5 important things we learned from UFC Vegas 31: Islam Makhachev vs Thiago Moises

#2 'Cupcake' Miesha Tate is back in business

Miesha Tate at UFC Vegas 31: Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises [Photo credit: @ufc on Twitter]

The octagon is an unforgiving place, especially for those who spend a long time away from it. But at UFC Vegas 31, Miesha Tate achieved what only a handful of fighters have done. She overcame ring rust and looked sharp as ever against Marion Reneau in the co-main event.

The former UFC women's bantamweight champion had not fought since 2016. On her way out, Tate suffered a lopsided loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205. At the time, it appeared that Tate had little left in the tank, like most veterans who have overstayed their welcome.

But that wasn't the case at all. As it turns out, all Tate needed was a lengthy time off to recover and rejuvenate. During her first UFC stint, 'Cupcake' had just one stoppage win and that came by submission. Against Reneau at UFC Vegas 31, she displayed a different dimension to her game and ultimately scored the TKO win via ground strikes.

However, UFC Vegas 31 is not an ideal fight to measure where Tate stacks up in the women's bantamweight division. Reneau, of course, is well past her prime, but that's not to say that Tate's performance wasn't impressive.

To learn how good Tate is at this point of her career, we have to see her compete against formidable contenders – the likes of Yana Kunitskaya and Julianna Pena, perhaps. The good news is: 'Cupcake' seems open to taking on anyone.

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#1 Islam Makhachev is for real

UFC Fight Night: Islam Makhachev vs Thiago Moises

Islam Makhachev put on a masterful beatdown of Thiago Moises in the main event of UFC Vegas 31. It's hard to ignore the similarities between him and former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As expected, the 29-year-old Dagestani manhandled his opponent with relative ease. He never looked like he was in any sort of trouble and he was always in control. Ultimately, Islam Makhachev scored a submission win against a more-than-competent Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner.

But did we really learn anything new about Islam Makhachev at UFC Vegas 31? Probably not. We were already aware that he's capable of beating anybody in the UFC lightweight division, and we already knew that he's probably a future champ.

If anything, the biggest takeaway from Saturday night's event is that it's probably a wise decision to avoid Islam Makhachev at all costs if you're a 155-pounder on the UFC roster. But the Russian sent a message to the likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler at UFC Vegas 31:

“You can run but you can’t hide! I’m coming.”