The Scorecard | UFC Seattle

The man with the record for longest walkout in UFC history is now sneaking up on the longest active knockout streak with his fourth straight: a first-round TKO of Melsik Baghdasaryan. That’s 12 in a row for the pride of Brazil’s Fighting Nerds squad if you’re keeping score at home, and the way he colors his ferocity with fun and light-heartedness has quickly made him appointment viewing. There’s a certain humanity to Silva’s game, too. Despite everyone—including Baghdasaryan—knowing the fight was over after the strike, the referee signaled that the fight was still going. Silva dove in, and instead of ending it with dangerous strikes to the head, he instead opted for body shots until Kevin MacDonald halted the action. It was a crazy sequence that was still handled with true sportsmanship. He called out Bryce Mitchell following the win, and few, if any, would complain about that matchup.

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2 - Anthony Hernandez

If you had asked any prognosticator to game out the dark horses in the UFC’s middleweight division, say, three years ago, few would have told you the top ten should be looking over their shoulders for Anthony Hernandez. Now 8-2 under the UFC banner and riding a seven fight win streak, he’s about to find himself rubbing shoulders with the big dogs after his second defeat of Brendan Allen in Seattle’s co-main event. The elite level grappling from both sides didn’t allow either man to make huge gains over the course of the full three rounds, but there was no doubt who was more dogged and more determined. “There were moments for both of us,” he would say backstage, “but I was tougher between the ears this time.” At every turn, “Fluffy” continues to surprise and impress, and it’s a true thrill to imagine who he’ll surprise next.

3 – Ricky Simon

It had been almost a decade since Ricky Simon had fought in his home state of Washington, and he wanted to make sure he gave the legions in the stands screaming his name and screaming “USA!” that he gave them something to remember, and boy did he. At 3:58 of the very first round, he sent hot prospect Javid Basharat to the canvas with a stout right hand. It halted an uncharacteristic three-fight skid in the best possible way. "I'm not a very emotional guy, I'm pretty stoic," he would say backstage. "But it was hard not to get a little emotional."

4 – Austin Vanderford

Getting the call mere days earlier on short notice, Austin Vanderford made his long-awaited UFC debut in emphatic fashion. The Portland, OR native did the Pacific Northwest proud with his dramatic TKO victory of Nikolay Veretennikov. The husband of former UFC star and current Power Slap star Paige VanZant dominated the nine or so minutes the fight lasted with seven minutes of control time before claiming the victory. "I feel like I've belonged here for a long time,” he said. “By God's grace, I'm here now." It sure seemed like it.

5 – Song Yadong

After a complete slate of pure action the entire evening, everyone found the doctor’s stoppage of the main event a little anti-climactic, none more than Song Yadong, who had rendered Henry Cejudo unable to continue with an accidental eye poke. Ever the sportsman, Song immediately offered a rematch to conclude the fight as it was intended. But should a future rematch look anything like the original, things are looking great for the Chinese bantamweight star, who continues to level up fight after fight. Still only 27 years old despite having nearly 30 pro fights, his successes are well-documented. What was new about his UFC Seattle main event was a level of calm, patience and composure that only the best in the game exude. For those wondering if he really has the championship mettle, it sure looked like it against the former double champ this evening.