5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2

The UFC's first event of 2025 took place last night at the promotion's Apex facility in Las Vegas. In the end, it was an excellent way to begin the year.

UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2 saw a series of excellent finishes, as well as plenty of exciting fights. Will any of these fights be talked about come next month? That's debatable, but for now, 2025 is underway with a bang.

Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2.

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#5. Jacobe Smith made good on his late-notice UFC debut

Every smaller UFC event these days seems to feature a couple of fighters who make a late-notice debut. With most of these fights flying under the radar, often on untelevised preliminary cards, if an unknown debutant wants to make a mark, they've got to do something special.

That's what welterweight Jacobe Smith did last night. The unbeaten prospect - a former NCAA Division I All-American who won on Dana White's Contender Series last October - had about a week to prepare for his bout with Preston Parsons.

Remarkably, though, 'Cobe' absolutely blew his foe away in the first round of a hard-hitting fight. Both men threw down heavily, but it was Smith who landed first, starching Parsons with a sweeping right hand after just over a minute.

At 10-0, Smith is a prospect to watch at welterweight, particularly with his powerful wrestling background. Whether he'll make it to the top remains to be seen, but this was a great way for him to start his UFC career.

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#4. Should referee Mark Smith have stopped Roman Kopylov vs. Chris Curtis?

Last night's 'Fight of the Night' bonus went to middleweights Roman Kopylov and Chris Curtis. The two men put on a hell of a brawl that almost went the distance, with both fighters landing some big shots throughout.

Unfortunately, the fight was also controversial. The only reason the fight didn't go to the judges was because of a very questionable stoppage from referee Mark Smith with literally a second to go.

Smith stepped in when a clean head kick from Kopylov dropped Curtis to the ground. However, 'Action Man' wasn't unconscious, and appeared to be getting up as Smith called the fight off.

More to the point, given the time the kick landed, Kopylov almost certainly wouldn't have been able to follow up anyway. Curtis should've been allowed to stand and the fight should've been able to end with the final buzzer.

Would 'Action Man' have won had the bout gone to the judges? It's hard to say, as the first two rounds were close and Kopylov probably edged the third.

Given that Kopylov was bloodied badly, though, there's a chance Curtis could've taken the first two rounds and would've won a decision.

Based on that, 'Action Man' can probably feel aggrieved this morning, and given the quality of the fight, the best thing the UFC could do might be to book an immediate rematch.

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#3. Cesar Almeida scored an early contender for knockout of the year

Given that last night's event was the first of the year, and that 2025 is only 12 days old, it seems insane to discuss the 'Knockout of the Year' already. However, it feels likely that come December, fans will still be discussing Cesar Almeida's stunning finish of Abdul Razak Alhassan in their middleweight clash.

The former high-level kickboxer landed a coffin nail left hand that left Alhassan unconscious way before he hit the ground. Once he did, a truly scary scene ensued as it took 'Judo Thunder' some time to come around.

Almeida, in ruthless fashion, didn't seem to care. 'Cesinha' celebrated his win pretty wildly, and it was understandable.

Prior to the knockout, Almeida had been clearly losing the fight, as Alhassan dropped him and also punished him with some shots on the ground. In the end, though, it didn't matter.

The Brazilian has the striking ability to deal with anyone as long as they take the risk of fighting his wheelhouse, which Alhassan did.

It's unlikely that 'Cesinha' will reach the top of the UFC like his contemporary Alex Pereira, but he almost certainly guaranteed himself some more showcase fights with this finish.

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#2. Santiago Ponzinibbio's comeback was insane

Not only did last night's show produce a ridiculously early contender for 'Knockout of the Year', but it may have also produced a contender for 'Comeback of the Year', too.

Argentine veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio seemed miles behind opponent Carlston Harris going into the third round of their welterweight tilt. If anything, he'd done well to survive that far.

Harris destroyed him in the first round, stunning him on multiple occasions and knocking him down twice. The fact that Ponzinibbio didn't go out answered any lingering questions about his durability, but when Harris edged the second round too, it looked like the Argentine was on his way to defeat.

Instead, he somehow roared back in the third round, and as the stanza went on, he began to connect. 'Mocambique' found himself being knocked all around the octagon by 'Gente Boa', who didn't let up.

Unfortunately, the shine was taken off Ponzinibbio's comeback slightly by ref Kerry Hatley. He stepped in with Harris still standing, attempting to fight back after being knocked down.

Whether Hatley was right to call off the fight was debatable, but either way, Ponzinibbio showed he's still got plenty to offer at the UFC level, and this was a hell of a comeback.

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#1. Mackenzie Dern may have produced the best performance of her UFC career

In her first fight with Amanda Ribas, back in Oct. 2019, the limitations of Mackenzie Dern were laid bare.

The expert grappler was unable to take Ribas down to impose her will, she couldn't get anything going from the bottom on the ground, and her striking lagged behind the skills of her Brazilian foe.

Just over five years later, though, Dern showed that she's come a long way since then. She was able to defeat Ribas, finishing her in the third round of what was arguably her best showing to date.

She showed poise in her striking in the first round and even used it to set up a successful takedown. And with Ribas willing to go to the ground with her in the second and third rounds, Dern was eventually able to reverse into the top position in the third round, lock up an armbar, and secure the tap.

Given that she's been in the UFC since 2018, it's easy to forget that Dern is still a relatively young fighter. Sure, she's 31, but she didn't have a huge amount of experience before joining the UFC, with just five fights at that stage.

Therefore, it's probably fair to say that she's still improving, and based on this showing, she's now really beginning to hit her stride.

This was undoubtedly the best showing of last night all told, and it points towards Dern becoming a title contender at 115 pounds this year.