Main Card (2 p.m. ET) (PPV)
- Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane via No Contest, Eye Poke (RD 1, 4:35) (UFC Heavyweight Championship)
- Mackenzie Dern def. Virna Jandiroba via Decision, Unanimous (Vacant UFC Strawweight Championship)
- Umar Nurmagomedov def. Mario Bautista via Decision, Unanimous
- Alexander Volkov def. Jailton Almeida via Decision, Split
- Azamat Murzakanov def. Aleksandar Rakic via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:11)
Preliminary Card (10 a.m. ET) (ESPN+ / Disney+)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Nasrat Haqparast via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:30)
- Ikram Aliskerov def. Park Jun-yong via Decision, Unanimous
- Ludovit Klein def. Mateusz Rebecki via Decision, Majority
- Valter Walker def. Louie Sutherland via Submission, Heel Hook (RD 1, 1:24)
- Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Delgado via Decision, Unanimous
- Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Chris Barnett via Decision, Unanimous
- Mitch Raposo def. Azat Maksum via Decision, Unanimous
- Mizuki def. Jaqueline Amorim via Decision, Unanimous
Eye poke causes anticlimactic end to Tom Aspinall’s first appearance as undisputed champ
Tom Aspinall’s long-awaited first appearance as Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion didn’t go the way anyone would’ve liked.
Nearly a full five minutes into his battle against Ciryl Gane, a bout which was shaping up to be a lengthy back-and-forth battle on the feet, an eye poke forced a sudden end to the contest. Due to the blow being incidental and not intentional, the bout ended in a no contest, meaning Aspinall has yet to defend his undisputed belt.
“Guys, I just got f****** poked knuckle deep in my eyeball,” said Aspinall after the fight, annoyed at the amount of boos emerging from the Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates, where UFC 321 took place on Saturday night. “This is bulls***, the fight was just getting going.”
Early moments of the fight made it seem as though Aspinall was in for one of his tougher performances to date. Gane got active early with his jab, marking up the face of the champ with his busy lead hand.
Aspinall, who has made a career out of quick, sudden finishes, wasn’t finding the opening for a quick paycheck. The English talent, who has only exited the first round three times in his lengthy pro career, looked like he could’ve been in for a lengthy battle.
But instead, due to a foul which made it so Aspinall wasn’t able to open his eye, the bout had a sudden and unexpected finish.
Saturday marked Aspinall’s first appearance since being upgraded from interim champ status. Amid Jon Jones’ reign over the division, Aspinall gained an interim title back in 2023 with a 69-second win over Sergei Pavlovich. He later also defended the belt in 60 seconds against Curtis Blaydes.
After Jones suddenly retired earlier this year, dropping his title and abandoning all hopes of a super-fight against Aspinall, the British talent was unceremoniously upgraded to undisputed status.
French heavyweight Gane was stepping into his third UFC title appearance. The fellow former interim champ earned a shot at the belt after edging out a split decision over Alexander Voklkov last winter.
Gane was apologetic in his post-fight interview, not only to Aspinall but also the fans in attendance, most of which were already on their way out of the venue by the time he got on the mic.
Mackenzie Dern takes tight decision to earn strawweight belt
A scrappy five-round performance from Mackenzie Dern earned her the UFC Strawweight Championship in Saturday’s co-main event, beginning a new era in the 115-pound division.
Dern took a close unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47 & 49-46) win over fellow Brazilian talent Virna Jandiroba this weekend, getting the nod after a competitive 25 minutes of action.
A fair amount of Dern’s win can be credited to her performance on the feet, scoring the better shots through 25 minutes. Dern touched up Jandiroba with her lead jab and straight punches during numerous moments of the bout. Jandiroba connected with her own stinging punches at times, but in the end was significant out-struck.
Jandiroba was focused on grappling throughout the fight, picking up nine takedowns and attempting over a dozen. However, Dern was quick to escape many of the positions on the ground, and often was able to land shots while on the mat.
“That’s why we thought we could let loose with the striking, because if we do go to the ground, I’d be comfortable on the ground,” Dern said afterward.
The title matchup between Dern and Jandiroba was made after past champ Zhang Weili moved up to flyweight, relinquishing her championship in the process.
While they were both appearing in their first-ever UFC title matchup, Dern and Jandiroba weren’t strangers to each other. They previously faced off in 2020, a three-round matchup which Dern won via decision.
Both fighters entered this weekend with significant momentum: Dern recently submitted Amanda Ribas in the main event of a Fight Night card, and Jandiroba put on a run of five straight wins, including against recent title challenger Yan Xiaonan.
Dern is the first time in a while that a new face as joined the title mix at strawweight. The division’s past three champs (Zhang, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas) were all repeat champs. The last time a new name entered the mix was all the way back in 2019, when Zhang started her initial reign in the division.
Former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov returns with scorecard win over Mario Bautista
Former bantamweight title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov had an impressive return to the cage on Saturday night, mixing together effective boxing and suffocating wrestling to take a unanimous decision win over Mario Bautista.
Nurmagomedov, who was coming back for the first time since having his undefeated record broken by incumbent bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili earlier this year, earned clean 30-27s across the board after 15 minutes of action.
The Russian fighter scored a takedown just moments into the fight, making it clear that wrestling would be the backbone of his performance. After escaping a brief leg submission attempt from Bautista, Nurmagomedov would go on to dominate the rest of the round on the mat.
While Bautista scored a flash knockdown early in the second round with a knee to the head, Nurmagomedov did enough to turn around the frame and still win it on scorecards. Successful grappling exchanges, along with a showcase of some solid boxing late in the frame, did enough for him to stay ahead.
Bautista remained in the fight until the end, often fighting out of grappling exchanges and answering back with his own shots when at stand-up range, but through the third it was the work from Nurmagomedov which continued to be the most effective, no matter where the fight went. In all, Nurmagomedov showcased on Saturday that he is a well-rounded talent who remains among the top at 135 pounds.
The 29-year-old Russian contender noted afterward that he has his eyes on the December title fight between Dvalishvili and Petr Yan, and is ready to face whoever emerges on top.
“I will take this belt, doesn’t matter who it’s gonna be,” Nurmagomedov said in his post-fight interview.
Bautista had a lengthy eight-fight winning streak brought to a halt with his loss on Saturday. Past appearances included wins over former Bellator champ Patchy Mix and UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo. Despite his prior success, Bautista entered as a sizeable underdog on Saturday.
Alexander Volkov sneaks by Jailton Almeida in grappling-heavy split decision
Alexander Volkov had the more effective work on the ground against Jailton Almeida, earning him a bounce-back victory on Saturday night with a split decision win.
While the entire matchup played out exactly where Almeida wanted it, on the ground, he didn’t end up walking away with the win. MMA’s scoring system heavily favoring damage over control meant that some of the work Volkov deployed throughout the fight ended up being the more meaningful activity between the two.
Volkov was able to reverse a takedown in the first round, giving him the opportunity to connect with hard elbows and hammerfist punches for an early lead. Almeida controlled the bout for the majority of the second round, making it even on scorecards.
Almeida got the fight to the ground again in the third, but it was his lack of activity on the mat which made him lose the round on a pair of scorecards, securing Volkov the decision win. Volkov was the more active striker despite being on his back at times, earning him the late lead in the fight.
The fight got Volkov back into the win column after losing a pivotal split decision last winter to Ciryl Gane, a result which earned the French talent a title opportunity. Before then, Volkov had four straight wins in the division.
Brazil’s Almeida was riding the momentum of back-to-back first-round finish wins, beating Alexandr Romanov and Serghei Spivac. For just the second time in his UFC career, he’s now going back to the drawing board in an attempt to figure out what went wrong.
Azamat Murzakanov continues ascent at 205 with first-round finish
Undefeated light heavyweight Azamat Murzakanov started his climb up the division’s top-10 rankings with a statement win in the opening bout of Saturday’s main card, putting away long-time contender Aleksandar Rakic in just one round.
Murzakanov caught Rakic coming in with a short lead jab, immediately flooring him at the three-minute mark. It didn’t take long for the Russian talent to close the show after scoring the shot, needing just one more ground and pound strike before the referee intervened.
The fight was still in its feeling-out process prior to the sudden stoppage. Murzakanov showed his ability to shut down the wrestling of Rakic, preventing a pair of takedown attempts in the earlier minutes of the bout.
After beating seventh-place Rakic, it’s expected that Murzakanov will gain a few spots at 205 pounds. His rising position in the division was earned through hard work, picking up six consecutive wins since his promotional debut in 2022, with an impressive five emerging via finish.
Murzakanov, possibly getting ahead of himself, called for a #1 contender fight for his next assignment.
The result continued rough luck in recent years for Rakic, who has gone winless in four consecutive fights. Rakic has only faced the division’s top names as of late, with past appearances coming against ex-champs Magomed Ankalaev, Jiri Prochazka, and Jan Blachowicz.
Prelim results: Quillan Salkilld lands Knockout of the Year contender, Valter Walker scores fourth consecutive heel hook win
25-year-old lightweight Quillan Salkilld closed out the prelims with a bang, earning a first-round walk-off head kick knockout against veteran Nasrat Haqparast. The sudden kick, which was arguably one of the more devastating high-profile finishes from 2025 thus far, continued what has been an incredible rookie year for the Aussie talent. Salkilld is now 3-0 in the UFC, including a 19-second promotional debut, and is now eyeing a fight against a ranked talent. There was significant concern afterward for Haqparast, who remained down for minutes on end. Haqparast was eventually seen sitting up in the cage and standing on his own power.
Cornered by Khabib Nurmagomedov, Russia’s Ikram Aliskerov put together a solid mix of striking and wrestling to secure a clear unanimous decision over 13-fight UFC vet Park Jun-yong. While best known for quick finishes in the UFC, Aliskerov showed a more patient gameplan this time around, putting together a solid body of work which became a clear win by the time scorecards needed to be utilized. Aliskerov has won three of his four UFC bouts, with that sole loss emerging against former champ Robert Whittaker.
Surviving a late comeback attempt from Mateusz Rebecki, Ludovit Klein did enough to get back into the win column with a majority decision win. While Klein had a hot start to the fight, out-striking Rebecki in rounds one and two, an ankle injury he sustained in the third after getting taken down started a long sequence of ground and pound shots from his Polish opponent. Klein endured the minutes on end of ground and pound and even fought back with slicing elbows while on the bottom, securing a scorecard win in the process. Klein had a multi-year win streak stopped earlier this year when he dropped a bout to KSW vet Mateusz Gamrot. His ankle issue caused him to be stretchered to the back.
Valter Walker continued one of the more impressive but also bizarre UFC runs on Saturday’s prelim collecting his fourth consecutive heel hook win by beating promotional newcomer Louie Sutherland in just under 90 seconds. Walker scored a takedown early in the fight and immediately pursued the rare (for most people, at least) submission, earning a tap just moments later. Walker’s run of heel hook wins has come together quickly, Saturday being his fourth fight in just over a year’s time. He now hopes to collect a leg from Hamdy Abdelwahab, a fellow undercard fighter on Saturday’s show who Walker called out during his post-match interview.
Nathaniel Wood took a highly competitive unanimous decision win over 27-year-old prospect Jose Delgado, winning after three rounds of close stand-up action between the featherweights. While many saw Delgado as the better fighter, getting ahead early with a spinning backfist knockdown and continuing to show his crafty striking in the later rounds, the judges saw Wood mount a comeback in the final 10 minutes of the fight, edging out a pair of close rounds to take the decision. Delgado came into this step-up fight with loads of momentum, having earned a pair of first-round finish wins earlier this year. Wood, a stand-out vet from Cage Warriors, credited Delgado for the tough fight and called him a future champion afterward. The English fighter has now won six of his last seven UFC assignments.
Hamdy Abdelwahab bounced back from his sole pro loss in the first of four heavyweight matchups of the evening, grounding and pounding his way to a clear unanimous decision win over veteran Chris Barnett. Although Abdelwahab was deducted a point early due to a clear elbow to the back of Barnett’s head, his otherwise dominant performance made it obvious he was going to earn the scorecard victory, getting back some momentum after a loss against Mohammed Usman earlier this year.
A gritty three-round performance, aided by a late point deduction, allowed Mitch Raposo to overcome Azat Maksum via unanimous decision and score his first UFC win on Saturday night. The fight came down to boxing vs. wrestling, as Raposo would have solid combinations of punches on the feet, but would have to battle through grinding takedowns from Maksum in order to keep finding those stand-up positions. Maksum was notably deducted a point in the third for a blatant fence grab, essentially ruling out the possibility of a scorecard win for the Kazakhstani fighter in the bout’s final moments. Raposo now has his first win through three UFC appearances, and Maksum has dropped his third loss in a row.
Mizuki’s return fight couldn’t have gone better, overcoming the odds to beat Jaqueline Amorim for a unanimous decision win in Saturday’s opening bout. The Japanese strawweight, who was coming back after a two-year absence due to injuries, was able to counter many mat exchanges from grappling specialist Amorim in the first and second rounds, allowing her to earn controlling positions and let shots go on the ground. She started to run away with the fight in the third, showcasing her stand-up skills against a tiring Amorim in the bout’s closing minutes. Mizuki’s UFC record is now three wins through four appearances.
