UFC Apex: Gamrot vs Salkilld - Aug 8 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

Apex…

PARAMOUNT+ MAIN CARD
Mateusz Gamrot vs Quillan Salkilld 

Billy Quarantillo vs Carlos Diego Ferreira 

Darren Elkins vs Yadier Del Valle  

Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara 

Ty Miller vs Billy Ray Goff 

PARAMOUNT+ PRELIMS
Steven Asplund vs Guilherme Pat

Diyar Nurgozhay vs Bruno Lopes 

Louie Sutherland vs Jose Montanha

Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda 

Miles Johns vs Gianni Vazquez 

Juliana Miller vs Ravena Oliveira 

Gigi Canuto vs Carol Foro 

 

 

OK, I don’t know what they’re playing at with this. If you ever wanted an example of the UFC clearly not giving a shite anymore, look no further than this. The card is less than two weeks away and this is it as far as actual confirmed fights go. As I type, only nine fights are official. Not sure what the bout order is gonna look like but they don’t have many fights to shuffle do they? Maybe they throw a few more nothing fights on there last minute. Personally, I actually wouldn’t hate them making these Apex cards shorter but it’s not usually the way they do things. 

As for the card itself, there’s really not much to it, is there? Gamrot vs Salkilld is a strong main event for the Apex. I like that fight a lot and Salkilld did call Gamrot out after his last fight. But I can’t help thinking he’s biting off a bit more than he can chew myself. Can see Gamrot grappling the arse off him but we’ll see how it goes. After that? I’m struggling with this one big time. Quarantillo vs Ferreira sounds like a potentially fun fight from 2019 but in 2026, with them both getting up in age and coming off layoffs? I’m not sure what we’re getting. Good ol’ Darren The Damage will almost certainly bleed buckets, so there’s that. But again, he’s 42 and hasn’t fought in over a year. Steven Asplund will be worth tuning in for. Hopefully they at least put him on the main card.

Yeah, this is probably gonna be a mega quick skim through for me on the Sunday. I’ll watch the main event and I’ll check out Asplund’s fight. Beyond that, it’s gonna be fast forward all the way for me. Life’s too short.

Edited August 8 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Darren Elkins has confirmed Saturday will be his last fight. I do hope the UFC give him a wee send off with video package and that, Elkins deserves that respect. Going out in the front the Apex crowd is brutal though. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I was glad to hear Elkins is calling it a day. Pinch of salt obviously but he’s also saying he’s not gonna be doing any kind of fighting after tonight either. No Bare Knuckle thank fuck. He’s knocking it all on the head.

[Tamura]

Apex Slop turned into a decent enough night of action. Cormier doesn't half talk some shit at times, especially when Rogan is there, but he was bang on the money about Billy Ray Goff's corner. Even before he said anything I was wondering why they were even sending him out for the third round since he was losing and getting battered, and their only advice was to run away and not fight. 

[Dai]

Yeah, was a good show. Some random thoughts:

- First thing on the main card was an advert for the refurbished Apex. Fine, I guess, but how strange was it that they were obsessed with square footage? Was like an episode of Grand Designs. How does knowing that the square footage of the arena has increased make people want to go there? Why do I care about the square footage of a balcony or VIP bar area? Was a strange way to advertise it.

- During the advert they said how it would now be so much louder there, which is funny as during the first main match it was like a morgue there. Doesn't matter if its 1200 or 150 if the fighters are no names that the people don't know.

- DC clanger number 1: "Here he can recover a little bit", midway through Goff being flat on his back getting his face smashed in with some ground and pound, suggesting he should let him back up.

- DC clanger number 2:  "They weighed in yesterday at 9am. Its now Saturday night, 6pm. That's almost 24 hours to recover". The other commentator doesn't say anything as hes probably not listening.

- Goffs corner man saying "Stay away from him the whole round, Don't engage at all. Circle away." has to be the worst cornering of all time? Shockingly awful on every level. Cant believe he told him to run away. Miller looked good though, abd looks big too for the division.

- Was that the first ever low blow for a women's match in the UFC? Lemos looks done now, too. As for Thainara, yes she danced alot to the ring but was dull as shit during the first.

- Hell of a punch from Del Valle, and a great bit of grappling from Salkilld. Gamrot was one step behind for the whole exchange, which was a shocker. Will be interesting to see what Salkilld does next.

[wandshogun09]

One of the best MMA pictures of the year so far for me…

Thought Salkilld looked fantastic. I really had my doubts on this fight. Thought Gamrot might prove to be a test too far for him but he beat Gamrot at his own game, the grappling, escaped the kneebar attempt and submitted him inside a round. Nobody just rolls over Gamrot in a round like that usually. He’d only been finished once before this and that was against Charles Oliveira last October. And Salkilld subbed him quicker than Charles. There’s still questions on Salkilld of course. How will he do over five rounds is a big one. He has actually gone five rounds once already but that was early in his career and obviously at a lower level. But man, a win like this instantly catapults him up the ladder at 155. Gamrot was basically a high level gatekeeper at Lightweight and Salkilld just squashed him. 

Depending on which rankings you go by (and I hate that there are two separate sets of rankings now), Salkilld is now either #6 or #8. Not sure who they throw him in with next. The names above him are mostly gonna have bigger fish to fry. I’d personally have loved to have seen Salkilld vs Ruffy myself but obviously Ruffy’s booked against Tsarukyan now. Maybe they throw Benoit Saint Denis in there. Not ideal because he’s coming off that Paddy loss but he is above Salkilld in the media version of the rankings currently. I just can’t see any of the big names like Holloway, Oliveira, Topuria etc going for a fight with Salkilld at this stage in their careers. Regardless, it’s great to see a Lightweight on the rise, who genuinely looks like he could make some noise in the division, and he’s still only 26 years old. The 155 old guard are the most stubborn of probably any weight class, Gaethje as champ in 2026 is evidence of that. They just won’t go quietly. But it’s always a good thing to see young guys come through who could potentially be the future of the division.

Ferreira vs Quarantillo was a bit sad for me. It looked like what it was - a 42 year old against a 37 year old, both coming off stretches of inactivity. With all that taken into consideration, it wasn’t a bad fight. But I just kept thinking how fun it would’ve been five years ago.

Poor Darren Elkins…

Announces going in that it’s his last fight, gets brutally sparked in 35 seconds. Probably for the best though. Despite how adamant he sounded all fight week that this was gonna be it for him, had he won this fight he probably would’ve talked himself into another one. This couldn’t have felt more final though. Del Valle proper walloped him. Sad end for Elkins but it kind of summed up what he was all about. Live by the sword, die by the sword. He was never gonna be a contender but he managed to stay on the UFC roster from 2010 to 2026, for fuck’s sake! 31 UFC fights. Debuted on the undercard of Jon Jones vs Brandon Vera! He was also Charles Oliveira’s UFC debut opponent. The bloke’s been around forever and was always a scrapper, often to his detriment but he did have his high points as well. Wins over Hatsu Hioki, Dennis Bermudez and Michael Johnson. Actually fought Volk and went the distance with him. His career highlight will always be that barmy come from behind KO over Mirsad Bektic in 2017 though. One of the craziest comebacks you’ll ever see and a bit of a forgotten great UFC moment these days. Farewell ‘The Damage’.

Not a ton to say about the rest. Skimmed through half of it and barely paid attention to the other half. Steve Asplund didn’t look great from what I saw of that fight. Disappointing but I was happy to see him get the win though. I see Louie Sutherland got subbed quick again. Surely the big lad’s on borrowed time. He’s had a rotten UFC stint.

I will say though, I caught the Fight Pass curtain jerker, two Strawweight women I’d never heard of making their UFC debuts. Carol Foro vs Gigi Canuto. Turned out to be a real pleasant surprise.

They both really went for it but Foro’s striking was the difference maker. I just had this on as background noise at first but they soon reeled me in. Really enjoyed it. Probably should’ve got FOTN from what I saw. Ferreira vs Quarantillo got that bonus though. I definitely thought Foro vs Canuto was better than that.