Last night (Sat., Oct. 25, 2025), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Finally, after a ludicrously long wait, Tom Aspinall could enter the cage and attempt to defend undisputed Heavyweight gold. His opponent, Ciryl Gane, didn’t necessarily earn this title shot, but he’s clearly one of the best fighters in the division, so it was still an intriguing clash of the modern generation of big men. In the co-main event, the Strawweight division moved
forward without Zhang Weili, pitting jiu-jitsu masters Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba opposite one another in a rematch five years in the making.
Let’s take a look back over the best performances and techniques of the evening:
Maximal Anticlimax
Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane was fascinating for the four minutes it lasted.
Contrary to the commentary booth, I thought both men were doing good work. Aspinall was pressing well, landing with occasional blitzes, a couple heavy high kicks, and some well-timed low kicks that knocked Gane off balance. Gane worked behind the Southpaw jab, landed a few linear kicks, and was finding his mark with inside low kicks as well. At one point, Gane timed Aspinall coming forward with a left that bloodied Aspinall’s nose with the best punch of the fight.
I liked the ideas of both men, and Gane’s takedown defense held up early on. It really looked like we were in for an outstanding collision of high-level Heavyweights that continued to be good for more than two minutes. How long has it been since that happened?
Unfortunately, a gnarly double eye poke from Ciryl Gane ended the contest. I assume the promotion will book an immediate rematch, and knowing how the UFC operates, it won’t be signed quickly. We’re looking at another four-to-six month wait for anything to happen in the Heavyweight division, which has already been punishingly boring and immobile since Francis Ngannou left.
Dreadful.
Dern Scraps Her Way To Gold
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba was a decent, if repetitive, fight. Much like the first fight, it was very clearly two grapplers throwing down … for better or worse.
The difference-maker was Dern’s athleticism, improved jab, and commitment to offense. She walked into plenty of wide Jandiroba swings, but they never affected her the same way as her sharp jabs into the eye socket. Dern has a horrible problem of squaring up after swinging and getting smacked on the counter, yet it hardly mattered here. Her punches hurt Jandiroba, whereas she could walk through the Brazilian’s best punches.
That’s a huge advantage.
Jandiroba tried to win this fight by wrestling. It was her best chance. She wasn’t able to get much going from top position, however, because Dern was constantly switching her hips, kicking at the chest, and popping Jandiroba with elbows and hammer fists from bottom positions. Jandiroba could never get comfortable or advance position, because she was dealing with a master grappler and getting smacked in the face.
Dern did real damage from her back and generally made Jandiroba’s life miserable in all possible positions. Alongside her power edge, Dern’s relentless chipping away allowed her to slowly pull away as the fight wore on for a clear-cut decision win.
I don’t expect the Dern title reign to last forever, but Jandiroba has proven herself an elite Strawweight. It’s the best win of Dern’s career and a worthy way to capture gold in a post-Zhang Weili division.
The Bantamweights Deliver
If you appreciate high-level scrambling, Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista was an awesome fight.
Nurmagomedov was definitely the superior wrestler, and though that trait ended up winning him the fight, Bautista was never deterred. He countered the very first takedown with a nasty twisting foot lock, which is hard move to finish yet saw Nurmagomedov limping when the final bell rang. From his back, Bautista was always working to scramble, throw up submissions, or dig elbows. As he worked to stand, he threatened switches and broke grips very well.
It was entertaining work and kept the bout moving.
Unfortunately for the MMA Lab representative, Nurmagomedov was a step ahead. For every time Bautista was able to break hands and escape, he was returned to the canvas twice. Nurmagomedov showed some crafty moves from top, like a transition from a cradle into the gift wrap position when Bautista reached back to break the grip. He countered Bautista’s jiu-jitsu and wrestling stand-ups masterfully, always changing position just as Bautista appeared to be building towards an escape.
The question here is whether Nurmagomedov earned another shot at Merab Dvalishvili — I’m not so sure. He looked damn good here but also was a little winded by the third. A bit of fatigue is totally understandable given the reckless pace Bautista pushed, yet it doesn’t inspire confidence in a Merab rematch.
The Professional Ascends
It’s time to take Azamat Murzakanov seriously as a Light Heavyweight contender.
Despite his undefeated record, he’s been an easy man to overlook. Small for the division, Murzakanov doesn’t really look the part of a top contender, especially when compared to the statuesque Aleksandar Rakic. He’s lost rounds to non-elite opposition, which is generally a concern as the level of competition rises. Yet, he keeps winning, and last night was no exception.
Rakic looked sharp for a couple minutes, employing the obvious game plan of ripping kicks and shooting takedowns on the smaller boxer (see below for more on that strategy). Murzakanov stuffed his takedowns surprisingly well, however, and he even checked a few of Rakic’s kicks to good effect. The Austrian tried to mix it up and step forward with a combination because of Murzakanov’s strong defense, but Murzakanov interrupted him with a perfectly timed jab to the chin.
Rakic hit the canvas hard.
It has to be mentioned that Rakic entered this fight on a rough run, but the man has only lost to champions: Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka, and Magomed Ankalaev. Murzakanov just stopped him in more impressive fashion than any of those names, and he deserves to be considered in that same tier. Depending on how long Ankalaev needs to recover from UFC 320, that could be an ideal next matchup for both Russian standouts.
Head Kick Of The Year
Leading up to the “Prelims” headliner of Nasrat Haqparast vs. Quillan Salkilld, my immediate thought was, “Who the hell is Salkilld again?”
I’ll never ask that question again.
The 25-year-old Aussie stepped up on short-notice for this matchup. Haqparast entered riding a five-fight win streak over quality opposition, seemingly ready for a ranked foe. Salkilld may have been 2-0 inside the Octagon ahead of this fight, but he had yet to separate himself from the pack of numerous Contender Series newbies who come and go each year.
The fight only lasted half a round, but Salkilld showed his skills in that span. He used the threat of takedowns to keep Haqparast from pushing too hard, buying himself the time to blast kicks at distance. He played the all the way in, all the way out game well, making it difficult for his opponent to find the pocket and box. Salkilld stuck his opponent with a front kick then went outside with a power high kick, taking advantage of the open stance match up.
It landed perfectly. As Salkilld himself said in the post-fight interview, the nature of open stance fighting is both men should be spamming power kicks often. In this case, Salkilld threw his with beautiful form, and his size advantage surely helped him put shin to target with a bit of extra fluidity.
Haqparast didn’t get up for a long while.
The Heel Collector
Valter Walker did it AGAIN!
For the fourth consecutive time, Walker scored an easy heel hook submission in the very first round. He wrapped up Louie Sutherland with a quick takedown along the fence and then immediately dropped onto the leg, securing the outside heel hook for a quick tap in just 84 seconds. Sutherland tried to roll to defend, but his efforts didn’t produce any space.
Does this victory mean anything for Walker’s future as a Heavyweight contender? Not really. It just proves he’s really good at quickly tapping low-level Heavyweights. Still, he’s now 15-1 overall and is riding a four-fight win streak. Walker has earned a shot at ranked opposition, and I’m sure at least a couple of ‘em are equally vulnerable to the dark arts of leg locking.
Additional Thoughts
- Ludovit Klein defeats Mateusz Rebecki via majority decision: An absolute bloodbath and banger! Klein was the sharper striker by a considerable measure. He was able to slice up Rebecki from his back foot, tagging Rebecki repeatedly with counter combinations for most of the first ten minutes. Klein slowed a touch in the third, and Rebecki was able to start building success with his wrestling. A late takedown broke Klein’s ankle, leaving him vulnerable to a vicious salvo of elbows. Klein survived to win the decision in an otherwise great performance, and Rebecki once again demonstrated himself the meanest dog in the Lightweight division. I don’t care if he’s now lost three of his last four — never, ever cut him.
- Nathaniel Wood defeats Jose Miguel Delgado via unanimous decision: This was a great scrap … with an iffy decision. Delgado struck first with a brutal spinning elbow that very nearly finished the fight. It was gritty work for Wood to survive, let alone battle back. The Englishman was able to settle the pace and box well in the second, but the round still saw some powerful connections from Delgado. Understandably, the action slowed in round three, as both men landed single shots and ended up grappling more. Delgado seemed to do the better work overall, but it’s hard to be too upset considering he also missed weight and landed some unpunished fouls.
For complete UFC 321 results and play-by-play, click here.
