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Here are the real winners and losers from UFC Vegas 2

The UFC Vegas 2 card was a mixed bag. The first three fights on the card gave viewers the hope that the 10-fight card would be an action-packed event with many first-round finishes, but things slowed considerably after these opening bouts that ended in under a minute.

When the curtain fell, there were five first-round finishes and five decisions on the card that was headlined by a women’s flyweight matchup between former title challenger Jessica Eye and Cynthia Calvillo, who made her first appearance in the UFC women’s flyweight division.

Calvillo’s unanimous decision win over Eye should put her near the top of the next set of rankings. As for co-main event victor, Marvin Vettori, he might not land a spot in the top-15 in the middleweight division, but he should get himself a top-15 opponent in his next outing.

Winners

Cynthia Calvillo: Calvillo moved up to flyweight for this event. The move paid immediate dividends as she earned a decision win over Jessica Eye who was the No. 1 ranked fighter in the women’s 125-pound division heading into this contest.

Calvillo used decent striking, strong takedowns and a heavy top game to win the fight. Calvillo wasn’t credited with any submission attempts, but that wasn’t due to lack of effort. She did try and turn her top position advantage into submission’s, but she was unable to lock anything up that was threatening.

The win didn’t convince me that Calvillo, who still needs to work on her striking, is anywhere near ready to face the division’s champion, Valentina Shevchenko, but she could be matched up against Katlyn Chookagian, who called for that fight after Calvillo’s win.

Marvin Vettori: Vettori had a frustrating past few months. He missed out on fights due to COVID-19 cancellations and then in May, Karl Roberson was pulled from his scheduled matchup against Vettori after the weigh-in. Roberson missed weight again for this fight, but Vettori did not let that get to him. He kept his cool and scored his third straight win with a first -round submission over Roberson. With this fight behind him, Vettori could earn himself a top-15 opponent in his next middleweight outing.

Andre Fili: Fili once again avoided a second straight loss. Fili has seven career defeats, but he has never dropped two fights in a row. He looked good in his split-decision win over Charles Jourdain. He ate a lot of strikes, but his counters seemed to come back harder and heavier. Fili also landed some timely takedowns on his way to victory.

Fili, who is soon to turn 30, seems to be more mature these days and that should help him going forward. It’ll be interesting to see who he fights next, but I think we will see a different Fili in the future and that is a positive.

Jordan Espinosa: Espinosa ended a two-fight losing skid in style. He used his speed and footwork to dominate Mark De La Rosa in their bantamweight contest. Espinosa’s pace was incredible and his leg kicks and jabs were crisp and effective in a solid decision win.

Mariya Agapova: Agapova didn’t get a UFC deal off her loss on a 2019 Contender Series card. After that decision setback to Tracy Cortez, Agapova went 2-0 with two first-round stoppages with Invicta FC. The 23-year-old ran over Hannah Cifers in Vegas on Saturday. Agapova was extremely aggressive and showed good striking and submission skills on her way to another first-round stoppage win. Agapova comes across as incredibly confident and at such a young age, she is someone to keep an eye on.

Merab Dvalishvili: Dvalishvili dropped his first two UFC fights, but since then he is unbeaten. He got his fourth straight victory on Saturday with a one-sided decision over Gustavo Lopez. Dvalishvili’s striking is coming along, but his wrestling and pace remain his biggest strengths. Dvalishvili racked up 13 takedowns and landed 110 total strikes during his unanimous decision win. After the victory, Dvalishvili called for a matchup against Sean O’Malley, which would make for an interesting matchup.

Gustavo Lopez: Lopez was dominated by Dvalishvili throughout their 15-minute matchup, but let’s not forget that Lopez accepted the fight on Thursday. Lopez didn’t do much offensively in his loss, but he never quit and that says a lot for his toughness, you have to respect that he hung in there against a bantamweight that not many fighters are going to want to face going forward.

Julia Avila: Avila had not fought since her July decision win over Pannie Kianzad. She wasted no time in getting things done on Saturday night. Avila blasted Gina Mazany with a knee and then swarmed her with strikes before the referee waved off the action 22 seconds into the bout. After the win, UFC commentator Paul Felder sang the praises of Avila, saying he believes the unranked women’s bantamweight, who is now 8-1 with four first-round knockouts, is going to be a problem in her weight class.

Tyson Nam: After two decision losses in his first two UFC outings, Tyson Nam most likely saved his spot on the UFC roster with a nasty 32-second knockout win over Zarrukh Adashev off a counter right. Nam had rough matchups in his first two UFC contests where he faced Sergio Pettis and Kai Kara-France. The stoppage was Nam’s 11th career knockout victory. Nam might not get matched up against a top talent in his next scrap, but it’s doubtful he’ll face another UFC newbie.

Nam landed two punches during this fight. The first knocked out Adashev, the second knocked out Adashev a second time after he seemed to briefly regain consciousness after his head bounced off the mat.

Christian Aguilera: Aguilera had been considered for a spot on the Contender Series, instead he made his official UFC debut in the opening fight of UFC on ESPN 10. Aguilera made the most of the opportunity.

Aguilera used a nice right hook to stun Ivy, but what was even better was how Aguilera was able to sneak his finishing strikes around Ivy’s hands as he covered up against the fence. In a organization where it’s hard to make an impression, Aguilera did just that with his 59-second knockout.

Losers

Jessica Eye: Eye missed weight for this bout. It’s hard to tell how the weight cut affected her performance, but she never found her groove against Calvillo. Her striking wasn’t particularly active or effective as she landed just 25 percent of her significant strike attempts. She also gave up four takedowns and spent more than seven minutes in bottom position on the mat. This was a pretty disappointing performance from Eye and she should expect to drop in the rankings.

Karl Roberson: Roberson has had a tough go over the past month. He was pulled from his May matchup against Marvin Vettori after he developed rhabdomyolysis. The fight between the two was rebooked for UFC Vegas 2. Roberson came in 4.5 pounds heavy for the middleweight bout. Vettori submitted Roberson in the first round.

Following the loss, the concern for Roberson should be his health. If he cannot safely make the middleweight limit he should move up to light heavyweight, where he has fought before.

Kevin Aguilar: Aguilar lost his third straight outing when he dropped a split decision to Charles Rosa on the UFC Vegas 2 card. Had Aguilar been a bit more aggressive he might have been able to get the win. Instead, Aguilar was content to throw single strike counters throughout the majority of his bout opposite Rosa.

Mark De La Rosa: De La Rosa did not have much to offer in his decision loss to Jordan Espinosa. He landed 25 total strikes, failed in three takedown attempts and ate 145 total strikes on his way to his fourth straight defeat. De la Rosa was slower than Espinosa and far too focused on his takedowns. De La Rosa never really got things going in this outing.

Hannah Cifers: On the positive side of the ledger, Cifers has fought twice in the past two weeks. On the negative side, Cifers has been submitted in the first round in both of those fights. Cifers is now on a three-fight losing skid. Her overall record with the UFC is 2-4. She has some work to do, don’t be surprised if she finds herself working on her skills outside the UFC.

Gina Mazany: Mazany’s first run with the UFC lasted four fights. She went 1-3. After a win on a King of the Cage card in January, she got the call to fight as a replacement for Karol Rosa against Julia Avila. She started out aggressive, but a knee to the body and a flurry of strikes ended the fight 22 seconds after it began.

Neither

Charles Rosa: Rosa earned his first UFC win outside of Boston with a split-decision victory over Kevin Aguilar. Neither man was exactly aggressive in this matchup, but Rosa led while Aguilar looked to counter. Rosa did rack up a decent number of leg kicks on his way to the win.

Charles Jourdain: Jourdain had the striking advantage over Andre Fili, but he failed to stop five of six Fili takedowns on his way to a split decision loss. Jourdain did score a knockdown in the first round of the featherweight fight, but he couldn’t capitalize. Jourdain showed some good striking in this bout, especially with his kicks, but he left himself open to counters. At 24, Jourdain has some time to close up the holes in his game, his next fight could be a telling one.

Zarrukh Adashev: Adashev didn’t have much MMA experience heading into his matchup against Tyson Nam, but he did have a decent amount of kickboxing experience. He was slept in 32 seconds by Nam after landing two strikes. I’m not so sure if we’ll see Adashev again after his nasty loss

Anthony Ivy: Ivy almost got the chance to fight last week when Ian Heinisch’s participation in his fight against Gerald Meerschaert was up in the air. Ivy was not needed for that middleweight bout. Instead he made his UFC debut against Christian Aguilera in a welterweight scrap. Ivy didn’t do much during the 59 seconds he lasted against Aguilera, so it’s very hard to judge where he stands, but getting stopped in less than a minute in your UFC debut is never a good thing.