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Last night (Sat., Feb. 3, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 85. The first of an 11-week run of continuous UFC events didn’t exactly set the bar high, but at this point, fans should know what to expect of “Fight Night” events in the Apex. Ranked Middleweights in the main event held at least a bit of intrigue given the wide open nature of the division, and there were a couple under-the-radar scraps on the card as well.

The lineup was never going to blow anyone’s mind, but all the same, let’s take a look at UFC Vegas 85’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A Very Middleweight Main Event

If someone has a lot of spare time on their hands, go through Imavov vs. Dolidze and edit out all the clinch stalling along the fence. If you exclude those minutes, the fight was actually quite fun!

Unfortunately, there was so. much. clinching. I don’t blame Dolidze, who was getting lit up on the feet in almost every exchange. He took a ridiculous amount of hard shots and never stopped trying to win — the man is seriously tough. Clinching was his only hope in the face of nasty right hands, so that makes sense.

Imavov though? He clinched himself to a decision win that definitely could’ve been a stoppage, regardless of his opponent’s toughness. He was outclassing Dolidze on the feet, but fear of fatigue, actual fatigue, or some saw him repeatedly allow the action to stall in close quarters.

Imavov is obviously a fighter of serious talent, but it feels like activity and cardio remain an issue. Until that issue is figured out, Imavov isn’t going to break into the elite ranks.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Moicano Gets The Job Done

I won’t pretend Renato Moicano vs. Drew Dober was an amazing fight, but nor was it a terrible one. There were some quality moments of trading, as well as a nice reversal of momentum and lateral drop courtesy of Dober late in the second round that left Moicano leaking all over the place.

Large portions of the fight, however, took place with Moicano controlling position in half guard. Not exactly highlight reel stuff, but I do feel obliged to point out that Moicano’s technical positioning was excellent. He was smashing Dober’s face into the floor with heavy shoulder pressure, a strategy that both pinned Dober to the canvas and sapped at his gas tank.

Moicano was always working to advance into mount, but Dober did well to recover guard just as he nearly slipped free. Both guys wanted the finish and canceled the other out to an extent — it happens!

They’re still, on the whole, very exciting veterans of this game. An okay fight can be excused.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Rude Boy Gets Vicious

For a couple minutes, I was a little worried for Randy Brown. Muslim Salikhov is obviously an excellent striker, and the Russian veteran was controlling the early exchanges. Notably, he was kicking the lead leg with a worrying consistency, and it’s always a problem when the taller, longer man is getting out-kicked.

Then, a piston of a 1-2 ended the fight in an instant.

We saw a bad example of “tall man defense” earlier in the evening with Gilbert Urbina vs. Charles Radtke (more on that below), but “Rude Boy” doesn’t fall into that category. He’s not a perfect fighter, but Brown has always been able to work off the jab and slip his head far better than the average lanky MMA fighter. This time, he let his right hand follow the jab, and the result was a perfect knockdown that really came out of nowhere.

The Jamaican-American talent has now won six of his last seven, only coming up short opposite fast-rising prospect Jack Della Maddalena. Perhaps its time for a number next to his name?

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

BOOM!

I cannot say I saw that one coming.

Despite being billed as the wrestler against the striker, Radtke picked apart Urbina and stopped him with a pair of nasty left hook knockdowns. Aside from the finish itself, the most notable part of the fight was how badly Radtke jabbed up his opponent despite a severe height and reach disadvantage. Urbina couldn’t get much going with his lead hand, relying more on snappy kicks that didn’t deter Radtke in the least.

Radtke, to his credit, pressured well, pumped his lead shoulder actively, and then actually started snapping Urbina’s head back. That’s a real bad sign for the taller striker, and sure enough, Radtke wasted little time to begin building combinations and unloading power all over his opponent’s grill for his second UFC victory.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A Strawweight Meatball

Molly McCann made good on her 115-pound debut, picking up an early submission win over Diana Belbita, who she beat by decision back in 2019. The division suits her. “Meatball” is a great nickname, but a slightly leaner physique means that McCann doesn’t have to face such a significant height and reach disadvantage in all her fights.

In this bout, McCann put on a really well-rounded performance. She found her way to the inside well, landing elbows and attacking in combination. When the two clinched up, McCann’s strength advantage was clear, as she was twice able to force her foe to the floor from the clinch. The ladder takedown landed her directly into mount, and McCann got violent.

An immediate flurry of elbows opened up a high mount, allowing McCann to line up an armbar submission before she even sat back. She cranked hard, leaving Belbita screaming in pain as she hurriedly tapped.

Quite a Flyweight showcase!

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Additional Thoughts

• Themba Gorimbo defeats Pete Rodriguez via first-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): The overhand right and takedown are a pairing like peanut butter and chocolate. Gorimbo showed the takedown right away, looked low, then crashed forward with an overhand that was intended to set up a double leg. Instead, it briefly knocked out Rodriguez, and an immediate swarm of follow up shots prevented him from waking up in time to defends.
• Luana Carolina defeats Julija Stoliarenko via third-round knockout: This one has a considerable asterisk next to it given Carolina’s weight miss. She certainly looked like the stronger woman, edging the first two rounds and holding an edge in stamina in the third. Stoliarenko had a solid triangle choke setup in the third, but the attempt left her even more winded and possibly hurt her ankle as well. Carolina poured it on, and the ref intervened just before the final bell.

For complete UFC Vegas 85: “Dolidze vs. Imavov” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Nassourdine Imavov and Roman Dolidze went five rounds after a near-finish in the first frame of their UFC Vegas 85 headliner, and judges delivered some interesting scores in the middleweight headliner on Saturday night at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Imavov was deducted a point in the fourth round for head-kicking Dolidze when the latter was considered grounded, and that deduction cost him what appeared to be a comfortable win on one judges’ scorecard.

Below is the official scorecard sheet for the UFC Vegas 85 headliner.

Veteran officials Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Ron McCarthy submitted the same scores only on two rounds – Round 3 and Round 5, which they awarded to Imavov via 10-9 scores. The rest, they were all over the board, resulting in scores of 49-45, 48-46 from Cleary and D’Amato that overruled a 47-47 draw scored by McCarthy.

Cleary scored every round for Imavov and gave the Russian fighter a 10-8 score in the first round, while D’Amato and McCarthy gave Imavov Rounds 1, 3 and 5 via 10-9 scores.

McCarthy’s draw resulted from two 10-9 scores awarded to Dolidze in Round 2 and Round 4, and with the point deduction in Round 4, a 47-47 was the final tally.

Imavov got back to the winner’s circle after an inadvertent clash of heads cost him a win over Chris Curtis at UFC 289, while Dolidze dropped his second straight fight after a decision loss to Marvin Vettori at UFC 286.

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Middleweight standout Chris Curtis was left fuming after his teammate, Roman Dolidze, was on the wrong side of a series of illegal blows in his UFC Vegas 85 headliner with Nassourdine Imavov.

While the bout between Dolidze and Imavov was largely lackluster, things began to heat up in the fourth round when Imavov delivered a brutal head kick to Dolidze. The only problem was that Dolidze had his hand planted on the mat establishing him as a downed fighter.

Dolidze’s corner — which included Curtis — erupted in protest. Taking exception to their comments, Imavov nearly started a cageside brawl before referee Herb Deal pulled him back, threatening to disqualify him if the outburst continued.

Once the bickering stopped and Dolidze had some time to recover, the fight was restarted without issue. In the end, Nassourdine Imavov went on to win the bout via majority decision, but it’s safe to say the feud between Imavov and ‘The Action Man’ is far from over.

Shortly after the contest, Curtis took a dig at Imavov on X, noting all the infractions he claims to have witnessed during the heated main event.

Imavov Wants to Settle Things with Chris Curtis Behind Closed Doors

The rivalry between Chris Curtis and the ‘Russian Sniper’ goes back to their June 2023 clash at UFC 289. The bout was called off in the second round and declared a no-contest after an accidental clash of heads.

During his appearance at the post-fight press conference on Saturday, Imavov offered Curtis an opportunity to settle things with a “real sparring session” at Xtreme Couture. “I’m going to destroy him as I did in the cage,” Imavov added.

LowKickMMA.com

The first UFC event of four in February kicked off on Saturday with UFC Vegas 85 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.  Following the event, the big winners will field questions from the media during the post-fight press conference.  

The event was headlined by a middleweight clash between eighth-ranked Roman Dolidze and 11th-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.  

UFC Vegas 85 Post-Fight Press Conference

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Nassourdine Imavov ended UFC Vegas 85 with a wacky main event victory over Roman Dolidze, and Renato Moicano returned from a long layoff to get his hand raised — and a microphone in his face — in the co-main event against Drew Dober. What were the biggest takeaways from those two performances?

Following the UFC’s most recent Fight Night event on Saturday at the APEX, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Eric Jackman, and Alexander K. Lee react to Imavov’s headlining win, his verbal run-ins with Chris Curtis during and after the fight, the scoring, the illegal knee, and where he goes from his victory in 17 months.

Additionally, they’ll discuss Moicano’s decision victory and post-fight interview, Natalia Silva and Molly McCann’s victories, other standout moments from the card, and more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 85 post-fight show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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