Gamrot (25-4) entered the fight coming off a loss to Charles Oliveira last October. The former KSW champion and #8 lightweight has previously been on the cusp of a title shot, but now looks to rebuild his momentum, starting with Ribovics.

Ribovics (15-2) has quickly emerged as a fan favorite, thanks to all-action fights like his war with Daniel Zellhuber at UFC 306. While he’s undeniably dangerous, he can be hittable and more importantly, his takedown defense remains a question mark against elite wrestlers.

Round 1 – Ribovics came out aggressively, as is his style, throwing with power early. Gamrot didn’t rush to grapple right away, instead firing back with a sharp, improved jab. When Ribovics threw a leg kick, Gamrot caught it clean and turned it into a takedown.

Gamrot quickly advanced to side control, while Ribovics used an overhook to try and control Gamrot’s right arm. Ribovics worked hard to get back to his feet, but Gamrot stayed one step ahead, smoothly adjusting his position to maintain control.

Ribovics made his way to the fence in an attempt to stand, but Gamrot was relentless, keeping him pinned and neutralizing the escape.

Ribovics continued to look for a way out, but Gamrot remained composed on top, controlling the action until the end of the round.

Round 2 – Ribovics’ corner urged him to stop throwing kicks to avoid giving Gamrot easy takedowns, but he came out and immediately fired off three straight kicks.

Gamrot shot for a single leg, and Ribovics nearly went airborne to avoid it—and did. However, after overextending on a right hand, Ribovics was taken down again. With his back against the fence, he used it to stand, but couldn’t shake Gamrot’s control.

No matter what position Ribovics worked toward, Gamrot stayed one step ahead—light, composed, and dominant throughout the exchanges. After mixing in elbows, Gamrot locked up a head-and-arm choke and secured the finish.

Gamrot took the mic and called out Diego Lopes.

Official Result: Mateusz Gamrot def. Esteban Ribovics via R2 SUB (Arm Triangle), 4:19

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The first Apex card since May was initially supposed to be headlined by young star Tatsuro Taira opposite Amir Albazi. It then became the first ever all-Asian main event in UFC history when the undefeated Korean Hyun Sung Park stepped in on short notice to face Taira. Now that the event is behind us, let’s look ahead at some matchups that could be ahead for the victorious fighters from Saturday.

Tatsuro Taira

The young Japanese rising star bounced back nicely after suffering his first professional loss to Brandon Royval last October. The promotion clearly thinks highly of Taira as this was his third consecutive main event opportunity, and it’s easy to understand why after the performance he put on. Despite not being known to the masses yet, Park came in as an undefeated 29-year-old on a 9-fight finishing streak with a Road to UFC tournament win to his name. This is a win for Taira that has the potential to age quite nicely if Park can bounce back and keep steadily rising the way he was.

Considering the flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, seemingly has a date with Joshua Van in December, it’s an almost certainty that Taira will have to win one more fight before getting his shot at the title. Manel Kape is another name that had a lot of momentum before falling to Muhammad Mokaev a year ago. He has since gained back this momentum, but an untimely pullout against Brandon Royval in June opened the door for Van to steal his spot. To me, locking Taira and Kape together in the cage is an easy call to make as this fight would inevitably produce the next worthy contender. Putting it on the same card as Pantoja vs Van so the UFC can have a backup fighter ready is also an obvious call to make.

Taira’s next fight: Manel Kape

Chris Duncan

The UFC Vegas 108 card was blessed with two lightweight bangers right before the main event. In the co-main, we had Chris Duncan outlasting Mateusz Rebecki in very similar fashion to how Rebecki narrowly outlasted Myktybek Orolbai in his Fight of the Year contender at UFC 308. Now 5-1 in the UFC, the Scottish fighter has clearly been adding layers to his game since his two Contender Series bouts. He’s an action fighter who’s been producing results worthy of a steady increase in competition. Even if Esteban Ribovics had not competed on this card, there’s a good chance I would’ve picked him as Duncan’s next opponent anyway. With both of them escaping this card with hard-fought wins, the timing is almost sure to work out for them to meet a couple months down the line.

Duncan’s next fight: Esteban Ribovics

Esteban Ribovics

Not unlike the co-main event, two action fighters faced off in the feature bout. Both Ribovics and Elves Brener were looking to get back in the win column and it was the Argentinian who ended up with his hand raised. Ribovics landed some nice combinations, but Brener’s insane toughness allowed him to survive long enough for the Argentinian to start to slow down a bit, but not enough to steal the victory. My reasoning for matching up Ribovics with Duncan is the same as the one explained above. Even if Duncan didn’t fight on this card, I still would’ve matched them up together as they are in very similar spots in the division.

Ribovics’ next fighter: Chris Duncan

Karol Rosa

Brazilian Rosa, who’s been a mainstay of the women’s bantamweight top 10, has been juggling wins and losses for her past eight fights. I think the way the promotion has been using her as a gatekeeper to the top 10 has been effective. Fighters like Norma Dumont, Irene Aldana and Ailín Pérez have gotten passed her, while at UFC Vegas 108, Nora Cornolle couldn’t. We now know what kind of expectations we should have for the Frenchwoman. Mayra Bueno Silva got on a hot streak and rode it to a vacant title shot, but what kind of expectations should we realistically have for the former title challenger? Let’s have her fight Rosa and truly find out.

Rosa’s next fight: Mayra Bueno Silva

Neil Magny

After getting viciously getting knocked out by rising stars Michael Morales and Carlos Prates in just two and a half months, most of us thought it was end for Neil Magny. The savvy veteran still has enough gas in the tank to get some wins at the UFC level, as demonstrated by his TKO finish over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Even though it seems Magny has seemingly fought everyone already, there is a matchup out there that I find intriguing. Chris Curtis recently went down to welterweight and was victorious doing so. Curtis is former middleweight, but always looked small for that weight class, while Magny is tall and lanky for his division. It’s an age-appropriate matchup between two fighters with similar roles in the division. Why not?

Magny’s next fight: Chris Curtis

Kevin Vallejos

While Danny Silva clearly offered more resistance than Vallejos’ last two opponents, he still couldn’t get past the youngster. Vallejos is a blue-chip prospect whose only professional loss is his Contender Series fight with Fighting Nerd Jean Silva. The 23-year-old Argentinian does appear to have a bright future and when the UFC knows that they have a potential star on their hands, they usually try to put them up against names the fans will recognize. This is a cut-throat business and despite losing his 5^th fight in a row, all signs point to Calvin Kattar still being under contract with the MMA leader. If they’re not going to cut him, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them use what is left of him to best serve their future interests. A couple years ago, Kattar would’ve been too much too soon for a young prospect like Vallejos. But now, the Bostonian has the exact profile you would want as Vallejos’s next opponent. He’s a recognizable name with several main events under his belt, but clearly long enough in the tooth that you would favour the Argentinian to win.

Vallejos’ next fight: Calvin Kattar

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Yes, there were some worthy individual performances, including bantamweight prospect Austin Bashi and main event flyweight Tatsuro Taira both earning impressive submission wins. Still, Esteban Ribovics vs. Elves Brener and Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rebecki were both wildly entertaining fights, and neck-and-neck in terms of Fight of the Night potential. So why reward one when you can reward both?

Both fights went the distance, with Ribovics putting on another high-volume, dominant performance, though Brener was both tough enough, and talented enough, to make things closer than they might otherwise been. Then, in the co-main event, Scotland’s Duncan and Poland’s Rebecki, who happen to be teammates, put on an extremely bloody war, trading blows for the better part of fifteen minutes.

The UFC commentary team, albeit prone to hyperbole, were calling the bout a Fight of the Year candidate by the end. It might end up being a dark horse in that category, but it was without question one of the better UFC fights in recent weeks, or even months.

With two Fight of the Night bonuses awarded at UFC Vegas 108, no Performance of the Night was handed out. All four bonus-winners will pocket $50,000 U.S. as usual. With the card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, no gate was announced.

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The first UFC Apex card in nearly two months found both men looking to return to the win column, with Brener having dropped two straight. Ribovics entered off a single loss, against Nasrat Haqparast.

Both fighters exchanged low kicks in the opening ten seconds before Brener initiated the the grappling but was unsuccessful on his takedown attempt. Ribovics was able to reverse position and drag Brener to the ground momentarily. Both fighters scrambled to their feet and started trading bombs in the center of the cage. Ribovics marched forward looking to land big right hand shots while Brener timed multiple straight left hands. Back and forth exchanges on the inside saw Ribovics work the body and head with slick boxing combinations, while Brener hung tough throwing creative techniques. Brener attempted a spinning backfist but fell to the floor and was met with huge ground and pound shots by Esteban.

Each fighter had landed over 35 significant strikes in the round  in a fight that was quickly becoming an all out war. After an action packed opening five minutes, Ribovics had jumped out to an early lead, but Brener had moments himself.

In the second, Brener tried to gain back the respect of Ribovics utilizing his kickboxing from the outside. Ribovics successfully defended a takedown, and continued walking down Brener to the fence. Brener utilized his jab to keep Esteban at bay, but the dangerous Argentinian fighter kept finding openings for big shots to the body and head. With a minute left in the round both fighters continued to throw down in the center of the cage, as Brener seemed to be gaining momentum. This was quickly turning into a fight of the night candidate and had fans at the apex on their feet.

The third and final round saw Esteban crash forward with big right hands forcing Brener to the fence. Both fighters had landed over 80 significant strikes in the fight. Brener landed a good left hook followed by a right hand that got the attention of Ribovics. Midway through the round the striking totals had eclipsed 100 for each. A beautiful left hand by Ribovics found a home but Brener was showing toughness in the pocket. Brener crashed forward with a takedown attempt but was unsuccessful. Each fighter traded big shots back and forth as one minute remained in the round. Blood was pouring from the mouth of Brener but he was undeterred. Brener landed a left hand that rocket Ribovics and a spinning backfist moments later.

A lightweight slugfest in the Apex reached the final bell as each fighter embraced in exhaustion. A fantastic fight between two very tough competitors. This was going to be a very tough fight to score for the judges. All three judges saw this contest for Esteban Ribovics, who is now 4-1 in his last five fights. Ribovics is quickly turning into a fan favorite as one of the most entertaining fighters on the roster.

Official Result: Esteban Ribovics def. Elves Brener by unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27)

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Brener (16-5) was supposed to face Daniel Zellhuber in Mexico City, but there were too many factors that led to him withdrawing from the bout. Namely the setting.

“Actually, because it was a very close call, talking about very close to the day, short notice, and having to go to Mexico City,” Brener told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Talk about altitude in a city that you have to go. It’s a place where you really need to pull some air in there. If I had 2-3 months for that fight there in Mexico I would have taken it.”

Brener gets a full camp and at the UFC APEX against Ribovics on Saturday night. It’s been about a year away from the cage which may have been a blessing in disguise for Brener.

“I was able to take time for myself. Am I almost a year away from the cage, yes, but not training. I cannot remember the last day that I did not train so I’m very excited to show you this new version,” he said.

“A tough opponent just like every tough opponent I face, but I think I got the heavier hand. I can out-strike him. I can wrestle him better. He’s locked in that cage with me.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Elves Brener above. He faces Esteban Ribovics at UFC Vegas 108 on Saturday night.

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“Always (have to take away positives) the opportunity to fix mistakes from the previous fight,” Ribovics told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Fight of the night, getting that bonus, is just extra motivation. It just keeps you going, get better, and the opportunity to keep on getting another bonus on a consecutive streak.”

Ribovics (14-2) has been splitting his camps between Kill Cliff in Florida and his home in Argentina. Now 5 fights into his UFC career he’s made the permanent move to one of the biggest gyms in the game.

“I actually do the full thing in Kill Cliff. That’s where I’m doing everything. Argentina, right now, I’m actually going only on vacation,” he said with a smile.

Ribovics posted on social media where he wrote, “Great things are coming. Be ready”. The Argentinian hinted at having some new tools to show on Saturday night.

“I do have a lot of things under my sleeve that people haven’t seen yet. I’m always here no matter what to show people the savage that I am,” he said.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Esteban Ribovics above. He takes on Elves Brener at UFC Vegas 108 on Saturday night.

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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 

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What was left was a 10-fight card where, outside of main event flyweights Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev, perhaps the biggest name was former LFC champ Andrea “KGB” Lee. Given she entered the night on a five-fight skid and dropped a decision to JJ Aldrich, Lee’s likely on her way out of the promotion. What it boils down to, however, is that the UFC lacks star power for some of their Fight Night events, especially noticeable on a night where another TKO Group company, WWE, was running a Pay-Per-View event in Toronto.

Regardless, the show must go on, and it did, sluggish out of the gate until debuting heavyweight Mario Pinto, a Brit who appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, got into it with Austen Lane. While Lane had him hurt in the opening round, Pinto roared back in the second, landing a downright punishing right hand that left Lane sprawled out on the canvas, trying to figure out how the truck that had run him over made its way into the octagon.

Luckily, Lane was okay. Pinto, meanwhile, earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. As did Manel Kape, who secured a TKO win over Asu Almabayev in the UFC Vegas 103 main event. Although marred by some uncalled eye pokes, there’s little question Kape was well ahead in the fight.

Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 103 went to Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics. Haqparast came away with a split decision win in that one.

All four bonus-winners pocked $50,000 U.S. on top of show/win money, outfitting pay, and any other earnings.

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Haqparast, for his part, was on quite the run with four straight victories inside the UFC octagon. He was a slight underdog with many odds-makers, but didn’t show it in the fight.

Ribovics took advantage of the open stance matchup, throwing a couple heavy kicks in the opening minute. Haqparast tripled his jab and landed a clean left straight that drew a smile from the Argentinian. Haqparast, who was mostly boxing, landed another nice left that bust Ribovics’ lip. The Argentinian kept throwing a couple shots thinking it would force Haqparast to keep his guard up, but the Moroccan punished those sequences with left hands over the top. Ribovics showed his durability as Nasrat’s left hand couldn’t seem to miss. Good first round from the underdog.

Not unlike the opening round, the second round’s first minute from saw high levels of activity from both fighters. As Ribovics was expecting a left hand, Haqparast snuck a right hook around his guard. Nasrat was doing a good job catching a lot of Ribovics’ shots to the head. As Ribovics kept head hunting, Dominick Cruz on the commentary team kept mentioning that he could use to go to the body. The Argentinian may have hoped that his Holloway-esque activity level would force Haqparast to slow down, but the Moroccan kept up with Ribovics’ output and was winning most of the exchanges. A close, competitive round that I thought Haqparast edged out in real time.

Both fighters came out firing on all cylinders, perhaps not trusting the judging. Haqparast started to intercept Ribovics’ constant forward-moving pressure with elbows. A short left hook from ‘El Gringo’ tagged Haqparast, which was then followed up with a knee that the Moroccan somehow ate, though he was wearing the damage. As Ribovics was starting to find momentum, Nasrat shot a takedown that allowed him to recover and burn some precious time off the clock. Once he got up, Ribovics went right back on the offense, but Nasrat was standing his ground and throwing with him. Ribovics was now able to stuff the laboured takedown attempts from Haqparast. He ended the round with a head kick that wobbled the Moroccan as time went out. A clear round for the fighter out of Argentina.

With two fights remaining on the card, this was now the clear favourite for ‘Fight of the Night’. The two fighters embraced once the decision was read, clearly having left a part of themselves in that cage. Now on a 5-fight winning streak, Haqparast can probably expect his first shot at the rankings since facing Dan Hooker in September of 2021. Knowing this, he called out Renato Moicano.

Official Result: Nasrat Haqparast def. Esteban Ribovics by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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Violence.

“I knew it was going to be a good fight. We have similar styles. He likes to come forward as I do,” Ribovics told reporters on Wednesday.

“I hope he brings it on Saturday because I am truly ready to give 100%.”

Ribovics (14-1) comes off an incredible Fight Of The Night victory over Daniel Zellhuber at Noche UFC, UFC 306, last September. Zellhuber proved to be a very tough opponent to finish, but Ribovics will bring the same energy to this fight against Haqparast.

Haqparast has the clear experience advantage, but it’s not something Ribovics is hung up on as he’s just days away from facing off with him.

“He has a lot more fights than me, he has a lot more experience in the UFC, but I want the glory. I’m going for the glory, and besides the experience, I want it more than him,” he said.

“In my mind, knockout, I hope it happens that way. I’m looking for the knockout, I’m coming to kill or be killed, either way, but I’m giving my all.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Esteban Ribovics above. He takes on Nasrat Haqparast at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday night.

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