Despite coming out on top this past Wednesday, a pair of fighters find themselves shelved for the next six months. Modestas Bukauskas and Taila Santos both received 180 day suspensions for injuries related to their fights at UFC Fight Island 1. For Bukauskas, the culprit is his left knee, while Santos experienced an injury to her right foot. Each can be cleared earlier by either an MRI or x-ray, respectively.

Below is a complete list of medical suspensions for UFC Fight Island 1 (UFC on ESPN 13):

Calvin Kattar – 30 days
Dan Ige – 45 days
Tim Elliott – 30 days
Ryan Benoit – 180 days or cleared by right thumb x ray
Jimmie Rivera – 30 days
Cody Stamann – 30 days
Taila Santos – 180 days or cleared by right foot x ray
Molly McCann – 30 days
Mounir Lazzez – 30 days
Abdul Razak Alhassan – 45 days
Khamzat Chimaev – 7 days
John Phillips – 30 days
Lerone Murphy – 7 days
Ricardo Ramos – 45 days
Modestas Bukauskas – 180 days or cleared by left knee MRI
Andreas Michailitis – 45 days
Jared Gordon – 7 days
Chris Fishgold – 30 days
Liana Jojua – 7 days
Diana Belbita – 180 days or cleared by right elbow MRI
Jack Shore – 7 days
Aaron Phillips – 7 days

Because of the absence of a governing body on Fight Island, suspensions from Abu Dhabi are reported internally.

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Jack Shore, who opened up the UFC Fight Island 1 card on Wednesday with a submission win over Aaron Phillips, is one of those. An undefeated Welsh prospect who improved to 13-0 on the night. A fighter who has been singled out as having title potential.

“Obviously it’s an honor for people to be saying that about me at the 25 years of age. I’m only two fights into my UFC career,” he observed. “So to have some really highly respected guys saying that, it means the world.”

With that said, Shore went on to highlight some of the other talents coming out of his home country. “There’s plenty of talent in Wales though. Brett Johns is fighting Saturday, John Phillips, Jack Marshman. Plenty of good young guys coming through,” he said. “People may think that about me now, and there’s probably people who think the same about Brett and the other guys too. But there’s there’s plenty more where that came from in Wales. We’re just tapping into our talent pool. You give us five years, the Welsh will be taking over the UFC, I guarantee you.”

Of course, few are being compared to GSP, something that happened on Wednesday’s broadcast. But it’s clear Shore isn’t about to let that go to his head. When asked about who he wants next, the bantamweight replied that he knows that the division “is full of killers.”

“I’m just proud and happy to be a part of the best guys in the world,” Shore added. “Even outside the top 15 there’s plenty of well known names there now, and I’m pretty sure after a performance like that, they are going to start taking notice of who I am. So, you know, maybe one more fight and I can start pushing to get a number by my name.”

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Jack Shore above.

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Lazzez (10-1) had just come away with a unanimous decision win against Abdul Razak Alhassan. It was a performance worthy of Fight of the Night, getting Lazzez off to a great start in the promotion.

Then came the Perry callout. A fun fight, to be sure, even if Perry’s career is in limbo at the moment.

Following the bout, Lazzez explained during a virtual post-fight press scrum why he chose Perry.

“Because he’s an idiot, and he’s trying to send the wrong idea about MMA,” Lazzez stated. “So I would like to put him in his place.”

So much for soft-spoken. Of course, Perry may be out of action for a while. After being caught on camera assaulting a man at a Texas eatery and ending up facing an assault charge, Perry has been benched by the UFC. The promotion will not offer him a bout while the troubled welterweight seeks treatment for alcohol abuse.

Mounir Lazzez knows only what the media knows, he said post-fight on Wednesday. But if it’s not Perry, “to be honest, just give me the toughest opponent,” he told Cageside Press.

Noting that “this is just the beginning,” and that he’d confer with his team, Mounir added “I don’t have another name, to be honest. But anyone.”

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Mounir Lazzez above.

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The way things came together for Gordon in Abu Dhabi is nothing short of incredible. UFC lightweight turned analyst Paul Felder stepped away from his broadcast duties for the fight, moving to Gordon’s corner. Alongside him, Gary Tonon, one of the world’s best BJJ competitors as well as a ONE Championship athlete, and coach Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, stepped up.

Gordon recounted the crazy turn of events following his victory, speaking to Cageside Press in a virtual media scrum.

“So I lost all my corners due to the [corona]virus. When Gilbert Burns was supposed to fight, they all went with him and then they were going to stay and corner me,” he explained. “But when they got to Vegas, it was a red flag. Everyone tested positive besides Herbert Burns, but he slept in the room with Gilbert the night before, so they wouldn’t let him get on the plane obviously, because he was exposed to the virus.”

Gordon was supposed to travel to Abu Dhabi last Sunday. The Friday before that, he took a phone call from UFC. “What do you want to do?” they inquired. “You lost all your cornermen.” Gordon asked if he even needed a corner. “But I knew Paul was gonna be here,” he added.

Gordon made the call, and Felder, who Gordon called one of his best friends as well as a former teammate, said he’d corner him if the UFC let him step away from the desk. “So that’s how it happened. UFC let him get off the desk, come and corner me, and it worked out.”

Gordon also wound up with Gary Tonon in his corner as well, as Tonon was in Abu Dhabi cornering another fighter. Gordon had trained with him in the past, “so he knew my game, he knew what I was good at, what we should watch out for. He’s a genius. That guillotine defense I showed today, we went over that non-stop.”

Nicksick, meanwhile, was on Fight Island to corner Dan Ige in the main event. “It worked out, man. It was an insane time,” Gordon finished.

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Jared Gordon above.

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It was unquestionably an odd one, when all was said and done. At the end of the opening round, Bukauskas landed what appeared to be legal elbows to the head of his opponent. When Michailidis went back to his corner, scooting rather than walking, he appeared to lean on the door of the cage. Or try to. But since it had opened, he fell back.

The ref immediately waved off the fight.

"Fights over."

🇱🇹 @ModestasBukaus1's elbows end the night as Michailidis fails to make it to the corner.

Action continues on @ESPN 📺 #InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/Ww2juBJmCa

— UFC (@ufc) July 16, 2020

Bukauskas (11-2), a Lithuanian fighting out of the U.K., recapped the end of the fight with Cageside Press after the bout.

“I don’t know how long was left in that round. I just knew that I saw an opportunity to learn my strikes,” he explained. Prior to the fight, as happens at every event, the officials covered legal vs. illegal strikes with the fighters. “We went in, in the back and they sort of explained all the rules and stuff like that. And they said where the legal spots were. And I knew I was hitting legal spots, 100%. Even when you looked at the TV screen after, you saw those were in the right spot where I needed to be.”

Bukauskas, at that point, was ready to keep fighting. “I didn’t know what time it was in the round. I knew that if he would have been able to continue, he would have been good to go, we would have went to the second round,” he continued. “So that’s what I was expecting, because he sort of went down and he went up, and I don’t know what was going on. And then next thing you know, he just sort of falls over and then the referee waves it off.”

While he’s happy with the win, it’s not quite the ending he hoped for. “It’s a bit of a, I don’t know if you could call it an anticlimactic ending or something like that. Obviously, I would have liked it to be a bit of a cleaner finish, but at the same time, he wasn’t able to continue. So, you know, a finish is a finish.”

The whole experience of his first UFC fight, however, more than lived up to expectations.

“Oh yeah 100%. And more. I mean I visualize, obviously, walking out and stuff like that, but I never expected to be what it was,” Bukauskas said. “Walking onto that UFC canvas and stuff like that, Bruce Buffer calling out your name, seeing Dana White literally just sitting there. It’s just absolutely amazing, like the dream has now finally become reality.”

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Modestas Bukauskas above.

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And once again, Elliott put on a wildly entertaining show. Ultimately, he took home a unanimous decision win. Not before getting trapped in a nasty looking kneebar, however.

“It was painful. I think maybe it was less painful because he hit it on the knee where I had ACL, LCL, MCL, PCL, meniscus surgery on my knee,” Elliott told Cageside Press following the fight. “So I have a lot of dead nerves in there. Who knows? It could have been worse without that surgery. But again, I was it was tight, it hurt. I almost panicked tapped, but I have some of the best coaches in the world. My coach was calm. He didn’t seem like the kneebar was bothering him. So it didn’t really bother me. And, he coached me me right out of it.”

The coach in question: James Krause. Elliott had been back with Krause, his coach in years gone by, just a matter of weeks prior to UFC Fight Island 1. He can only imagine where months or years working with his fellow UFC fighter will take him.

One wrinkle in the fight, and in particular that sequence, was the lack of fans in the venue. Read: none. Which made it much easier to hear Krause — but Elliott would still rather have the crowd back.

When the idea of the silence being a benefit was suggested to him, Elliott responded by saying “That could be, but at the same time, when the fans are yelling, cheering, it also gives you a little bit of adrenaline where those pain submissions don’t hurt so much.”

“I’m a guy who, I got to the UFC because I do better under the lights,” he continued. “I like to hear people either screaming, cheering, or booing me, but the silence kind of bothers me.”

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Tim Elliott above.

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Chimaev made a big impression in his octagon debut, putting away John Phillips thanks to a D’Arce choke. The submission earned Chimaev a Performance of the Night bonus. And more than likely, a bunch of new fans.

Speaking to Cageside Press in a virtual post-fight press scrum, Cimaev said that “it was amazing, being in the UFC.” And in comments that bring about immediate comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov, he added that he’d told his coaches “I’m going to smash somebody with these gloves in the UFC. I was happy to be here and smash somebody.”

Big Khabib? The middleweight certainly has a similar mindset to the UFC lightweight champion.

“I want to finish everybody. If it does go to five rounds, I’m going to stay to finish him last second.” He loves it when opponents give up, when they break, Chimaev added. Forget the Kamaru Usman plan to drag opponents into deep water and break them slowly. Khamzat Chimaev just wants to end the fight, period.

He credits much of his success to All Stars MMA, having made it to the UFC just a few years after joining the team. “I love my gym. [They’re] my family. I live in the gym,” he said.

As to what comes next, Chimaev took his shot, although it was a bit of a weird one. As he did in his post-fight interview with the UFC, Khamzat threw out a legendary name.

“Doesn’t matter. Smash somebody,” he said, before selecting his target. “I want to fight Donald Cerrone, it’s not my division but at 77 kilos [welterweight]. I want to fight the best. Top 15. Donald Cerrone is going to be a good fight. Good name. One that everybody talks about.”

Like Wayne Gretzky said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And do be fair, Cerrone has fought as a welterweight, including in his most recent bout, a loss against Anthony Pettis. Still, it’s hard to see this one happening.

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Khamzat Chimaev above.

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Brazil’s Santos (16-1), who entered the UFC via the Contender Series in 2018, picked up her first win inside the octagon when with a one-sided unanimous decision. The win had the Astra Fight Team member bounce back from a debut loss to Mara Romero Borella last year.

Santos told Cageside Press following the bout that she had the right preparation to get the job done. “Molly’s a very tough opponent and but we put together a great game plan for her and I was able to execute it perfectly in the fight.”

Like many other fighters, Santos found the empty venue — now the norm for pandemic era events — a help. And in general, her Fight Island experience was a positive. “It was really, really cool being here on the islands, a great experience. To be honest, testing was a little bit annoying, but it was great to be here. Great to be a part of this and great to be able to hear my corners in this,” she stated.

For more from Taila Santos, check out the video above.

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The Georgian fighter is a former Fight Nights Global champion. But she faltered in her UFC debut last year, ending up finished by Canadian Sarah Moras. The loss snapped a five-fight win streak.

In Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Jojua corrected course. She snatched an arm, en route to a submission win. Opponent Diana Belbita managed to fend off the arm-bar for a while, but ultimately Jojua’s ground skills were just too much. That came as no surprise to her. In fact, the only surprise was that “the fight ended very quick.”

Like many other fighters, Jojua struggled to put together a camp during the coronavirus pandemic, something she cited when asked about when she’d like to return.

“This fight I didn’t have the proper training camp, didn’t have enough time,” she said. “So I want a full proper training camp for my next fight, and preferably in the United States.”

Watch the full UFC on ESPN 13 post-fight press scrum with Liana Jojua above.

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Murphy (9-0-1) is part of the new wave of British MMA fighters. On Wednesday at UFC Fight Island 1, he put on a dominant showing against Brazilian Ricardo Ramos. Flipped the script, scored a takedown of his own, en route to a TKO finish. A bonus-winning one at that.

No wonder he wants to look forward. His future is bright. While his past seems absolutely surreal to those on the outside looking in. Murphy survived being shot in the face — twice — in 2013.

All the more reason to look ahead. And, Murphy told Cageside Press following his first win inside the octagon, he feels the same way others do about what he’s been through.

“It is [surreal] for me as well, because I’ve seen both ends. I don’t like looking back, I’m always looking forward and we’re trying to get to that championship,” he said following his win in Abu Dhabi. “I’m always doing better than I was, aiming for the belt.”

He certainly is doing better. His first UFC bout ended in a draw against Zubaira Tukhugov. Many felt he’d done enough to win. He left no question this time around.

As for scoring the takedown on Ramos, it was never part of the game plan, but opportunity knocked. “It just presented itself really. We train all facets of MMA: wrestling, jujitsu, everything, so it just come out,” Murphy explained. “I knew he was going to spin, I watched a lot of tape on Ramos, and when he spun from underneath, we took the back. And ground and pounded.”

With his first UFC win under his belt, Murphy will now wade deeper into the promotion’s 145lb weight class. “The featherweight division is crazy right now. The levels are high,” he observed. There’s no callout on his lips at the moment. Just a willingness to stay ready. “Whoever Sean Shelby [UFC matchmaker] matches me with, we’ll fight and I’m sure it’ll be a great fight. On the future, we’re gonna go back to the gym, do a lot of work, get better again, get better again and when we get a call, hopefully we’ll be ready and get in there.”

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 1 virtual post-fight press scrum with Lerone Murphy above.

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