The UFC’s final show of 2020, a year that has felt like five particularly bad years rolled into one, went down Saturday. UFC Vegas 17, if it wasn’t a stacked card, was a very good card on paper, with a number of compelling fights, especially among the main card offerings.
That’s saying something, given the original main event of Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev had fallen through. But then, when you build cards well rather than leaving them top-heavy, losing a main event isn’t a death knell. A lesson that can hopefully be learned moving into 2021.
In any case, Stephen Thompson vs. Geoff Neal, Rob Font vs. Marlon Moraes, and Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Vera all held great promise. On any other weekend, one of them could headline a Fight Night card. Saturday, that duty fell to Thompson vs. Neal, a “veteran vs. prospect” sort of pairing that promised the winner something of a wild card spot in the welterweight title race.
Thompson was entering the fight off a win over Vicente Luque, but hadn’t competed in a year. Neal was coming off an extended layoff as well — and had nearly died back in August.
Following Saturday’s main event, tune in (embed above) to the UFC Vegas 17 post-fight press conference, as the promotion wraps up the year!
Update: It appears the UFC has opted to nix the press conference Saturday.
