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It wasn’t the biggest fight card of the year, but UFC Vegas 83 delivered some solid action last night (Sat., Nov. 18, 2023) live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, including a masterclass main event win by surging bantamweight contender Song Yadong over Chris Gutierrez.

In addition to Yadong’s headlining performance, UFC Vegas 83 produced a plethora of finishes, memorable outings, and key storylines heading into the new year. Check out some of those takeaways below and let us know what you took from Saturday’s card in “Sin City.”

‘Lionheart’ Has Lost His Roar

It’s been nearly five years since Anthony Smith fought Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title. “Lionheart” has been a staple of the 205-pound class after that 2019 meeting, but since then Smith hasn’t delivered the same action inside of the cage.

Over the years, “Lionheart” has dropped important matchups to the likes of Glover Teixeira, Magomed Ankalaev, Aleksandr Rakic, and Johnny Walker. Smith has been able to capture finishes over lesser ranked opponents and washed-up veterans along the way, but nothing that leads us to believe he’s still a top threat in the division.

On Saturday, Smith found himself matched up against Khalil Rountree. The former Ultimate Fighter standout has also been a division staple over the past five years, but Rountree is not some sort of world beater that has zero holes in his game. Sure he had won four-straight coming into UFC Vegas 83, but Rountree has dropped the ball multiple times throughout his career and tends to let opponents hang around for too long.

Some people believed that Smith would be able to utilize his deep bag of tricks and overall experience to eke out a win. He had fought some of the best in the world throughout his career so he should have been able to compete against Rountree. Unfortunately for Smith, that wasn’t the case. For the most part he was outmatched and eventually finished with a nasty third-round TKO.

It was proof that Smith isn’t quite the same fighter he once was and maybe someone who’s no longer a top 10 competitor.

Haqparast Headed Up

There was a time when Nasrat Haqparast was considered one of the more promising rising prospects in the lightweight division. He comes from a great MMA gym and had won three out of his first four trips to the Octagon. It seemed like he was destined for ranked competition for years to come.

That was before Haqparast suffered a knockout loss to Drew Dober back in 2020. That was the first knockout defeat of his career. Haqparast did rebound with wins over unranked lightweights Alexander Munoz and Rafa Garcia, but quickly dropped back-to-back decisions to veterans Dan Hooker and Bobby Green. It seemed like Haqparast would have to wait a long time before being provided with another potential breakout moment.

Fortunately, Haqparast has turned things around of late. He scored decision wins over Landon Quinones and John Makdessi to get back on track at 155 pounds before stepping into the Octagon this weekend against hard-nosed brawler Jamie Mullarkey. It was a chance for Haqparast to showcase he’s more than just a mid-level lightweight and he did just that. The Tristar Gym product absolutely steamrolled Mullarkey with a blistering first-round TKO.

It was the standout performance he was looking for and a likely launchpad to a top 15 matchup in early 2024.

The Asian MMA Scene Is Sizzling

This weekend’s card showcased a ton of Asian MMA talent and for good reason. The region continues to develop some of the best young fighters in the sport and it was on full display at UFC Vegas 83 in “Sin City.”

Leading the way was obviously Yadong’s main event beatdown over Gutierrez. The Chinese fighter is clearly one of the best bantamweight contenders in the world today and guy who can really do it all. Adding to the mix was South Korean prospect, Hyun Sung Park, who made a name for himself by winning on the Road To UFC series. Park was matched up against Shannon Ross on the “Prelims” undercard and delivered an impressive second-round knockout.

Last but not least, undefeated Japanese flyweight, Tatsuro Taira, was also on display as the 23-year-old prospect destroyed Carlos Hernandez with a second-round TKO. Taira pushed his UFC record to 5-0 in the process and turned in another performance that proves the Asian MMA scene is on the rise.

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For complete UFC Vegas 83 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

No more rematches for the UFC Lightweight champion.

Islam Makhachev is currently awaiting his next fight, and there isn’t a clear next opponent. UFC CEO Dana White made it clear after UFC 280 that Charles Oliveira would rematch Makhachev next, but after Arman Tsarukyan’s brutal knockout win last weekend, he threw a wrench into the plans.

However, in a recent interview, Makhachev revealed he is uninterested in fighting those two fighters because he has already beaten them both.

“To be honest, I’ve already told [UFC] I’m not interested in rematches,” Makhachev said. “Because if you want to [be a champion] in a good way, you have to add new names. There is [Justin] Gaethje, who I would say deserved a fight. I think it would be more interesting to fight him.”

Makhachev added that he wants to fight at UFC 299 in Miami, FL, which would take place the day before Ramadan, a holiday the champion celebrates yearly.

It makes sense why Makhachev is currently tired of rematches, mainly because he is coming off a second fight with Alexander Volkanovski, where he starched the Featherweight champion in the first round (watch highlights).

Nevertheless, three deserving Lightweights are chomping at the bit to get a shot at the Dagastani champion. Gaethje is coming off a highlight head-kick knockout of Dustin Poirier at UFC 291. Oliveira is coming off a knockout of Dariush at UFC 289 and had a shot against Makhachev, but a nasty cut derailed his rematch.

He could fight all three next year too.

Who should Makhachev fight next?

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Here’s what you may have missed!

If Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) had any motive in stashing undefeated flyweight contender Tatsuro Taira on undercard “Prelims” for his entire career then it may be time to move on.

Taira, who is one of the most promising young fighters in the promotion today, was 4-0 inside of the Octagon entering his matchup with Carlos Hernandez last night (Sat., Nov. 18, 2023) at UFC Vegas 83 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The matchup itself didn’t make much sense considering Hernandez was just 1-1 in 2023 and not someone who was going to boost Taira’s overall namesake.

What made Taira’s matchmaking even more head-scratching is the fact that his bout with Hernandez was buried on the “Prelims” undercard. This wasn’t some bulked up pay-per-view (PPV) event and the organization wanted to promote Taira on a big ESPN “Prelims” card. This was a Fight Night affair with very little star power and a perfect opportunity to showcase a young flyweight contender like Taira.

Unfortunately, UFC dropped the ball again. It was the fourth time out of five Octagon appearances in which the promotion slotted Taira on the early “Prelims” undercard. The only time Taira has been featured on a main “Prelims” card was at UFC 290 this past July. Taira ended up winning that fight and looked to be on the rise again, but the promotion turned around and buried him on UFC Vegas 83’s underbelly. Taira, of course, took full advantage and dominated Hernandez en route to second-round TKO finish (watch HERE).

Why is Taira being buried, you ask?

Who knows. UFC implements very strange matchmaking sometimes, but this one is a mystery. Taira is 23 years old and one of the hottest prospects in the division. He’s competing in a weight class that is always looking for fresh faces to push towards title contention. He hails from Japan, which is a large combat market that UFC would love to further tap into. Add in his 73-percent finish rate and Taira seems like an absolute slam dunk.

We’ll have to wait and see if UFC decides to untether Taira in 2024 or if they continue to hold him back from bigger and better opportunities. The Japanese fighter did call out fellow flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev after his UFC Vegas 83 win, but UFC may have other plans in store.

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For complete UFC Vegas 83 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

UFC Vegas 83 went down last night (Sat., Dec. 9, 2023) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Bantamweight main event that saw Song Yadong earn a dominant unanimous decision win over Chris Gutierrez. In the co-headlining act, Khalil Rountree scored a crushing knockout win over Anthony Smith to earn his fifth straight win (see it here).

Biggest Winner: Khalil Rountree

If the Top 10 of the 205-pound division hadn’t taken notice of Khalil Rountree prior to last night, they definitely are now. The stout heavy-hitter scored a massive win over former light heavyweight title contender, Anthony Smith, by knocking him out rather viciously in the third and final round. In doing so, Rountree earned his fifth straight win — as well as another $50K post-fight bonus award — which will likely put him in the Top 10. Overall, this is undoubtedly the biggest win of his UFC career because it will set him up for bigger and better challenges moving forward. The sky is the limit for the man they call “The War Horse.” though I don’t expect him to get Alex Pereira next.

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Runner (s) Up: Tim Elliott, Song Yadong

When opportunity knocks, it’s always best to answer the door, and that is just what Elliott did when he was called upon to face Su Mudaerji on short notice after Allan Nascimento bowed out of the event. In doing so, the scrappy lightweight scored a huge first-round submission win (arm-triangle choke) that not only put him back in the win column, but also earned him an extra $50,000 paycheck. It’s a nice bounce back victory for Elliott, who had won three straight prior to running into Muhammad Mokaev a few months ago, losing that fight via submission. Now that he moves to 3-1 over his last four outings Elliott could very well climb a spot or two in the rankings. As for Yadong, he gets on the list thanks to his dominate win over Gutierrez after dominating him for 25 minutes. Yadong has now won two straight and is 5-1 over his last six fights. There is no telling if his latest win will be good enough to put him into the Top 5, but the Chinese-born contender is making all the right moves to get him into position to be in the championship conversation.

Biggest Loser: Anthony Smith

Any far-fetched hopes of ever getting a fight against Alex Pereira went out the window for “Lionheart” after he fell victim to Rountree’s powerful strikes. I hate putting Smith on here because he did UFC a solid be stepping in under two week’s notice, but at the end of the day the loss is devastating nonetheless, especially in the manner in which he lost. All told, “Lionheart” is just 1-3 in his last four fights, which will take him out of the Top 10. There is no telling where Smith goes from here, but he will likely live to fight another day inside the Octagon. That said, another setback such as this one could force him to go into being an analyst full-time.

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For complete UFC Vegas 83 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.