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UFC Fight Night: Luque v Buckley — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., March 30, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for UFC Atlantic City. Free fights in front of a live audience is always a nice change of pace! Fortunately, the card was a step up in quality to boot, featuring a clear-cut title eliminator bout between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot. In addition, knockout artists Joaquin Buckley and Vicente Luque seemed to guarantee violence, and there was even a former champion in Chris Weidman rounding out the main card.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Atlantic City’s best performances and techniques:

Fiorot Picks Apart Blanchfield

This was one of those unfortunate fights in which the first five minutes told the entire story, yet it persisted for five full rounds. The SparkNotes summary here is that Fiorot was way too strong for Blanchfield to take down, then too fast and too skilled for Blanchfield to compete on her feet.

For five full rounds, Blanchfield walked directly into counter jabs and check hooks. Her resilience was admirable; her boxing defense was not. Blanchfield fired to the final bell, but her punches never seemed to bother Fiorot. Conversely, Fiorot’s punches snapped Blanchfield’s head back every time, and they opened up several cuts too.

It was a clear win for the French athlete, who should sit and wait for her chance at UFC gold.

Buckley Breaks The Top 15

I really enjoy watching Joaquin Buckley fight, and it’s not just because he has a kill-or-be-killed attitude — though it certainly helps! Rather, what separates Buckley from many bruisers on the roster is the variety of weird techniques and combinations he employs. How many fighters are starting combinations by taking massive sideways leaps before bursting forward? Who is throwing lead hook, roll, lead hook in MMA? What about lead leg switch kick, cross, same-side kick?

Buckley dances to his own beat, and I admire him for it. There are genuinely good ideas mixed with weirdness, and at Welterweight at least, that appears to be a winning combo!

As for the actual bout versus Luque, it was something of a slow burn with a sudden finish. Round one saw both men find success, as Luque landed good kicks while Buckley dictated pace and found a few heavy connections. Buckley started the second strong with a few lands, then the fight suddenly ended when Luque pulled guard off a failed takedown.

I’ll be honest: it looked like Luque broke mentally. I don’t mean to insult one of the toughest men to ever step into the cage — watch his fights with Bryan Barberena, Mike Perry, or Geoff Neal if you doubt his grit and heart — but he just seemed to give up. He didn’t look hurt prior to the failed takedown, and then Luque didn’t really defend himself once Buckley gained top position. He covered up and waited for the referee to intervene like a fighter who didn’t want to be in the cage anymore.

Maybe a brain bleed changes things?

Wacky Weidman Curse Continues

Chris Weidman was en route to his best performance in years. He outboxed Bruno Silva throughout the fight, hurt him multiple times, and generally was a step ahead of the knockout artist. Unfortunately, he also poked him in the eye at least four times, and the final pair of pokes ended the night.

Initially, Weidman was ruled the winner via KO, but that was quickly overturned to a technical decision. A win’s a win?

A Controversial KO

Nursulton Ruziboev secured his 32nd win via stoppage last night, blitzing Sedriques Dumas with an uppercut in the very first round. The Uzbek talent is clearly a serious Middleweight talent, a sniper on the feet with submission skills as well.

Unfortunately, his sophomore performance is at least a touch tainted. Just prior to the knockout, it seemed apparent that a stray finger probed Dumas’ eye socket. As Dumas protested, the referee didn’t intervene, so Ruziboev pounced like he was supposed to. A Dumas appeal wouldn’t be a surprise and will be an interesting story to watch moving forward.

The Monster Comes Into His Own

Kyle Nelson is suddenly pretty dang good.

The 32-year-old Canadian’s UFC career did not get off to a great start. He lost four of his first five and was stopped thrice in the process. It’s a small miracle he received a sixth opportunity, and that fight went to a draw! Seriously, it’s a really good thing that UFC is facing a Canadian shortage right now.

Lucky number seven proved a turn of the page for Nelson. Against Blake Bilder, Nelson showed off greatly improved kickboxing, conditioning, and takedown defense to pretty thoroughly pick apart his opponent for three rounds. Three months later, he pulled off the same trick against the highly touted Fernando Padilla, forcing him into a technical kickboxing match and clearing winning the bout.

It was good, patient work. Bill Algeo doesn’t allow patience or discipline in his fights; he causes too much chaos. He also has more high-level experience, and most favored “Senior Perfecto” to get the job done. Instead, Nelson put together beautiful combinations to stun Algeo repeatedly!

Nelson seemed perfectly prepared for Algeo’s funky kickboxing, and he punished him with repeated power shots. The referee could’ve let it play out for a bit longer, but then, Algeo shouldn’t have been on wobbly legs for 60 continuous seconds if he didn’t want the ref to jump in.

Either way, it’s the best win of Nelson’s career and quite an impressive turnaround overall.

“Whoop My Ass And See What Happens!”

Nate Landwehr is pound-for-pound one of the most fun fighters on the roster.

Jamall Emmers took it to him for half of the first round. Right off the bell, he put the pedal to the floor, stunning Landwehr with heavy right hands. He opened up several cuts with his punches, worked the body well, and ripped a few hard clinch shots to boot. It was a great start!

The problem “Pretty Boy” ran into is that Landwehr is functionally immortal. If you don’t fully shut off his lights, “The Train” keeps rolling like he was never hit. The second half of the first saw short-notice replacement Emmers looking for a breather, whereas Landwehr just amplified the pressure. He found massive success in the clinch, ripping ribs and uppercuts. Emmers managed to create separation for a moment, but Landwehr crashed into him with another brutal uppercut to seal the deal.

Additional Thoughts

Julio Arce defeats Herbert Burns via second-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): Without trying to be overly mean, Burns doesn’t appear to be a UFC level fighter anymore. He really only brought one weapon to the table: the overhand right into single leg shot. When Arce shut that down and prevent the Brazilian from utilizing his expert jiu-jitsu, Burns fell apart and was stopped. Consequently, he’s now lost three in a row.
Dennis Buzukja defeats Connor Matthews via third-round knockout: Having lost his first two UFC bouts, Buzukja’s back was to the wall here. The 26-year-old Featherweight showed off some talent here though! His combinations were tight, and he managed distance pretty well throughout the fight. He was thoroughly in control when his left hook pierced the guard in the third, flooring Matthews. A flurry of hammerfists sealed the deal!
Ibo Aslan defeats Anton Turkalj via third-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): A fun “Prelim” bout with a backstory! Back in 2020, Turkalj handed Aslan his sole professional defeat. Both men were motivated in this rematch, wasting little time in trading hard shots. This time around, hwoever, Aslan’s cardio held up just fine! When Turkalj tried to force the issue in the third, he ran into a simply massive overhand that immediately ended the contest.
Jacob Malkoun defeats Andre Petroski via second-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): Malkoun looked quite good here! He’s known for his chain wrestling and excellent top control, but the story of this fight was really the jab. Petroski was loading up on big punches and kicks, but Malkoun consistently interrupted him with fast and straight shots. The wrestling match up was more competitive, but Petroski suddenly stunned himself shooting in the second, bringing about a sudden end to the fight.

For complete Atlantic City results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.