Last night (Sat., Aug. 8, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 120. In the main event, Australia’s top prospect, Quillan Salkilld, aimed to take another step up opposite veteran grinder, Mateusz Gamrot. In addition, this latest visit to the Apex was notable as Darren Elkins’ last ride and featured more than a couple of quality up-and-comers throughout the night.
Let’s take a closer look at the best performances and highlight finishes
of the evening:
Salkilld Silences All Doubters
Salkilld was remarkably impressive in his first-ever main event.
Right away, he was picking apart Gamrot on the feet. Feinting high and low while jabbing and kicking at different targets, Salkilld landed crisp shots. A counter hook thrown as his kicking leg reset floored Gamrot, forcing the Polish veteran to dive onto a leg. In the ensuing scrambles, Gamrot attempted all sorts of trickery and transitions, but he couldn’t ground or seriously threaten the young Aussie.
Back on the feet, Salkilld went right back to pushing his advantage. He stuck a few more punches and then timed an effortless double leg takedown. Half a beat later, he was jumping onto the back. Gamrot bucked and spun impressively in an effort that would’ve shaken off the vast majority of the division, but Salkilld stayed glued to his back.
A moment later, the arm was under the chin.
This was a rout, a completely one-sided smashing. Not only did Salkilld look massive and imposing in the cage, but he showed the skills to bully a top-notch wrestler as well. He beat up Gamrot at every opportunity and left him looking a step behind. Unlike Charles Oliveira or Dan Hooker, he didn’t have to walk through a bunch of punches in the process!
This was clean work from an obvious physical talent. Salkilld looks ready to contend right now, which is a problem in a fairly logjammed division. I’d love to see him booked against the truly elite class next, somebody along the lines of Paddy Pimblett or Max Holloway.
He deserves to be in those conversations.
Billy Q Charges Into The Wood Chipper
Carlos Diego Ferreira landed an ungodly number of right hands on the face of Billy Quarantillo.
“Billy Q” is known as a pressure fighter, but his strategy was a little baffling here. He ran straight at his veteran opponent and just refused to recognize the offense coming back in his direction. Time and time again, Ferreira would pop a jab, slip a shot, and then crack Quarantillo across the jaw with a beautiful right hand. Ferreira is a sharp striker, sure, but it was really odd to see an experienced UFC fighter not even reacting to a power shot that continually landed.
He might as well have kept his eyes closed.
Did Quarantillo’s pressure ever pay dividends? Not really. Ferreira eventually got tired — he’s 42 years old! — and spent the final minute or so stalling on the ground, but why not? He was WAY ahead on the scorecards and still won the third too. Even while dog-tired, Ferreira could step into a 1-2 and land almost at will — he was only limited by his energy reserves.
Quarantillo used to be better than this. At 37 years of age himself, one has to wonder if the damage absorbed against the likes of Cub Swanson, Edson Barboza, and Shane Burgos has left Quarantillo without any reaction time left.
Meanwhile, Ferreira called out King Green and Jim Miller for potential matchups of the Lightweight old guard, and both fights sound like a lot of fun.
Welterweight’s Brightest New Prospect
26-year-old Ty Miller used Billy Ray Goff as a punching bag.
Goff came into the fight gamely, doing his best to close distance on the 6’2” Miller. Unfortunately for Goff, he’s not really a clinch fighter or takedown artist. He likes the pocket, but that’s a hard game to play when Miller’s range is about a foot longer. Goff tried to wrestle and grind, but really he just ate a ton of jabs while trying to press forward.
Following an unfamiliar game plan is fatiguing. Doing so while swallowing a dozen jabs is exhausting. By round two, Goff was so tired that he could barely keep his hands up, let alone throw meaningful punches or actually shoot a takedown. He took a hellacious beating in the second, as Miller enjoyed the time of his life playing target practice with a live opponent.
Embarrassingly, Goff’s incompetent corner sent him out for the third with the useless advice of “don’t engage” rather than throwing in the towel. Predictably, the contest lasted about 15 more seconds, just enough time for Goff to eat a few more hard punches to his already-damaged face.
With this win, “Thriller” improves to 2-0 inside the Octagon. It’s great to see a rangy MMA fighter working behind his jab like a boxer — Miller doesn’t give away a centimeter of that 77.5 inch reach! He’s clearly a bright prospect, even if there are still unknowns about his general grappling prowess.
Additional Thoughts
- Yadier del Valle defeats Darren Elkins via first-round knockout: Well … there was always a strong chance this happens. Del Valle played the matchup well, avoiding the grappling prowess of his 42-year-old foe. Rather than engage on the canvas, he broke away from an early takedown attempt with a big left hand that rattled Elkins. One more power shot spoiled his retirement bout for good, returning del Valle to the win column in style. It’s a rough ending for Elkins, but the legacy of “The Damage” remains unaffected.
- Diyar Nurgozhay defeats Bruno Lopes via first-round knockout (highlights): Nurgozhay has absolutely no wrestling or grappling. He was taken down by an unconscious man in this fight, and he got kimura’d by Brendson Ribeiro of all people in his UFC debut. Fortunately, the Kazakh finisher can crack! In this striker’s duel, Nurgozhay’s left hand was on fire. He worked out Lopes’ defenses quickly and started nailing him with the left uppercut repeatedly. Once that threat was established, he laced his left hand overtop and through the guard as well, tagging Lopes over and over until “The Brazilian Cowboy” crumbled. Lopes displayed some real heart in defeat, but he took a real beating here.
- Jose Montanha defeats Louie Sutherland via first-round rear naked choke: Ahh, Heavyweight grappling, the gift that keeps on giving. These two “burly” — the UFC broadcast’s chosen adjective — big men collided in the clinch within the opening 15 seconds. After some pummeling, Montanha tripped his foe to the mat. Sutherland actually did a nice bridge into single leg get-up attempt to nearly stand but when forced back to the turtle position, he attempted a fat man roll. It backfired horribly! Sutherland ended up flattened out and stuck on his belly, allowing 260-pound Montanha to easily sit on him. More than the choke itself, that position against such a large man is checkmate. Still, tapping to a rear naked choke that isn’t locked in yet? NOT GOOD!
- Miles Johns defeats Gianni Vazquez via first-round knockout (highlights): For a solid couple minutes, it looked like Vazquez was about to score a short-notice upset while fighting up a weight class. He found his timing first and was leading the dance, feinting and poking at Johns early with his distance punches. Before long, he was building combinations and landing hard shots. He stunned Johns with strikes and briefly put his butt to the floor, but “Chapo” is a gritty veteran. As Vazquez tried to follow up and force the finish, Johns feinted low and came up high with a thudding left hook that completely turned the tables. For the second time in two different 48-hour opportunities, Vazquez brought the fight and looked good in defeat — hopefully he’ll get a full camp next time.
- Juliana Miller defeats Ravena Oliveira via second-round rear naked choke (highlights): Miller needed this win badly. The former Ultimate Fighter champion lost three of four UFC bouts after winning TUF, putting her back to the wall here. Thankfully, Miller was able to right the ship, getting her wrestling going early to great effect. From top position, the jiu-jitsu fighter was actually quite aggressive with her ground and pound, which went a long way in opening up her guard passing and positional advancement. Early in the second, Miller was able to overwhelm Oliveira on the canvas, sneaking behind the Brazilian for an RNC victory.
