UFC Vegas 114 was a step in the right direction.
The big narrative of 2026 so far — aside from endless UFC White House hype, speculation, and disappointment — has been that UFC events have not been very fun. So far, it seems Paramount+ paid $7.7 billion for a bunch of mediocre fight cards that didn’t excite anybody, and even the rare matchup that did rouse the combat community underdelivered far more often than not.
Looking at you, Charles Oliveira vs. Max Holloway 2.
UFC Vegas 114, fortunately, did
not come burdened with any real expectations. It looked the part of a standard Meta Apex affair on paper, and yet the actual action … delivered? There used to be something of a common sentiment among fight fans that overlooked cards tend to be the most fun, but that concept has largely died out in the last couple of years.
Maybe last night injected some life into the old theory! Even the undercard started hot. Bia Mesquita is quite possibly the best (only?) women’s Bantamweight prospect on the roster, steamrolling her opponent for a first-round submission win (re-live that here). Manoel Sousa delivered a “Knockout of the Year” contender to conclude a wild three-round brawl with Bolaji Oki, and 23-year-old Elijah Smith continued to demonstrate remarkable potential with his second-round strangulation of SuYoung You.
The bouts that went all the way to the scorecards were pretty fun too. Vitor Petrino vs. Steven Asplund was the best unranked Heavyweight collision in quite some time … which is a low bar, but still! Eryk Anders retirement showcase versus Brad Tavares threatened to be the most Middleweight fight of all time, yet it actually delivered a great bit of action between two long-time veterans of the game.
Moving onto the main card, slick finishes and great action continued to mingle. Anyone place a bet on Ion Cutelaba successfully jumping the gilly (see that here)? That’s something you don’t see every day. Similarly, how often do we see Featherweight prospects brawl until somebody’s jaw breaks? Marwan Rahiki vs Harry Hardwick was great fun from start to finish, earning its “Fight of the Night” honors — a bonus UFC has rarely awarded this year.
Andre Fili vs. Joseph Delgado and Charles Johnson vs. Bruno Silva were highly competitive, exciting scraps that could have gone either way, as each bout featured multiple momentum shifts and technical adjustments. Even the most grappling-heavy matches of the entire card — bouts like Gillian Robertson vs. Amanda Lemos or Myktybek Orolbai vs. Chris Curtis — were at least somewhat active.
All of this served well to set the plate for Kevin Vallejos’ big opportunity against Josh Emmett in the main event, and “El Chino” absolutely did his part in delivering. From the very first bell, the 24-year-old knockout artist seemed to have a perfect read on Emmett’s distance and setups. It took him very little time to pressure Emmett into taking big swings, and then he promptly punished the veteran with slick counter combinations.
Emmett may be on a skid, but knocking him out inside a round is still no joke of an accomplishment (see it again here). This tremendous and confident performance from Vallejos should vault him into title contention, adding another dose of excitement to the Featherweight mix. Put him against anybody in the Top 10 next time out, and it’s a must-watch matchup that could help determine the future of the division.
On paper, UFC Vegas 114 was never going to be the most significant event. In practice, the card managed to consistently entertain and lay the groundwork for compelling future matchups. Cards like this are the first step in breaking the UFC’s current slump, so let’s hope UFC London overdelivers to keep the momentum building next week.
