The underdogs went three-for-three, the main event ended with one punch twelve seconds into the final round, a losing fighter earned a deal anyway, and the show handed out more contracts in one episode than it sometimes gives in three. The second-chance stories split exactly in half, and both halves deserve telling.
MMAThe Meta APEX runs five more auditions tonight, and the one grappling fans will circle is the light heavyweight bout. A year ago, the IBJJF world champion walked into this show and got knocked out. Now, Aly is back on the same stage, one win from the door.
MMAA sold-out 19,238 and $6.7 million in tickets, roughly $2 million past the building’s previous best, from a card with no marquee local draw, in a city the promotion had skipped for seven years. Dana White read the numbers out loud. The live-events business heard them.
MMAThe veteran coach used his own analyst chair on the UFC 330 post-fight show to end a two-decade cornering career, saying his longtime student may have gone as far as she can go. She had not yet spoken. By Sunday, Strickland, Anik, and a blindsided Dana White had all weighed in. By Monday, Thomas opened his own show with an apology he did not soften.
MMAThe record-holder wants to fight again by January, before Ramadan. Asked who deserves it, he picked activity over the unbeaten record. Prates and Morales, both in the building Saturday, found each other before the champion even left the cage.
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