Not unlike Lawler vs. MacDonald, minus the gnarly split lip and bloodbath that was Rory MacDonald’s face. A very cool moment nonetheless, one that Zahabi, winner of a split decision following 15 minutes, touched on after the fight.

“I wanted to touch gloves and be like “good job, I’ll see you in the next round.’ Kind of like I’ve done with all my other opponents,” Zahabi (14-2) said backstage at the Rogers Arena.

“You know for me, I don’t have hate in my heart for any of my opponents. For me it’s just business. I consider myself more like a hitman. I don’t need to hate you to want to kill you. I go out there, and I’m going to do my job. I know what my mission is, it’s to go out there and fight and leave everything behind.”

Zahabi did get the sense that Chito Vera was trying to send him a message, however. “I felt like he wanted to intimidate me with hate, like he’s a tough gangster guy. But you can’t intimidate me man. I fight in a cage for a living. I fight in the octagon for a living. There’s no intimidation here. I’m here to fight you.”

“I got ready for two and a half months to come in here and fight you. There’s no intimidating me,” he added. “So I wanted to let him know that I ain’t no pushover. I’m from Montreal, we’ve seen violence before.”

Georges St-Pierre, a teammate of Zahabi’s at Montreal’s TriStar, certainly knows a thing or two about violence. Now entering his late 30s, Aiemann is making an impressive if somewhat surprising push to title contention. The story around that run is one he’s looking to take control of.

“I don’t like the story that’s been spoken about me, especially, it’s always bout my age. ‘How can I be a prospect at 37?'”

“I’m not saying I’m a prospect. I’m here doing work,” he countered. “For me, it’s my job. Anybody ever does something spectacular in sports, they’re just doing work. It looks spectacular in the moment because of the years of training— they were able to do something that is very low probability, but to them, they were just doing work. They were focused on what they do.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Aiemann Zahabi above.

The post Aiemann Zahabi on Mid-Fight Face-Off with Chito at UFC Vancouver appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Not serious at all,” Santos (11-2) said of his injuries, though he likely will need some time off to heal up. Still, Santos picked up his first UFC win in the bout, earning the W on all three scorecards. The 28-year old from Belo Horizonte trains at American Top Team in Miami, and won his way into the UFC via the Contender Series last year.

Santos didn’t have any nerves waiting for the judges’ scorecards to be read at the conclusion of 15 minutes on Saturday, certain he’d done enough to win the middleweight bout.

“I was certain that I won, because he just caught me with one moment in the second round.” As Santos noted, he immediately pushed back. “I finished the round better than him, and in the third round I did more. I worked above on the ground n’ pound, so I was certain that I won this fight.”

For two straight fights, Djorden Santos has competed in front of fans rather than at the empty UFC Apex. He’s enjoying that quite a lot. “I grew up seeing the UFC in a big stadium, and I love to fight in the crowd. I thank you so much, Dana [White] and Mick [Maynard], to put me in the show, not in the Apex. Nothing against fighting in the Apex but bro, I love the people, I love the crowd. I dreamed about this many times.”

While he lost his debut, Santos believes that he won it; either way, he intends to improve more and more, and wants White and the UFC matchmakers to keep him on big cards. “I’m a dog, I’m a Brazilian warrior, and I have a lot more to show, I promise.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Djorden Santos above.

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While not considered an upset (Fiorot was the favorite in the bout), few expected to see Fiorot finish business in little more than a minute.

Among those who might have thought it possible, however, were her recent TriStar teammates. Fiorot (13-2) recently moved to the Montreal-based gym, training outside her native France for the first time as a professional. The camp has been home to world-renowned fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Rory MacDonald, Olivier Aubin-Mercier and currently, Aiemann Zahabi.

“I made a lot of adjustments in my training camp with my training partners and my coach, but absolutely it was a perfect scenario for me,” Fiorot told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight, later adding that “tonight is the result of this good change.”

The flyweight, once again ranked #1 in the weight class, added that she intends to continue working with TriStar. “Yeah. I’ll work with them again in my next fight. This was just perfect,” she stated.

While Jasudavicius immediately protested Saturday’s stoppage, Fiorot felt the ref made the right call. “If I had to say something about that, I think the stoppage is good, but I’m not a referee so I don’t have to commit a decision like that. But for me, it’s a good stop[page].”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Manon Fiorot above.

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She also got a first in her UFC career — fighting with fans in attendance. After two straight fights at the virtually barren UFC Apex, Luciano got to experience a live crowd in Vancouver (a very live one at that).

“Fighting with the fans was something else. I like the vibe, I like feeling the crowd,” she told Cageside Press following the bout, backstage at the Rogers Arena. “So the more people, the better.”

Believe it or not, she had envisioned the finish ahead of the bout. “That went through my mind many times, that I would submit her with a rear-naked [choke],” stated Luciano (7-2-1).

Oliveira had been dropping down a couple of weight classes for the fight, but Luciano quickly discovered that concerns about her strength were unwarranted. “For like a second I was worried that she was going to be super-strong, but then I felt her hands, and I didn’t feel like she had much power in her punches.”

With a couple of wins under her belt, Stephanie Luciano is now looking to climb the strawweight ladder. “Maybe a ranked opponent next,” she suggested. There’s no one particular that she has in mind, she added. “I don’t have any names in mind, just somebody in the rankings.”

Despite UFC Rio coming just two weeks ago, and Luciano fighting another Brazilian in Oliveira, she wasn’t surprised to find herself fighting in Canada. After all, there were only so many spots on the UFC Rio card.

“I wasn’t surprised, because there’s so many Brazilians in the UFC. So there’s always a Brazilian on every card. But watching the Fight Night from Rio, Charles [Oliveira] winning, that whole energy, that gave me a lot of wanting to come out here and put on a show too.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Stephanie Luciano above.

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What he did not have was a translator on hand for his post-fight interviews. Instead, Fight Ready’s Eddie Cha (Korean, not Chinese) did his best, putting aside his role as coach to help translate, with a little assist from Google.

Regarding his performance, Aoriqileng (26-12, 1NC) was pleased. “I was very happy with the win. This time I decided a new tactic with my team,” noted “The Mongolian Murderer,” who added that it was his second time in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

His first trip to the Canadian city saw him suffer defeat against Aiemann Zahabi, back at UFC 289 in 2023. A much better result this time around (earning a Performance of the Night bonus), obviously, one that saw him bounce back from a loss to Raul Rosas Jr. at Noche UFC in 2024.

That’s a bit of a layoff, obviously. 13 months. “A minor injury” had forced Aoriqileng to sit on the sidelines for the better part of the year, with the bantamweight unable to train for a time, but he’s “back in the game,” he noted on Saturday.

After all that time away, Aoriqileng is now ready to fight “anyone, any time,” and “hopes to get in there pretty quick,” he finished.

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Aoriqileng above.

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Brendan Allen

Like him or not, what Brendan Allen pulled off on Saturday was pretty badass. He went on a seven-fight win streak before losing two straights. After that, he admittedly did some soul searching before coming back with a win over Marvin Vettori in July. Then, he accepted a fight on short notice against the red hot Reinier de Ridder, with nearly everyone counting him out. He survived the first round and followed it up with three dominating rounds on top, landing ground-and-pound and making RDR throw the towel on the stool.

It’s by far the best win of his career and it puts him in an interesting spot. I don’t think it makes him the number 1 contender like RDR may have been, but it does put him either one or two fights away. He called out Khamzat Chimaev, Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Out of those, the Strickland rematch is the most appealing to me. A lot has changed from where they were in their first meeting and given current circumstances, they would both be coming into it with something to prove.

Allen’s next fight: Sean Strickland

Mike Malott

For as strange as this fight was, with the low blows and the not-taking-a-point of it all, Kevin Holland is still without a doubt the best scalp of Mike Malott’s career. The Ontario native now once again finds himself on a three-fight win streak, just like he did when he first came into the promotion. And while this win over the ranked Holland may very well get him into the top15, it’s quite obvious that Malott has lost some of the swagger he had when he first broke into the UFC. The KO over Charles Radtke was nice, but it’s sandwiched between two very tepid decision wins over this current win streak. His confidence may still be a bit shaken from the collapse against Neil Magny, which is why I wouldn’t push him up the welterweight ladder just yet. Someone who’s also on the brink of the top15 makes more sense, someone like the winner of the Gabriel Bonfim vs Randy Brown Apex headliner.

Malott’s next fight: Bonfim/Brown winner

Aiemann Zahabi

Aiemann Zahabi will be turning 38 in a month, yet you wouldn’t know it if you looked at the streak he’s on. Usually, when fighters get to this age, they’re on the downswing, but Zahabi has kept improving and is on by far the best stretch of his professional career. He was awarded a controversial decision in May against Jose Aldo, and while this one was a bit more convincing, I don’t think a split decision against Chito Vera will be enough to grant him a shot at the title.

With Merab Dvalishvili cleaning out the division at the pace he is, someone like Zahabi could become next in line by virtue of everyone in front of him already having lost to the champion. Still, I think he needs a signature win to get his ticket to the dance. The perfect opponent is Deiveson Figueiredo. A known name, a former champion, and someone who’s just outside the top5 and is coming off a win.

Zahabi’s next fight: Deiveson Figueiredo

Manon Fiorot

Part of the reason it took so long for Manon Fiorot to be awarded her title shot last May was because she was coming off five impressive, but unassuming decision victories. Having now lost to the champion, it was probably going to take just as long to earn it all back. That’s unless she went back to her finishing ways as she did in her first two UFC fights. Well, I don’t think the Frenchwoman could’ve asked for anything more than a 74-second KO of Jasmine Jasudavicius, who was coming in on a five-fight win streak.

As good as this KO was for her stock, Fiorot will need at least one or two more of those before the UFC throws her back in a title shot. There’s a fight coming up between two top10 flyweights, Maycee Barber and Karine Silva, if Fiorot knockouts the winner of that fight like she did Jasudavicius, then she might force the UFC’s hand.

Fiorot’s next fight: Barber/Silva winner

Charles Jourdain

Charles Jourdain showed us while they call him “Air” on Saturday when he leaped in the air to land a massive flying knee that floored Davey Grant. The ever-durable Grant was still so stunned he had no chance of defending Jourdain’s guillotine. The fan favourite and known action fighter is now 2-0 since making the move down to 145 lbs. Going from Victor Henry to Davey Grant was a reasonable jump in competition, so I think Jourdain deserves another similar increase. I think someone like Chris Gutierrez, who was ranked at one point and whose recent losses are to names like Pedro Munhoz, Song Yadong and Farid Basharat, would tell us a lot about what we have with Jourdain at bantamweight.

Jourdain’s next fight: Chris Gutierrez

Kyle Nelson

Even though Kyle Nelson might have thought he had scored a late first-round TKO, he still ended up walking out with a unanimous decision victory. The Canadian’s had a little bit of a career resurgence as of late. It’s flown mostly under the radar, but he’s 4-1 in his last 5, with his only loss coming against the upcoming main eventer Steve “Mean Machine” Garcia. After flip-flopping between featherweight and lightweight, if Nelson plans on staying at 155 lbs, I think the perfect opponent is the one that fought right before him on Saturday. Drew Dober, who knocked out Kyle Prepolec in the prelims headliner, would undoubtedly make a fun scrap with Nelson.

Nelson’s next fight: Drew Dober

The post What’s Next: UFC Vancouver Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

In the main event, between ranked middleweights Brendan Allen and Reinier de Ridder, RDR didn’t answer the call for the final round— signaling a victory of All In. In the co-main event, Kevin Holland found himself in the losing column once again, this time against an unranked Mike Malott. A few ranked fighters to pair up after UFC Vancouver— with some truly momentum-erasing defeats.

Reinier de Ridder

Brendan Allen forced Reinier de Ridder’s corner to throw in the towel ahead of the final round in the main event of UFC Vancouver on Saturday. The loss was Reinier’s first with the promotion since being signed late last year.

RDR entered the fight ranked at #4 in the middleweight division, while Allen was ranked at #9. This fight was originally slated for Anthony Hernandez vs Reinier de Ridder but Fluffy pulled out of the fight due to injury. Allen took this fight on short notice making the victory that much more impressive.

With that being said, RDR should rebook and fight Anthony Hernandez in his next fight. Hernandez is currently ranked at #6 in the middleweight division. Allen lost to Herandez via unanimous decision earlier this year, but Fluffy’s injury prevents him from leapfrogging RDR in this situation. MMA math doesn’t work, so that bout would not be a forgone conclusion though man fans will likely write it up as one. Decent back up option here would be targeting a fighter like Israel Adesanya. Fight would easily be a fight night main event or high up on the main card of a PPV.

Reinier’s next fight: Anthony Hernandez

Kevin Holland

Mike Malott topped Kevin Holland in a unanimous decision affair in the co main event of UFC Vancouver on Saturday. Kevin entered the fight ranked at #15 in the welterweight division while his opponent was unranked. Holland is 15-12, 1 NC with the promotion and has seemingly fought everyone. Holland is now 2-3 for the year of 2025 and 2-2 since moving back down to the welterweight division.

For Holland’s next fight, if he stays at welterweight, should be against the winner of Phil Rowe vs. Seok Hyeon Ko. Timing would be perfect, as Phil and Seok scrap on November 1st. Seok is a 2024 Contender Series product that has already has an impressive unanimous decision victory against rising prospect, Oban Elliott. Phil Rowe is a 2019 Contender Series product that is 4-3 in the UFC. Rowe’s four victories are all stoppages, most recently his last time in the cage against Ange Loosa back in June. Before that, he lost a unanimous decision to Jake Matthews and narrowly dropped a split decision to division staple, Neil Magny. Fighter that takes gets the victory to start November will definitely be in a good position. Holland is right outside of the top 15 and fighting the winner of this fight could put a strong wind behind his sails.

This fight could easily be on the main card of a fight night card or a feature preliminary bout.

Kevin’s next fight: Winner of Phil Rowe vs. Seok Hyeon Ko 

Marlon Vera

Aiemann Zahabi edged out Marlon Vera in a competitive and controversial, split decision.With the loss, Chito has fallen to 15-10 under the UFC banner. Vera has dropped his last three fights including his March 2024 unsuccessful title challenge against then champion, Sean O’Malley. Marlon entered the fight ranked at #7 in the division, while Aiemann was ranked at #9.

As mentioned in a previous edition of losers Marlon should look to take on Montel Jackson in his next bout. Jackson fought on UFC Rio just a week prior to Marlon, and lost Deiveson Figueiredo via split decision. Vera also lost to Figueiredo, in a unanimous decision bout just last year. Even though Jackson slid out of the newest version of the rankings, this would be a solid matchup and give Chito a fresh face.

Marlon’s next fight: Montel Jackson

Jasmine Jasudavicius

Manon Fiorot stunned and stopped Jasmine Jasudavicius early in the first round of their fight on the main card of UFC Vancouver. The loss on Saturday snapped Jasmine’s 5-fight win streak that dated back to September of 2023. Jasmine entered the fight ranked at #5 in the division, while Manon was ranked at #2.

For her next fight, Jasudavicius should look for a matchup against former UFC strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas. Rose is currently ranked at #7 in the flyweight division. Namajunas has also faced Manon a couple of years ago and dropped a unanimous decision to ‘The Beast’.

Jasmine’s next fight: Rose Namajunas

Davey Grant

Charles Jourdain punctuated a flashy flying knee with a slick guillotine choke to secure a submission victory over Davey Grant on Saturday. Davey Grant, who first signed with the UFC in 2013 is now 8-7 with the promotion. Grant is 2-2 in his last four fights and Saturday was the first time that the nearly 40-year-old bantamweight has been finished in the octagon since 2018.

Keeping all those factors in mind, an appropriate next matchup for Davey would be against Aoriqileng. Aoriqileng fought on the undercard of UFC Vancouver on Saturday and produced a stunning KO of Cody Gibson just 21 seconds into the fight. Aoriqileng is 4-4 with 1 NC in the UFC and is 2-2, 1 NC in his last five. A very similar record to Davey. The two shared a common opponent in Daniel Marcos. This bout would undoubtedly be high paced, violent and action packed for fans.

Davey’s next fight: Aoriqileng

Matt Frevola

Kyle Nelson battered and bested Matt Frevola over the course of three rounds to capture a unanimous decision victory to kick off the main card of UFC Vancouver. Super disappointing outcome for Frevola who has been on a rough skid. The loss on Saturday brings his losing streak to three and he’s now 5-6-1 in the UFC.

Good next opponent for Frevola would be matching him up against Kyle Prepolec. Kyle fought just before Matt on the feature prelim, losing in a controversial final round TKO opposite of Drew Dober. However, that bout would go on to win fight of the night honors. Prepolec has the alarming UFC record of 0-4. The record was produced in two stints. The first in 2019 against Nordine Taleb and Austin Hubbard. The second in 2025 against Benoit Saint-Denis and now, Drew Dober. Kyle has faced some straight killers, and if the UFC elects to keep the 36-year-old around, a good matchup would be Frevola.

Frevola also lost to Benoit Sanit-Denis (but it was in 2023) and has faced Drew Dober, though he was able to stop the 12-year UFC vet. Timing would make sense and both fighters are in a similar position for this matchup to get booked.

Matt’s next fight: Kyle Prepolec

The post What’s Next: UFC Vancouver Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Silva (15-7-2, 1NC), after all, lost to Van this past June, before bouncing back with a submission of Hyun Sung Park at UFC Vancouver on Saturday. He’s also very familiar with fellow Brazilian Pantoja, the UFC’s long-serving flyweight champ.

“Man it’s a tough fight, you know? I trained with Pantoja for a while. Just fought Van,” Pantoja told Cageside Press following UFC Vancouver, asked about the match-up. “Van hits hard, young, comes forward. I think Pantoja’s going to win, but Van’s got a good chance. The kid’s good.”

There has been talk among fans that should Pantoja earn his fifth successful flyweight title defense, a move up to bantamweight to face Merab Dvalishvili for 135lb gold could be in the cards. That may just be fantasy matchmaking, but both fighters are coming close to clearing out the major contenders in their respective weight classes.

“He can do it, be we know Merab’s a different animal. And Pantoja’s small, man. He’s not a big flyweight,” Silva said of the suggestion. “If I was him, I’d stay in the flyweight division. He don’t want that smoke. Merab’s a different animal.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Bruno Silva above.

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At the end of the opening round of Nelson’s lightweight fight with Matt Frevola, ref “Big” Dan Miragliotta appeared to wave off the action with three seconds still on the clock, after Nelson had landed several unanswered, undefended blows on the “Steamrolla.”

A win for “The Monster” was soon dashed, however, after the ref ordered the fighters to carry on. UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner immediately appeared on the UFC Vancouver broadcast, calling it a “referee error.” The UFC, however, has no say in officiating, which is overseen by the local athletic commission. And so the fight carried on.

Nelson (17-6-1) painted the full picture while speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press at the Rogers Arena following the fight.

“… Dan stepped in, I got up, I thought I won,” recalled Nelson, who went to help Frevola back up thinking the bout was finished. “Then Dan’s like ‘no get back to your corner.'” Nelson believed he was simply being separated from a fallen foe with the bout still complete; his coaches and even his fiancé had entered the octagon. “We’re still thinking we won, we’re halfway through the break, they’re like ‘no, you’re going back in.’ So we didn’t even get the stool, didn’t really get a chance to slow down and control my breathing and stuff. We just kind of went right back out into the second round.”

That said, there’s no hard feelings on Nelson’s part it seems. It probably helps that the Huntsville, Ontario-born fighter went on to win a unanimous decision, even if robbed of a TKO finish.

“I don’t hold anything against Dan. Dan’s always been a great guy, I think he’s a great ref,” stated Nelson. As for the finish, “we’re not going to be able to change that. I got the victory either way, so I’m just looking forward to moving forward. Again spending time with family, and then looking at the next fight at lightweight.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Kyle Nelson above.

The post Kyle Nelson Breaks Down Weird Scene at UFC Vancouver, Says Big Dan is a “Great Ref” appeared first on Cageside Press.

He’s also a UFC fighter, winning on the Contender Series and making a successful debut at UFC Vancouver on Saturday, where the towering Dutch middleweight finished Azamat Bekoev via TKO in the third round of their preliminary card bout.

Following the fight at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Belgaroui (9-3) told Cageside Press about the biggest lesson he’s learned working with light heavyweight champ Pereira.

“Mindset. I mean yes, there are a lot of technical things we train and I learn from him. But the way he approaches fighting is amazing,” stated Belgaroui. “It’s hard to grasp in words, you can’t even put it into martial arts words, you’ve really got to put it in a warrior style, or war and how people used to approach war back in the vintage times. Actually going in there, not sleeping for four days, not eating, going in the cold and obliterating an opponent. That’s how close you’ve got to get to coming in how he approaches a fight, and I take a lot from that.”

Belgaroui understands that some fans may struggle to make sense of the picture he’s painting, but added that how Alex Pereira approaches a fight “resonates with me too.” And it seems to resonate with a large group of fight fans who have gotten behind fighters like Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, who carry the warrior mentality with them.

“That’s true. Yeah. I think what we’re doing in here is closest to the gladiators back in the day. Why we’re still making movies about that, why we’re still reading books about that – because it’s a very primal and beautiful thing that humans still have,” stated Belgaroui. “We are morally evolved into not killing each other for no reason, but we have made it into an art where we get close to killing each other but in a respectful way.”

“It’s very hard to paint that picture too, but if you love the sport, you understand this. You know that we love our opponents in a very weird way, after the fight. But to get in there and actually try to smash his head in, in the worst way possible, in an artistic way, it’s hard to understand. But the true fans understand it, and the martial artists understand it, and that’s why we all resonate with one another.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Yousri Belgaroui above.

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