Main Card Results | UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane

Gane looked sharp out of the gates, working behind a sharp jab that left Aspinall with a bloody nose. The champion had his moments as well, but late in the opening round, Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in the eye. The action was paused, and it was clear immediately that the champion was not in good shape, with the fight being waved off and declared a no contest.

This was not how anyone wanted this fight, and it’s disappointing for both men, as Aspinall has been out of action for some time awaiting this moment, and Gane was clearly having quality success to start. Hopefully Aspinall is able to heal up without issue and we get the opportunity to see these two back across from one another relatively soon.

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Unlike their first encounter five years ago, the standout grapplers did spend time on the canvas in their championship rematch, but once again, the deciding moments of this contest came on the feet, with Dern consistently landing the more individually impactful blows across multiple rounds. Jandiroba had success hitting takedowns, but failed to advance positions, do much damage or chase submissions, with Dern doing well to remain active off her back.

They went the distance, giving the pair eight full rounds together inside the Octagon overall, and when the judges’ scorecards were collected and tallied, it was Dern that came out ahead. A decade after registering the biggest victory of her Brazilian jiu jitsu career in Abu Dhabi, the 32-year-old replicated the act at UFC 321, claiming the vacant strawweight title with a hard-fought victory over an equally tough Jandiroba in Saturday’s penultimate bout.

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Nurmagomedov controlled the opening frame with his grappling, though Bautista did well to chase a toehold early and force the recent title challenger to work while not taking any real damage. The streaking Bautista opened the second by dropping Nurmagomedov with a beautiful knee, though his Russian foe recovered and rallied in the back half of the frame. In the third, Bautista tried to press the action, only to get stuck working out of grappling entanglements and defending.

All three judges rightfully scored the fight for Nurmagomedov, who turned in an impressive bounce-back performance after falling short against Merab Dvalishvili at the start of the year. While Bautista’s winning streak is no more, the MMA Lab product showed just how legit he is by pushing Nurmagomedov as much as anyone before him and should finally get the respect he’s deserved for some time.

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Almeida was able to take Volkov down multiple times, with the Russian working to his feet a couple times and referee Marc Goddard standing them up when the “Malhadinho” wasn’t active enough from top position. In terms of strikes landed, Volkov was far more active, even off his back, with the fight coming down to how the judges weighed Almeida’s takedowns.

When the scorecards were collected and totalled, the judges were split, with two of the three officials rewarding Volkov’s efforts to cause damage and be aggressive over Almeida’s numerous takedowns and control. This was a nice belated birthday present for Volkov, who turned 37 on Friday, and perhaps some karmic justice after the Russian landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in a clash with Ciryl Gane last time out.

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“The Professional,” who entered with victories in each of his first five UFC starts and all 15 of his pro appearances, took a little time to get settled and find his range against the taller Rakic, but just after the midway point of the first, Murzakanov connected with a short right hand that landed flush and put the Serbian on the canvas. Just an absolutely nasty little intercepting right hand that Rakic never saw coming and was unable to handle.

Murzakanov is now 16-0 and called for a No. 1 contender bout in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. Having now gone 6-0 with five finishes, it’s difficult to argue against the 36-year-old getting a lot at the top of the light heavyweight division.

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