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UFC Fight Night: Talbott v Saaiman — Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., March 23, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) remain inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 89. At this point, it’s a step up for the average Apex main event to feature a former champion, even if Rose Namajunas did enter having lost her previous two bouts. “Thug Rose” aimed to get her career back on track opposite Amanda Ribas, while the rest of the main card featured a Heavyweight brawl, one struggling Middleweight former prospect, and two skilled young Bantamweight up-and-comers.

By and large, that’s the usual mix for nights such as these. Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 89’s best performances and techniques:

Namajunas Picks Up First Flyweight Win

I don’t believe I’m the only one who found Rose Namajunas vs. Amanda Ribas underwhelming.

Plain and simple, there are changes Namajunas needs to make to her game to compete at Flyweight. Namely, she has to throw more. Her punches are not sitting opponents down like they did at Strawweight. At no point in their shared 25 minutes did she manage to stun Ribas, who is not known for her durability. If the knockout is less realistic, volume becomes king once more.

Really, Namajunas won this bout because she capitalized on Ribas’ mistakes. Bad mistakes. Ribas threw away three separate rounds by attempting crappy headlock throws and landing in bottom position. It’s a bad takedown, and it was really frustrating to watch Ribas continually fall onto her back when she was doing fairly well on the feet.

It was better than the co-main event between Justin Tafa and Karl Williams, but that ain’t saying much!

Gritty Golden Boy

Edmen Shahbazyan scored his first comeback win last night.

We’ve seen Shahbazyan score first-round finishes before, and we’ve seen him fall apart late when faced with fatigue and adversity. Historically, it’s one or the other for “Golden Boy,” who has just a single decision win in 13 fights. When AJ Dobson came out unexpectedly hot and stunned Shahbazyan with punches almost right away, the situation looked really bad for Shahbazyan.

Credit to him, however, Shahbazyan stayed in the fight. He survived some bad spots and worked back to his feet. When the two separated following some wrestling, both were fatigued. Nevertheless, Shahbazyan stepped back into the pocket, stood his ground, and returned the favor by knocking down Dobson.

Was it a good sign that Dobson was able to hurt Shahbazyan? Not really. Still, Shahbazyan hung tough when his reputation said he would fold, and that deserves props.

Talbott Overwhelms Saaiman

Payton Talbott absolutely torched Cameron Saaiman.

Nothing he threw missed. It’s that simple! From very early in the fight, Talbott was throwing power combinations and landing all three of the punches. His right leg scored with brutal consistency, both as a knee and a kick. When the two clinched up, Talbott would land multiple elbows, and his check hook floored Saaiman on two occasions. All the offensive weapons were flowing, and Saaiman couldn’t stand up to the barrage despite his best efforts.

A stellar performance from the undefeated prospect.

Return Of The Moroccan Devil

Back in 2020, Youssef Zalal made a bit of a name for himself by fighting frequently on the early Apex cards. He picked up a few wins and showed some talent, but a losing streak saw him released soon afterward. Classic Apex era stuff: fighters come and go quickly and are replaced by the next wave of prospects.

Few make it back after being released. Zalal proved himself a cut above the rest by going back to the gym, getting better, and then chipping away on the regional scene until able to score another opportunity at the prime time. When given a short-notice chance last night vs. Quarantillo, he absolutely made the most of it.

Zalal was just so sharp. His boxing, intercepting knees, and calf kicks were all timed so well, and he was sitting down on his shots more than in previous appearances. He stunned the ultra durable “Billy Q” badly, evaded his powerful swings with absolute composure, and then dominated the jiu-jitsu black belt on the floor too. He looked in complete control the entire fight, beating Quarantillo more easily than anyone else and becoming the first to finish him.

It was an incredible performance.

Severino Bares Teeth

Igor Severino vs. Andre Lima was such a great fight! Two young and undefeated Brazilian prospects were putting all their skills on display. Both showed off versatile and powerful approaches to kickboxing, and there were some really great wrestling and ground exchanges as well.

Overall, Lima was the sharper and more powerful striker. However, Severino’s raw grit and relentless pace was potentially taking over in the second. We’ll never know for sure though, because Severino threw it all away by viciously biting his opponent. He was promptly disqualified and then released in short fashion.

That’s an absolute d—k move that benefitted nobody.

Additional Thoughts

Fernando Padillo defeats Luis Pajuelo via first-round d’arce choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Padillo really impressed in this win. The fight didn’t last long, but Padillo immediately demonstrated a better understanding and use of his range compared to his previous showing. He picked apart Pajuelo, landing lots of longe distance blows and forcing Pajuelo to get desperate. When the Peruvian really tried to force the action, Padillo punished him with a nasty counter shot then promptly wrapped up the neck to secure a pretty flawless victory.
Julian Erosa defeats Ricardo Ramos via first-round guillotine choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Ramos was in the midst of dropping hammers on Erosa. He stunned his foe with a right hand, scored his signature spinning elbow, and bounced Erosa’s head off the canvas with ground shots. Ramos appeared to be in complete control until the moment Erosa snatched up his neck in response to a double leg, and all of a sudden, the fight was over! “Juicy J” is quite the opportunist, and he needed this win badly.

For complete UFC Vegas 89 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.