Saturday’s UFC Vegas 103 card featured just ten fights, taking place at the UFC’s APEX facility in Las Vegas. In the main event, #6 ranked UFC flyweight, Manel Kape, stopped Asu Almabayev in the third round, albeit not without an eye poking controversy.
In the co-main, Cody Brundage stopped Julian Marquez at the end of a barnburner round in an absolutely pivotal victory. This card practically fell apart as there were six cancelled bouts in the lead up to fight night. The main card of UFC Vegas 103 had two split decisions including the fight of the night. And the other three fights ended with finishes. Quite a few prospects on this edition of losers taking their first losses with the promotion and with one fighter potentially facing the axe.
Asu Almabayev
Asu Almabayev suffered multiple eye pokes in the sequence that led up to his third round TKO loss to Manel Kape in the main event on Saturday. The loss was Asu’s first with the UFC since being signed in August of 2023. Almabayev is now 4-1 with the UFC. The loss was actually Asu’s first since 2017, snapping an impressive 17-fight win streak.
Almabayev entered the fight ranked as the #8 ranked UFC flyweight while his opponent, Kape, came in ranked at #6. Kape was Asu’s third opponent for UFC Vegas 103 after he was forced to reschedule twice from Steve Erceg and then Allan Nascimento (Brandon Royval’s injury and withdrawal from the main event with Kape is what triggered the latter rescheduling).
With all of these factors in mind, Asu should fight Alex Perez next. In a perfect world, Asu would fight Perez as both fighters last victory came in 2024 against Matheus Nicolau. Perez suffered a gruesome knee injury in his last time out, last June, opposite of Tatsuro Taira. The #7 ranked UFC flyweight has been out of commission since then, but this matchup would be a worthwhile comeback. Asu didn’t have an answer for speed and footwork of Kape. It’d be interesting to see him against a different style in 32-year-old Alex Perez, fresh off of his injury.
Almabayev’s next fight: Alex Perez
Julian Marquez
Julian Marquez suffered a devastating stoppage defeat at the hands of fellow Contender Series alum, Cody Brundage. Julian’s losing streak has now stretched to four fights, with the “Cuban Missile Crisis” only making it out of the first round in one of those defeats. After starting off 3-1 with the promotion with all of his wins earing performance bonuses, this is an extremely disappointing outcome for Marquez.
Despite being featured in the co-main event Marquez was very likely fighting for his spot on the roster. Fans should not be surprised if Julian doesn’t remain with the promotion after next week. Marquez is an exciting fighter that made real waves at one point. Not just for his destructive fight style but actually building himself a bit of a name within the UFC. The injuries and canceled fights have somewhat derailed his career with the promotion. Going on a 4-fight losing streak signifies within the UFC signifies that the promotion was willing to keep you around for one reason or another.
If Julian gets another fight, which is doubtful, fans could expect a fighter like the winner of Torrez Finney vs Robert Valentin. Torrez is a three-time Contender Series competitor that had to practically move mountains to earn himself a contract with the promotion due to his size. Robert Valentin is The Ultimate Fighter Season 32 runner up, losing the tournament championship last year to Ryan Loder when he was finished in the second round. These are two fringe UFC fighters trying to prove themselves, whoever comes out of the bout on April 5th should get Marquez, potentially even the loser depending on how the bout goes.
Marquez’s next fight: Torrez Finney vs Robert Valentin
Esteban Ribovics
Esteban Ribovics lost a close split decision to Nasrat Haqparast in a bout that ended up winning fight of the night honors. Ribovics, a 2022 Contender Series alum, had won three fights in a row since dropping his debut in 2023. Esteban had a monster 2024, KOing Terrance McKinney with a head kick in 37 second. And of course, his split decision win over Daniel Zellhuber that was the 2024 fight of the year.
Despite the loss, Esteban is on a roll in terms of putting on bangers. Ribovics was a favorite coming into this one. And the loss, although it hurts his trajectory, doesn’t hurt his stock too much- thanks to how entertaining the fight was. Matchmakers should keep the good times coming with Esteban by having him take on the winner Drew Dober vs Manel Torres. That fight goes down on March 29 and is guaranteed to be fireworks. Dober has lost three of his last four bouts, but has secured two post-fight bonuses in that span. Drew is never in a boring fight and his last outing was a good one against Jean Silva even though he was stopped.
Manuel Torres is at a much different place in his UFC career than Dober. Torres started off red hot, with three finishes and three performance bonuses. Manuel dropped his first bout with the promotion in his last time out, when he was finished by Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 306.
Ribovics’s next fight: Drew Dober vs. Manuel Torres Winner
William Gomis
William Gomis suffered a competitive split decision defeat against an undefeated Hyder Amil at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday. The loss halted William’s four-fight win streak with the UFC and was his first loss since 2016- some 12 fights. Gomis had been on fire scoring a split decision victory over Joanderson Brito in his previous fight, last September.
Gomis has been in three split decisions out of his five UFC bouts. William is a solid, knowledgeable fighter that puts on competitive chess matches. For William’s next fight a matchup between the loser of Nathaniel Wood vs Morgan Carriere would be perfect.
Nathaniel Wood has won four of his last five bouts and at 8-3 with the UFC is starting rise to the top of the division. Morgan Charriere is an experienced and exciting fighter that has also won four of his last five fights. Morgan also gave Gomis his loss back in 2016, so it’d be pretty cool to run that back in a whole different promotion. Charriere vs. Wood goes down on March 22 so the timing wouldn’t be half bad depending on how the fight goes.
Gomis’s next fight: Morgan Charriere vs. Nathaniel Wood Loser
Danny Barlow
Danny Barlow lost for the first time in his pro MMA career when he was KO’d by Sam Patterson on Saturday. Barlow, a 2023 Contender Series alum, had won two in a row, stopping Josh Quinlan and snagging a split decision victory against Nikolay Veretennikov last August.
Considering this outcome, it now makes the most sense for Barlow to revisit a previously booked fight at this point. Danny should fight Uros Medic who he was scheduled to fight last August. The bout was canceled as Medic suffered a rib injury (Barlow fought Nikolay instead). This bout makes sense as Medic also suffered a first round KO loss back in January against Punahele Soriano. Medic also got his start on CS and is 4-3 with the UFC. Uros halost two of his last three fights.
Danny’s next fight: Uros Medic
