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

Last night (Sat., Sept. 23, 2023), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 79. The promotion’s first time back in the Apex in quite some time brought with it a stellar Lightweight main event, pitting knockout artist Rafael Fiziev versus grappling ace Mateusz Gamrot. That match up alone was worth tuning in, but a handful of fun veterans and talented up-and-comers rounded out the evening.

Let’s take a look at UFC Vegas 79’s standout performances and techniques:

A Bellator Moment

Fiziev vs. Gamrot seemed like it was going to be such an awesome fight.

The first round was so interesting. After a slow start, Gamrot landed some solid low kicks and a few hard right hands! His takedowns were immediately threatening! Yet, Fiziev connected hardest in the first five, ripping some body and low kicks, as well as scoring a few punishing punching combinations.

Gamrot finished his first takedown of the fight early in the second, but Fiziev answered with high-level scrambling to return to his feet. Before either man was finished getting his full read on his opponent, Fiziev’s knee suddenly crumbled beneath the weight of his own athleticism. Like Thiago Santos vs. Jon Jones, he tore his knee apart firing a kick.

It happens. MMA is a random and crazy sport. I know a UFC legend who tore his ACL kicking the bag! Unfortunately for Fiziev, it happened on the biggest stage, and now his title dreams are sidelined indefinitely.

Gamrot gets the win, but it’s not like it moves him forward much. Which is a shame, because he was fighting well too!

Mitchell Outwrestles Ige

This was an odd fights for reasons beyond Bryce Mitchell’s bible.

It really feels like Dan Ige could’ve won easily with the most minor of adjustments. He broke Mitchell’s right eye to pieces, clubbing him with massive power shots and denying lots of takedowns. Unfortunately, he just kept head-hunting with wild hooks! Ige couldn’t stop taking massive swings at Mitchell’s head, which allowed Mitchell to wrestle his way back into the fight.

More double jabs, less crazed lunges, and few right hands to the body equal Ige winning clearly.

That strategic issue aside, I don’t want to knock Mitchell. His ability to turn a single takedown into a moment of absolute domination. So many of his shots were stuffed, but whenever one landed, it mattered. He’d instantly advance into mount and start threatening submissions, putting Ige in majorly precarious positions. His masterful top grappling won him the fight!

Specifically, Mitchell’s back take in the third was a beautiful moment. By all rights, Ige had successfully escaped out the back door and should’ve landed on top. Somehow, Mitchell balanced on his own head, got extra flexible, and managed to hook the far wrist to settle back into the best position in the sport.

Incredible.

UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez v Waterson-Gomez

A Silly, Needless Rematch

As pretty much everyone expected, Marina Rodriguez beat the crap out of Michelle Waterson-Gomez. It was never competitive, not for a moment. Really, the rematch never should have been made!

Jourdain Submits Ramos

Charles Jourdain earned a rather nice feather in his cap by catching an arm-in guillotine opposite jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Ramos.

The two traded power kicks early on, but it didn’t take long for the Brazilian to snag a single leg and drag Jourdain to the floor. Right away, Jourdain was sitting up and fishing for the neck. He was hanging onto the choke, and for a moment, it looked like Ramos might counter with the Von Flue submission.

However, Jourdain wisely avoided that hold, switching his hips back-and-forth to engage his guard. He’d use the choke to threaten Ramos, then try to escape to his feet, then go back to the choke when Ramos when to take him back down. Ramos was never able to get comfortable because of the threat of the choke, and eventually, Jourdain was able to lock it up for real and secure his second guillotine choke victory inside the Octagon.

Flight Of The Dirty Bird

Tim Means is awesome.

At 39 years of age, he’s not quite as durable or quick as a few years ago. However, experience has only served to sharpen Means’ considerable Southpaw skill set, which goes far beyond the typical left kick and cross. Against Andre Fialho, Means put on a bonafide showcase of his various techniques.

Early on, the counter punching of Means was on display. He would time Fialho’s rear cross, slipping outside then answered with two or three quick punches. He dug his rear hand to the body, and when Fialho tried to press him along the fence with combinations, Means timed him with a PERFECT knee to send him to the floor.

Fialho answered strong early in the second with some aggressive combination punching, but true to his veteran nature, Means used the clinch to survive then turned it around. Shoving Fialho into the cage, Means turned over punishing elbows and battered the mid-section with knees, breaking Fialho down in short, close-distance bursts of offense.

Finally, a left high kick and some follow up shots floored Fialho for a final time. “The Dirty Bird” may have lost the three fights prior to this one, but this performance demonstrated why missing a Means fight is inexcusable.

Additional Thoughts

Bryan Battle defeats AJ Fletcher via second-round rear naked choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Fletcher started this one strong. Despite a 10-inch reach disadvantage, he won the early kickboxing battle, using a lot of feints and movement to out-kick the taller man. He also dropped him with an elbow in the clinch! Not a bad start for the underdog. His strong start only seemed to motivate Battle to turn it up in the second, however. Right away, Battle pressured his opponent and made him uncomfortable, then he threw him to the floor from the clinch. A slick wrist trap resulted in a back take, and Battle’s size advantage and jiu-jitsu prowess combined for a quick stoppage. Not a shocking outcome, but another solid finish win for the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) champion.
Cody Brundage defeats Jacob Malkoun via first-round disqualification: The first 90 seconds of this fight were awesome. Brundage wrestled his way to top position immediately, but Malkoun countered with some lovely deep half guard into the single leg transitioning. Brundage answered with some cool crackdown counters, but ultimately Malkoun finished the scrambling in top position. He really dominated the next couple minutes and appeared to be en route to a stoppage win until an illegal elbow straight to the back of the head ended the contest early. That’s a tough way to lose (and win) a fight …

For complete UFC Vegas 79: “Fiziev vs. Gamrot” results and play-by-play, click HERE!