UFC Vegas 86 went down last night (Sat., Feb. 10, 2024) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, which saw Jack Hermansson defeat Joe Pyfer via unanimous decision. In the co-main event, Dan Ige scored an emphatic knockout win over Andre Fili (see it again here), while Gregory Rodrigues earned a third-round TKO stoppage win over longtime veteran, Brad Tavares (highlights).
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Biggest Winner: Jack Hermansson
Joe Pyfer may be the new shiny toy everyone is excited about, buy Hermansson showed that the experience a veteran such as himself carries more often than not prevails. Pyfer did have some shining moments, but Hermansson did enough to prevent being a stepping stone for a rising up-and-comer. It was a good bounce back win for “Joker” after getting stopped by Roman Dolidze in his previous outing. The win won’’t necessarily put him in the championship picture, but it’s a good victory nonetheless. Now, Hermansson will try to build off this momentum as he tries to earn his first back-to-back wins inside the Octagon in five years going into his next fight.
Runner Up: Dan Ige
Ige returned to his head-hunting ways by earning a monstrous first-round TKO win over Andre Fili, earning him his fourth performance of the night award. With the win, Ige bounces back nicely from his loss to Bryce Mitchell and reminds the rest of the Featherweight division that he’s still a player to be taken very seriously. “50K” is 3-1 in his last four fights and moves him that much closer to a Top 10 rankings. If Ige can build off this loss and mirror his old winning ways earyl on in his UFC career. the Top 5 is very realistic.
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Biggest Loser: Fernie Garcia
Coming into the event, Garcia was in desperate need of a win after losing his first three fights inside the Octagon. It was a pretty eyebrow-raising skid since prior to his funk he had won five straight, which includes a technical knockout (TKO) win on the Contender Series, which earned him his spot on the UFC roster. But instead of turning things around last night, Garcia dug himself a deeper hole after he was stopped UFC newcomer, Hyder Amil, via first-round TKO. With four straight defeats, there is a pretty good chance that we’ve seen the last of Garcia inside the Octagon.
For complete UFC Vegas 86: “Hermansson vs. Pyfer” results and play-by-play, click HERE.