Sooo ... About Last Night

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Last night (Sat., Nov. 9, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 100. Despite the round numbers involved, UFC never intended for the 100th warehouse event to be a special show. The original fight card was perfectly typical by modern Apex standards, but then the card was ravaged by injuries. The co-main was canceled twice, and the rest of the card underwent significant adjustments as well. Despite all the upheaval, there still ended up being a solid amount of fun fights and quick finishes throughout the evening.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 100’s best performances and techniques:

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Prates Exceeds The Hype

Carlos Prates was downright clinical in his dissection of Neil Magny. Magny deserves some props for fighting aggressively and blending his combos into clinch work into takedowns, but at no point did the Brazilian Muay Thai expert appear bothered. There was a distinct moment midway through the first where Prates shoved Magny off him, zoned in, and decided to knock out his opponent.

The fight didn’t last another two minutes.

It sure feels like Prates has ungodly power. His glancing blows floored Magny. Even the fight-finishing left hand seemed to just barely touch the temple. Magny has stood in there with plenty of hard-hitters, but it took a prime Santiago Ponzinibbio five rounds to actually put him out cold, let alone face-plant him in the first.

Prates is legit! If Jack Della Maddalena is willing to accept the callout, that’s one of the absolute best match ups possible at 170-pounds.

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RDR Strangles GM3 ... BUT!

Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert was a fun fight. The first round was a very classic instance of two BJJ dudes deciding to slug it out. De Ridder has a seriously awkward style of bizarro Dutch kickboxing, in which his utter lack of any defensive movement saw him touched up for most of the round despite a sharp jab. Out of nowhere, he finished the round by badly flooring “GM3” with a lovely series of strikes, evening up the score.

The rest of the fight was an active grappling match, and it ended with a de Ridder submission. On paper, that sounds like a really strong debut, one that inspires confidence in de Ridder’s chances moving forward. Unfortunately for the former One double champ, I’m not so sure that’s the case.

De Ridder made a lot of errors here. He’s worryingly hittable, and his wrestling doesn’t appear calibrated to the UFC cage. He was attempting bad takedowns and falling off top position too often, and “GM3” actually looked like the faster man in round one. How often does that happen?!?

“The Dutch Knight” will surely put on more fun fights, but I don’t think anyone is expecting a run up the ranks after this debut.

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A Standout Middleweight Debut

Mansur Abdul-Malik might be a name to remember moving forward.

At 27 years of age, Abdul-Malik made his UFC debut last night at just 6-0, having beaten absolutely nobody of note in his regional career. That didn’t stop him from absolutely trucking the fairly experienced and plenty competent Dusko Todorovic, however. The power and athleticism differential was absolutely stark. It was immediately clear that Todorovic could not afford to trade with his opponent at all.

Todorovic couldn’t get anything going. The first time he tried to press forward, he got dropped! He actually scored a decent position while attacking a leg lock, but Abdul-Malik casually stepped over the top and retained top position anyway, ignoring his foe’s good work all while slamming home audible ground strikes. When Todorovic scrambled back to his feet, a massive knee floored him a second time in short fashion.

That’s a hell of a first impression.

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Short-Notice Smackdown

Debuting on short-notice against Elizeu Zaleski is a really tall task.

Ask Benoit Saint-Denis! The Lightweight contender’s introduction to UFC competition was an absolute pummeling at the hands, feet, and knees of Zaleski ... and Saint-Denis has since proven to be quite a talent! The jury is still out on Zachary Scroggin’s ceiling, but his undefeated record disappeared in a flash as soon as Zaleski unleashed a flurry along the fence.

While it’s a hard way to join the UFC roster, at least Scroggin should get a more reasonable match up next. As for Zaleski, he did his job well, and the slugfest vs. Nicholas Dalby should be rebooked ASAP!

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Additional Thoughts

• Charles Radtke defeats Mathew Semelsberger via first-round knockout: This fight lasted just a few exchanges, which is what happens when a sharp boxer with knockout power takes on a fading brawler who only knows how to trade. Radtke walked Semelsberger into the fence immediately and dinged him with his trademark left hook. Immediately, Semelsberger was hurt, and Radtke followed up with combos until Semelsberger fell to the floor, face-first.
• Da’Mon Blackshear defeats Cody Stamann via first-round rear naked choke (highlights): I think this is the best Blackshear has looked in his six-fight UFC career. Historically, Blackshear is best known for his chain wrestling and quality top game, but it was his stand up that really shined here. Stamann entered with his back against the wall and fought with aggression — he looked quite sharp for a moment actually! — but Blackshear’s size advantage was massive. He was looking to time knees from the first bell, and a jump knee knifed through the guard about midway through the round. A right hand follow up floored Stamann, and Blackshear aggressively attacked the neck until a strangle opened up.
• Tresean Gore defeats Antonio Trocoli via first-round guillotine (highlights): Gore’s guillotine is downright nasty. This fight barely lasted a minute, and Gore won just about every second with an early powerful takedown. When Trocoli worked back to his feet and tried to return the favor, Gore showed off great submission chaining by using a standard guillotine threat to adjust to a power guillotine. He forced the strangle standing, his second standing guillotine in a row! Just 4-2 as a professional after the win, Gore has some clear potential if he can compete consistently into 2025.
• Melissa Mullins defeats Klaudia Sygula via second-round knockout (highlights): Sygula entered this fight as a relatively short-notice replacement who hadn’t fought in 14 months. The two threw down at a competitive clip for a couple minutes, but as soon as Mullins scored a takedown, the tone shifted dramatically. She immediately began doing real damage, and when the bell saved Sygula, Mullins went right back to the wrestling in round two to force a stoppage.

For complete UFC Vegas 100 results and play-by-play, click HERE!