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Another UFC Fight Night has passed us by and with it came the third consecutive 185-pound main event. Brendan Fitzgerald, Michael Bisping and Dominick Cruz called the action from the commentary tables and Bruce Buffer provided enthusiastic introductions that never fail to get us hyped for the action inside the octagon.
Once again held at the UFC Apex, fans were treated to 10 matchups, featuring exciting debutants, prospects looking to make a name for themselves, contenders looking to edge closer to a title shot and some of the promotion's best veterans.
This weekend represented another card with a great variety of top names and future stars.
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Despite the change to the original headliner and some fight cancelations, including a last-minute postponement of the scheduled co-main between Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose, we were still treated to a solid card with some great action and an entertaining five-round main event. With that said, here are the positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 24.
Positive - A fight two years in the making finally happened
Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum finally faced each other in a UFC main event at the second time of asking. The pair were scheduled to headline UFC 234 two years ago, but the Australian was forced to pull out of his title defense on the day of the fight after suffering a hernia. Timing doesn’t get much worse than that.
On Saturday, the two middleweight mainstays finally stood opposite each other inside the octagon. Although April's second headliner was originally set to be between Whittaker and Brazilian Paulo Costa, Gastelum was always going to be a worthy replacement.
Given the build-up this matchup had in 2019 and the disappointment from fans when it was canceled, it seems right that we finally got to see it. It might not have had the same level of hype that it had a few years ago when Whittaker was the champ, but ticking it off our middleweight bucket list was long overdue.
The fight certainly didn't disappoint. As is often the case with Whittaker, we were treated to a highly technical and enthralling MMA fight. Both men threw with everything they had and it made for one of the best main events in recent memory.
Whittaker looked sensational and secured a unanimous decision win. Everything he threw was set up well and he came out best in virtually every exchange. Dominick Cruz said it best, the Australian was a touch quicker and landed two or three shots for every one shot Gastelum was able to connect with.
Whittaker vs. Adesanya 2 has to be next.
Positive - Tony Gravely set the tone
After the opening fight of the card, Tony Gravely said he wanted to show everyone how dangerous he is. His first finish in the UFC did that and so much more.
The bantamweight division is one of the most exciting weight classes in the UFC and the first action of UFC Vegas 24 did nothing to harm that reputation. Despite lasting less than two-and-a-half rounds, the fight between Tony Gravely and Anthony Birchak had everything.
With hard shots, fast grappling, impressive transitions, a tight submission hold and a knockout, the two 135lbers ticked most boxes in this one.
Starting the night in that fashion was a clear positive.
Positive - Submission service resumed for Gerald Meerschaert
Gerald Meerschaert has quite the incredible winning record. 'GM3' boasts 32 victories, 30 finishes and 24 submissions in MMA. At UFC Vegas 24, Bartosz Fabinski became the latest name attached to Meerschaert's remarkable finishing record.
The Pole came out of the blocks quick, but it took Meerschaert just minutes to engineer the fight into a position in which he had a firm advantage.
Surpassing Demian Maia to hold the record for most submission victories in the UFC middleweight division, Meerschaert ended the fight with a tight guillotine choke after just two minutes.
After tough knockout losses to Ian Heinisch and Khamzat Chimaev in 2020, it was good to see 'GM3' back doing what he does best.
Positive - Penne and Godinez set the strawweight stage for UFC 261
At UFC 261 next week, Zhang Weili will defend her UFC strawweight title against Rose Namajunas, in what is one of the most anticipated fights the women's roster has seen. At UFC Vegas 24, Jessica Penna and Lupita Godinez reminded us how exciting the 115-pound weight class can be.
In a grueling 15-minute fight, the pair exchanged hard blows and grappled competitively right up to the final horn.
In an entertaining battle between a UFC debutant and a strawweight returning to the octagon after four years away, it was the latter that secured the split decision victory.
After her troubles with USADA, it was good to see Penne's joy after her first win in seven years.
Positive - Cortez and Kish set the flyweight stage for UFC 261
On the main card, Tracy Cortez and Justine Kish followed in the footsteps of Jessica Penne and Lupita Godinez. In this instance, the pair set the flyweight stage for Valentina Shevchenko's title defense against Jessica Andrade at UFC 261.
Carrying on the momentum from the women's strawweight bout earlier in the night, Cortez and Kish provided an entertaining and competitive 15 minutes of fighting.
Cortez showed she not only possesses impressive wrestling, but boasts an improved striking game to go alongside it.
After controlling Kish on the ground and throwing hard shots in a competitive battle on the feet, Cortez secured a split decision win and established herself as a legitimate contender in the flyweight division.
It stands to reason Tracy Cortez will have a close eye on Shevchenko's upcoming defense.
Negative - The canceled co-main
It was never a good sign when Brendan Fitzgerald opened the night by saying he had some "unfortunate news to break." There was a short moment of panic when I thought Whittaker versus Gastelum was going to be canceled on the day of the fight for the second time.
Fortunately, the main event remained intact but it was the co-main that bit the dust just hours before Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose were set to settle their bad blood inside the octagon.
The face-off was intense and the matchup had all the hallmarks of being an absolute lightweight war. The bout was crucial for both men, with Stephens on the worst run of his career and Klose coming off a loss to Beneil Dariush.
Ultimately, Stephens can have no complaints. He brought this on himself. Months of training and preparations for both men went out of the window because 'Lil Heathen' couldn't control himself during their face-off.
Here's hoping this matchup gets rearranged for a later date when Klose has made a full recovery. But starting the show with that announcement was certainly one of the night's negatives.
Negative - The disappointing ending to Alexandr Romanov vs. Juan Espino
It's felt like a while since we've had to discuss an illegal strike ending a fight. I say a while, but in reality it's only a month, but we'll take what we can get at this point...
Luckily for us, Juan Espino's knee to the groin of Alexandr Romanov has reminded us what it's like to have a great matchup cut short in a frustrating manner.
On paper, the battle between the two heavyweight behemoths was one of the most exciting bouts on the card. Perhaps not delivering to quite the level many had expected, the pair's strength and grappling skills ended up almost canceling each other out.
Nevertheless, it was an intriguing contest and seeing the fight cut short after a low blow was a real negative part of the night.
With the strike deemed unintentional by referee Mark Smith, the bout still went to the scorecards and Romanov took home the technical split decision win. Not to doubt the pain Romanov was in, but it always concerns me when a fighter asks what will happen if they say they can't continue...
