The eyes of the combat world were locked in on Abu Dhabi, as UFC 321 and its two title fights went down at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
It was this year's edition of the UFC's annual excursion to Abu Dhabi for a late October pay-per-view (albeit with the original one in 2019 happening in September). The UFC was also at the Etihad Arena earlier this year for a Fight Night card that was headlined by Reinier de Ridder defeating Robert Whittaker.
The main event saw Tom Aspinall defend the UFC heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane. Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 to become interim heavyweight champion, and he retained the interim gold against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. Aspinall was then promoted to undisputed champion following Jon Jones' brief retirement in June. Gane, a former interim champion and two-time former title challenger, earned this title shot off a controversial decision over Alexander Volkov at UFC 310.
The co-main event saw the vacant UFC women's strawweight title on the line as Virna Jandiroba faced Mackenzie Dern. This was a rematch from UFC 256, where Dern earned a decision win over Jandiroba. Since then, Jandiroba had won six of seven, including five in a row, while Dern entered this fight with three wins in her last five fights.
Who delivered in Abu Dhabi? Who didn't? Let's find out as we go through the hits and misses of UFC 321!
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I know we in the MMA community are entertained by Chris Barnett, and he's had his victories in the Octagon. But when the heavyweight division is as weak as it is in the UFC, watching a performance like Barnett delivered on this card is not only frustrating; it's de-motivating.
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Abdelwahab completely dominated this fight, landing multiple takedowns and smothering Barnett with his wrestling. In fact, the best offense that Barnett committed in this fight was his unintentional mooning of the crowd and home audience.
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Barnett has lost three of his last four and is now 2-4 in the UFC. If he gets another opportunity somehow after that, his Octagon tenure is for sure going to be at stake.
In a sky full of stormy clouds that is the heavyweight division of the UFC, Valter Walker presents a ray of sunshine. In fact, he was by far the best heavyweight performer of the night, spoiling the UFC debut of Louie Sutherland.
It only took Walker about a minute to score a takedown on Sutherland. About 30 seconds later, and Walker had secured another first-round heel hook submission win. He becomes the first UFC fighter to have four consecutive victories in such a fashion, and he's only the second UFC fighter with four heel hook victories in the Octagon period.
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Walker may be toward the lower end of the UFC's heavyweight rankings, but looking around the division, he might present the biggest threat to Tom Aspinall that isn't named Ciryl Gane.
L'udovit Klein and Mateusz Rebecki got their flowers for the show they put on at UFC 321, earning the event's Fight of the Night honors. Klein, however, was the one who came away with his hand raised in a majority decision victory.
Rebecki tried to bring his power from the get-go, showing some strong striking. But it was Klein who appeared to be in control for the first two rounds, displaying good footwork while being able to land on Rebecki, busting him open at one point. Klein would get busted up himself, however, as Rebecki pressured Klein during the third round. Klein would end up hurting his ankle, and Rebecki would take the fight to the ground, delivering some hard-hitting ground shots that could have ended the fight at any moment.
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One judge scored the bout a draw, but Klein got the nod on the other two cards. Nevertheless, it was a fight that shined the brightest on this day, and both men deserved to take a bow.
Quillan Salkilld left the entire MMA community's jaws on the floor with the way he put away Nasrat Haqparast.
Haqparast attempted to take charge early, coming forward with his left hand while stopping Salkilld's takedown attempts. But all it took was one perfectly-time head kick early in the first round to drop Haqparast out cold, twitching on the canvas and leaving him unconscious for several minutes.
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Salkilld is now 3-0 in his UFC debut year, and his track record also includes a 19-second finish in his Octagon debut. Salkilld may be one of, if not the, top Octagon rookies for 2025. Here's hoping his 2026 continues his upward momentum and trajectory.
One concern people had about Azamat Murzakanov entering his UFC 321 bout with Aleksandar Rakic was that Rakic last three losses had all come against people who had been or went on to become UFC light heavyweight champion. Murzakanov had not faced competition like that before. But like what he did to Rakic, Murzakanov put those concerns to bed.
Rakic brought pressure early, courtesy of his striking and a pair of takedown attempts. Murzakanov was able to fend off those takedowns, however, before connecting on a right hand that put Rakic away.
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Murzakanov, now 16-0, is surely going to find himself just outside the top five in the UFC's light heavyweight division. And one of those names in the top five should surely be who Murzakanov faces next.
The question seemed to be who among Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida was going to be next in line for the UFC heavyweight championship. Now the questions seem to be "Why bother?" and "Was this all for nothing?"
Takedowns and grappling was the gameplan for Almeida, and while he dominated with that in the second round. The first round, however, saw Volkov reverse the position and land strong strikes. The striking also was present in the third round especially, and two of the judges felt Volkov's strikes were more effective than Almeida's grappling, giving him the win.
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The fight, however, just saw too simple and not exciting. Neither man really displayed any argument that they'd give much a fight to the UFC heavyweight champion. And then to add insult, the main event's result means Volkov may not get a title shot anytime soon.
After coming up a round shy of defeating Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship, Umar Nurmagomedov pulled off a strong performance in a win over Mario Bautista.
Nurmagomedov's grappling was the key to his victory, but it didn't come without Bautista disrupting momentum. In fact, Bautista appeared to have a tight toe hold in on Nurmagomedov during the first round that he had to work his way out of. Bautista also landed a strong knee during the second round, but Nurmagomedov ultimately got a body triangle in on him on the ground and nearly got a choke.
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Nurmagomedov then put things away with more grappling and control in the final round to sweep the judges' scorecards.
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This is one of those fights where both come away with something -- Nurmagomedov made a case for the Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 winner, and Bautista showed he is a legit exciting contender in a stacked 135-pound division.
Din Thomas was recently on the record calling Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern the most "insignificant" title fight in UFC history. And while some may feel his comments weren't warranted, the fight itself ultimately didn't feel like it had the excitement.
Dern and Jandiroba traded control between grappling and striking exchanges. Jandiroba seemed to get off to a strong start with her pressure and takedowns. Dern, however, appeared comfortable from her back and managed to keep things even with the grappling. Dern's improved striking ultimately helped lead her to the decision victory.
The fight was competitive but didn't have the hard-hitting, intense nature you might feel with a title fight. Hopefully for Dern, however, this is the start of a new run that can gain aura over time. And perhaps Tatiana Suarez or Yan Xiaonan can make for an interesting first title defense.
While the fight wasn't the greatest title bout in UFC history, I do want to give a tip of the cap to Dern.
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There was plenty of talk about Dern early in her career, as the jiu-jitsu world champion made her UFC debut as a 5-0 fighter off a stint in the LFA. Things started off well for her between 2016 and 2020, but a loss to Marina Rodriguez in late 2021 brought about concern that her momentum had stalled. And this was after already drawing concern early in her career with weight misses.
But ever since aligning herself with Jason Parillo, Dern's striking has continued to get better over time. She has turned into a well-rounded fighter, and she has found success to the point where she now has fulfilled a destiny she set for herself. Well done, Mackenzie!
So much for the Tom Aspinall era beginning with a bang. It instead begins with a small pop that coincides with the way he was named champion.
Or should I say that it begins with an eye poke? Because a double eye poke left Aspinall unable to continue, resulting in the first UFC title fight main event on pay-per-view that ends in an immediate no contest (Cormier vs. Jones 2 was overturned to one months after the fact).
Gane's striking appeared to be giving him success, even busting up Aspinall around his mouth. Things were looking great for him until the eye pokes, and now all momentum for Aspinall is somehow stalled even further. This will get run back, but it's a shame that this is how the night ends.
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And after the way this match played out, combined with the other heavyweight fights on the night, Jon Jones is the biggest winner. It stinks to admit -- but heavyweight is nothing without him. And with Alex Pereira desiring a move up in weight, perhaps Jones vs. Pereira is on the table again...and maybe for the White House card that Dana White didn't want Jones on?
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