliterated by the knee of Fares Ziam on last year’s Paris show. Easily one of the best knockouts of 2024 but also a scary one. I’m glad he took a break after that one. Nasty. Frevola’s been consistently exciting to watch, win or lose, though. He’s from New York, trains out of the Longo-Serra team and he’s 11-5-1 with 7 finishes. Like I said, win or lose, never a dull moment. He actually had a really fun fight against Arman Tsarukyan back in 2021, lost obviously but managed to go the distance and it was entertaining to watch as I recall. Then he got knocked out in 7 seconds by Terrance McKinney, which was a disaster and could’ve been the end of him in the UFC. But then he rattled off three straight first round knockouts over Genaro Valdez, Ottman Azaitar and Drew Dober. These were all wild and chaotic one rounders as well and Valdez and Azaitar were both undefeated KO artists going in. Really felt like the matchmakers were trying to use him as a sacrificial lamb both times and he shoved it up their arse. Frevola’s ’live by the sword, die by the sword’ mentality might be catching up to him now though. In his last two fights he’s been badly knocked out by Benoit Saint Denis and then the Ziam knee from hell above.

 

Drew Dober vs Kyle Prepolec is another one that could be a lot of fun if they’re both up for it. You generally know what you’re getting from a Dober fight. The bloke loves to throw down, even when it’s been to his detriment at times. He’s 27-15-0-1 now and coming off three straight losses to Renato Moicano, Jean Silva and Manuel Torres. The last two losses were especially rough. Silva ripped his face to shreds with elbows and Torres knocked him out in less than two minutes. On top of that, Dober turns 37 the day after this fight so the sand timer’s running empty now anyway. Prepolec’s Canadian, 36 years old and 18-9 with 14 finishes. Not too familiar with him. He had a brief stint in the UFC in 2019 but went 0-2 and was released. He went away and won some fights then got back in as a late replacement against Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 315 in May. He ended up getting subbed in the second round.

 

Cody Gibson vs Aoriqileng. No opinion on this really. Aoriqileng had a legit fucking banger against Jeff Molina in his UFC debut back in 2021. If you never saw that fight I urge you to fix that immediately. You won’t regret it. He’s been all over the place since though. Wins, losses, No Contests, the lot. He last fought on the big Sphere show last September, losing a decision to Raul Rosas Jr in the very first fight of the night. So he’s part of a bit of trivia there. He was in the first ever fight at the Sphere. Gibson’s 38 with a record of 21-11. One of those guys who’s always just there. His fights come and go and nobody seems to even notice. He’s coming off a submission loss to Da’Mon Blackshear at the Apex in March.

 

Bruno Silva vs Hyun Sung Park is a decent little fight for the mid card. Brazil’s ‘Bulldog’ Silva is 35 years old with a record of 14-7-2-1 with 10 finishes. He’s had some decent fights in the UFC and at one point was on a four fight win streak with four finishes and four POTN bonuses. His TKO win over Cody Durden in July 2024 was a belter of a fight as well, one of the under the radar bangers of last year for me. He’s coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Manel Kape and Joshua Van now though. South Korea’s Park is 29 years old and 10-1 with 9 finishes. He was on a nice run of wins and finishes until his last fight in August, where he got bulldozed by Tatsuro Taira in their Apex main event. To be fair to Park, he got thrown into that fight on a few days notice when Amir Albazi dropped out. Park was originally on the prelims so that switch up was a big ask.

 

Danny Barlow vs Djorden Santos. Dunno. Haven’t seen much of either. Barlow’s 30 years old with a record of 9-1 and he’s coming off the first loss of his career, a first round TKO loss to Sam Patterson in March. Santos is 28 years old and 10-2 with 7 finishes. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 313 in March and lost a decision to Ozzy Diaz. Nothing else really to even add to this. Might be alright, might be shit. But if you’re getting knocked out by grappler Patterson or losing a decision to ham and egger Diaz, it’s not looking good.

 

Stephanie Luciano vs Ravena Oliveira. Brazil vs Brazil in the Strawweight division. Don’t know, don’t care. Luciano’s 25 years old with a 6-2-1 record. Made her UFC debut in August last year and beat Talita Alencar on points. Fought again in March and lost a decision to Sam Hughes. Oliveira’s 28 years old, 7-2-1 with 7 finishes and hasn’t fought since October 2023, losing to Tainara Lisboa on points. I have not one single solitary fuck to give about this.

 

Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui is one of the undercard fights worth keeping an eye on for me. Bekoev’s been fun so far and he’s got off to quite a start in the UFC already. He’s 29 years old, Russian but fights out of American Top Team and he has a record of 20-3 with 16 not needing the judges. Fought a fair bit in ACA and LFA and he’s gone 2-0 in the UFC, both first round knockouts, since his debut in January.

OK, it was only Zach Reese and Ryan Loder he squashed. No big deal. But he handled them the way you should if you’ve got something about you. He was supposed to fight Torrez Finney at the Apex in August but Finney pulled out. This Belgaroui bloke initially stepped in but couldn’t get his Visa sorted in time so it got pushed back to this card and here we are. Never seen Belgaroui but looking him up, he’s Dutch/Tunisian, 33 years old and has a record of 8-3 with six knockouts. Also has a Kickboxing record of 27-3 with 13 knockouts. Hasn’t beat anyone of note in MMA yet but he’s coming off a TKO win on DWCS in September last year.

 

Melissa Croden vs Tainara Lisboa. No idea. Never seen Croden, barely remember Lisboa. I’ll probably end up giving it a go just because it’s Croden’s UFC debut and I do usually give newcomers at least a chance before I start skipping their fights. She’s 34 years old and fights out of Bret Hart’s hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Wonder if she trained in the Dungeon? She’s 6-2 with all her wins coming inside the distance. Brazil’s Lisboa is also 34 and has a record of 7-3 with six finishes. She debuted in the UFC in 2023 and beat Jessica Rose Clark and Ravena Oliveira. Then didn’t fight again until May this year, losing to Luana Santos.

 

 

 

Me trying to put a brave face on things after the Hernandez withdrawal…

Edited October 18, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Kfogg1991]

Yeah this is unfortunate back to back blows for the UFC.

Losing the Rio main event 

And losing your number one contender match on this one 

Allen has got the greatest opportunity known to man if he goes in and wins against RDR but it's so unlikely to transpire 

[wandshogun09]

Absolutely negative buzz for this then ?

It’s not the best card ever but I actually don’t hate it. Losing the original main event hurt it but this is a pretty solid little Fight Night all in all. Hopefully De Ridder deals with Allen in convincing fashion and we get to see him fight for the title in 2026. Beyond that, Holland vs Malott is whatever. Chito vs Zahabi is decent, bit of a must win for Chito coming off some losses and a big layoff. Can see him dropping another loss here though. Jasudavicius has a tough test against Fiorot. And you’ve got some potentially really fun fights with Jourdain vs Grant, Nelson vs Frevola and Dober vs Prepolec. I’m interested to see how that Bekoev vs Belgaroui fight goes on the prelims as well. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Bekoev so far but he’s giving up a lot of size in this one.

Could be one to keep an eye on from the Fight Pass bit.

I’ve had a nightmare lately with different shit going on. Haven’t even fully caught up on last week’s Rio card yet. Gonna try and blast through the best of both that and this card tomorrow. 

[Bruce85]

That well and truly backfired for RDR. 

[Kfogg1991]

Well this easily wins worst main card of the year in terms of how it all ended...

 

I fucking sent the voice message to my mates before we got on the plane to come to Majorca I felt a major upset coming and my god did that happen..

 

The up most disrespect and cannon fodder Allen was in this fight with RDR already getting the nod to be next for khamzat it felt justified to have it happen and he completely stole RDR's lunch money and made him quit on the stool 

 

And then the Holland fight....just no... absolutely disgusting.... Holland was made to continue and you could see he was fucking unable to, if anyone tries said he was trying to find a way out the fight you deserve a slap the man has fought how many times this year...not a man that wants a easy life and night in the cage is it you Muppets 

 

And for a couple of fights earlier to have a point taken for one dick kick.....this year has been very questionable compared to last Very much so but it has shown some leaks that need to be seriously fixed.

[wandshogun09]

Watched this in bits and pieces throughout the week. What a downer.

Never would’ve predicted Brendan Allen of all people to derail De Ridder like this. Proper shite result for the Middleweight division because, let’s face it, Allen is going nowhere. He’s decent at best but he’s already pretty much found his level and hit his ceiling at 185 a couple of times now. So De Ridder’s been temporarily eliminated from the title race for what? At least if the original Fluffy Hernandez fight went ahead, if Fluffy did this to De Ridder, you can work with that. Fluffy was on a hot streak anyway and a win here would’ve just seen him interjected into that title shot mix. This is rancid though. And it’ll sound like sour grapes but I really don’t feel like this was a case of Allen being the better fighter. I honestly feel like De Ridder taking so many fights back-to-back-to-back-to-back was a big part of this. When they were both at full strength and energy in the first round, we saw what happened. De Ridder was having his way. It all went to shit rapidly after that though.

De Ridder ‘quitting’ on the stool is all people are gonna remember though sadly. That image of him, sat in the corner looking absolutely spent. Nothing left. Really deflating to see. Not saying he’s without flaws. He lost in similar fashion to Anatoly Malykhin in ONE not that long ago. So unfortunately for him there’s gonna be a quitter narrative around him going forward now. Charles Oliveira has shown you can shed that reputation but it’s hard work. It definitely doesn’t fill me with confidence if he ever comes up against Khamzat. But I think people are being a bit harsh myself. He’s not the type who just folds every time a fight gets rough. We saw him have to get through some bad moments in the Whittaker fight just a few months ago. I do think taking all those fights consecutively was a bigger factor than many want to admit though. Five fights inside a year is insane. Fans will just look at that and go ‘hey I’d love to only go to work five times a year’ but that’s conveniently leaving out the training camps in between. That’s where the graft and wear and tear on the body comes. He must’ve barely taken a day off since his UFC debut last November. There’s a price to pay for that and it seems this was it. Seems logical to throw Allen in with DDP now to me. And give De Ridder a much needed break.

Malott vs Holland was a shitshow. Started off alright and for a few minutes it looked like it might be a fun fight. Then Malott walloped him in the nuts twice and the whole thing went completely off the rails from there. That was in the first round, I don’t know how Holland managed to go the distance after that but he was clearly not right for the rest of the fight after that. And Dan Miragliotta didn’t even take a point. Zero consistency whatsoever. Refs ‘not wanting to get involved’ out of fear of backlash is the cause of all this. These things are gonna happen in fights. It’s very rarely, if ever, intentional. But refs not taking points because they feel it was an accident isn’t helping. It’s not the point whether it was deliberate or not, it happened and it’s changed the course and trajectory of the fight. You have to penalise the fighter in some way for that. Otherwise what’s even the incentive not to foul if you know there’s gonna be no real consequences? Fucking mess. Malott wins but it didn’t feel like a win for anyone involved. For Malott, for Holland, for the crowd and definitely not for Dan Miragliotta.

I enjoyed the Aiemann Zahabi vs Chito Vera fight. Another pretty big win for Zahabi as well. I’m not having the robbery talk. Close fight but no robbery. Zahabi wasn’t blessed with the kind of fight ending power that’s gonna create a lot of finishes at this level but he’s always trying and that usually makes for an entertaining enough fight. He’s tough as well. We saw him have to get through some dicey moments against Aldo and again here against Chito. Don’t know what to make of Chito at this point though. He’s so frustrating to watch sometimes. When he turns it on he’s exciting but he’s notorious for taking his foot off the gas and taking big chunks of rounds off. And he did it again here. Had Zahabi in all kinds of trouble in the second round and then did…nothing. Completely let him off the hook. He’s crying about being “robbed” since the fight but he’s got nobody to blame but himself for choosing to do fuck all at crucial points in the fight and letting Zahabi recover when he had him hurt. He was being a cock at the end as well, snubbing Zahabi’s offer of a handshake. Kind of made me glad the judges went against him. Not sure what’s next for either but I can’t see Zahabi getting that O’Malley fight he’s after.

The big surprise of the show for me, outside the main event, was Manon Fiorot vs Jasmine Jasudavicius. Not a shock that Fiorot won, this was always gonna be a step up for Jasmine. It was the way Fiorot won that I wasn’t expecting.

I was all settled in with my finger on the fast forward button, fully expecting a 15 minute fencing match ending via split decision either way. Turned out Fiorot just wrecked her in a minute and change. Jasmine was complaining about the stoppage but I’m sure she understood when she watched it back. Her legs were absolutely gone when she got cracked on the feet, she was all over the shop. Then she was face down, planking on the mat from the follow ups. Whenever you do this…

It’s a wrap. Shame really. Jasmine was on a decent little run and a win here would’ve probably bagged her a title shot in 2026. To not only have that all ended but to be put away in that fashion, and in her backyard in Canada of all places? Rough. Exactly what Fiorot needed though coming off the failed title shot against Shevchenko last time out. She’d become a right decision merchant so the last thing I was expecting was for her to blow anyone away early like this. More of this please.

Charles Jourdain made short work of Davey Grant. Conflicted on this one. Disappointed to see Grant get put away in that manner but it was a pretty beautiful finishing sequence from ‘Air’ Jourdain…

The fact that a flush flying knee like that didn’t instantly put Grant out just speaks to the toughness of the man. But he was bollocksed and tapping to the guillotine within seconds of that landing. Jourdain’s a funny one. He’ll look great one fight then lacklustre the next. He’s always got the potential to produce stuff like this but it doesn’t always work out for whatever reason. He’s coming off a couple of cool wins now so that means he’ll probably shit the bed next time out. Although maybe now he’s at Bantamweight it’ll be different? I liked his callout of Marcus McGhee. That would be a fun one. Fuck knows with Grant. He turns 40 in December and he’s had a bunch of hard battles now. Hopefully he doesn’t go on too much longer.

Kyle Nelson vs Matt Frevola was an…eventful main card opener. Jesus Christ. Once again, Dan Miragliotta had a mare. End of the first round, Nelson’s knocked Frevola down and is dropping bombs on him. Big Dan steps in…

Fuck sake Dan! 

All kinds of confusion here. Puts his hands on the fighters when there are clearly three seconds left on the clock. That’s the fight over. Nelson wins by TKO. But somehow the fight carries on. I guess Dan never heard the 10 second clapper and thought it was the end of the round. Which, fair enough, the crowd was loud in that moment. But how are you fucking up that bad? Thankfully Nelson went on to win anyway by decision. But imagine if Frevola had managed to come back and win? That would be maybe the biggest actual robbery in UFC history. Between this and the Malott vs Nelson mess, I’m not sure a ref has ever had as bad a night on a UFC card as Miragliotta had here. Shocking even by his standards.

Drew Dober got the win and the finish, which I was happy with, but not without controversy. Felt bad for Prepolec here. It was an entertaining scrap, as Dober fights usually are, it was competitive throughout and all three judges had it even going into the last round. Then…

A kick in the bollocks is obviously never fun but this looked like a particularly bad one. A pinpoint toe poke right on the cock and balls. Brutal stuff. Fair enough the ref did actually deduct a point here, unlike the Malott vs Holland debacle. But it was too late. The damage was done and Prepolec got finished seconds after the restart. Just a shite situation for all involved. I don’t for one second believe Dober did it on purpose. It was accidental. But it completely altered the course of the fight, Prepolec was absolutely fucked and the ref was right to take a point. Prepolec took the five minutes to recover but he probably couldn’t have recovered if he’d had an hour. With the point deduction, Dober knew he probably had to get a finish after the restart and he made it happen. Sucks how it all played out though.

On 10/19/2025 at 1:33 PM, Kfogg1991 said:

And for a couple of fights earlier to have a point taken for one dick kick.....

Nah, the ref did the right thing there. Like I said about the Malott vs Holland fight above, refs need to be on this shit more. It should be case by case, but in a situation like this where it was a really bad one and Prepolec was badly hurt by it, it doesn’t matter if it was just ‘one kick’ to the balls. It changed the course of the fight and that's backed up by how quickly Dober was able finish him once the fight restarted. If we dismiss every first time a low blow lands in a fight as ‘just one accidental low strike’ and just give a warning, what’s to stop fighters just landing one deliberately at the start of a fight because they know they won’t be punished for the first one? Like I say, case by case. If a fighter gets hit low and it’s not severe and he can recover quick, fair enough just a warning. Ones like Dober vs Prepolec and Malott vs Holland were obviously more than that though and should’ve been instant point deductions just because of how heavily they affected those fights from that point on. Sick of refs not doing their job.

Aori Qileng wasn’t fucking about. Just wiped out Cody Gibson in 21 seconds…

Was he parked on a double yellow or something? Did he have a freshly made Pot Noodle in the locker room that he didn’t want getting cold? Seriously, I was happy to see this. Been a bit of a fan since that corker against Jeff Molina in his UFC debut years ago but his results have been all over the shop. Cool to see him get a quick finish like this.

Bruno Silva looked good in his submission win over Hyun Sung Park. Tough year for Park. Started the year undefeated, got a quick submission win himself in May, now he’s lost back-to-back against Taira and Silva in the space of a couple of months.

Djorden Santos vs Danny Barlow was a wild scrap. Ugly and messy but I quite enjoyed it myself. Don’t know if it’s just me getting old though but I couldn’t help think of the future CTE being accrued when they were knocking seven shades out of each other in that second round. Was quite happy to see Santos come through with the win. Tough bastard. He’s one of those fighters who blocks punches with his face though. Shame these two never got any bonus money. Not even necessarily saying it was FOTN but to fight that hard and get nothing extra felt harsh on these guys.

Yousri Belgaroui had a pretty sweet debut. Bekoev had gained a bit of a following due to his couple of quick finishes in his first two UFC fights, plus his social media stuff seemed to be going down well. Belgaroui just came in, broke him down and eventually stopped him on the feet.

Doesn’t look like too much there but he was tagging Bekoev repeatedly before that, I felt like the ref was right to step in and wave it off when he did. It was clear Belgaroui was just the better and cleaner striker. And that was only magnified by the size advantage. I knew he had a Kickboxing career but didn’t realise he’d actually fought Israel Adesanya twice and Alex Pereira three times. Trains with Pereira and Glover now. Interesting addition to the Middleweight division. 


Not a bad card but, fuck me, what a mess with all the fouls, dodgy referee calls and then the flat ending to the main event to top it all off. Card has its moments but it was a bit of a shambles overall. Hopefully none of that for 321 in Abu Dhabi tonight.

In closing, not all the ref moments on this card were negative. As a connoisseur of the female buttock myself, Jason Herzog having a peep here cracked me up. No pun intended.

Edited October 25, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Dai]

That RDR fight was bizarre and a disaster, and reminded me of another fight recently, but cant remember who it was. It was similar to this, where RDR was in comfortable control for the first round, then was lightly dominated for the next round but that somehow gassed him out completely. Was another UFC  main event recently where the guy dominating at a fairly pedestrian pace but got super gassed from it. 

You must be right about the amount of fights hes had recently, as theres no other excuse really. Its very bizarre to see some 50/50 plodding ground stuff just completely gas a fighter within a few minutes.