Last night (Sat., Nov. 1, 2025), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 110. Look, I don’t want to waste anyone’s time here: this was never going to be a great card. There were some interesting matchups throughout the night, but the general name value was lower than average even for a “Fight Night” event. Next week’s event from the Apex is the same deal, so let’s all just try to stay positive until UFC 322.
Until then, let’s take a look back over the best performances and techniques of the evening:
The Mean Machine Builds Momentum
The main event was supposed to be competitive. Instead, Steve Garcia ran over David Onama.
It came down to a difference in intensity. Garcia opened the contest firing hard combinations with his weight behind every shot. He put out volume immediately, attacked the body right away, and generally got in Onama’s face. Onama — a ferocious puncher in his own right — kept his guard high and circled off, but he didn’t throw anything in return. Even the few jabs he flashed were less than full speed.
Consequently, Garcia found his range first and only upped the pressure. Perhaps Onama hoped to settle into his first five-round fight, but Garcia never gave him the chance. Just a couple minutes into the opening frame, Onama was rocked and hit the canvas. Garcia surged forward, stunning him with more powerful lefts and digging a few Jiri Prochazka-esque teeps into the body between big swings.
Onama crumbled a second time and a third, and the referee had to intervene. It feels like Onama could have provided a much greater challenge to Garcia, but he didn’t show up ready for war from the first bell. Garcia did, and as a result, the veteran picks up the biggest win of his career and extends his win streak to seven.
Another Heavyweight Eye Poke
I have run out of words. How many times can we talk about eye pokes? The discussion is getting redundant and boring. The fact that it was Tom Aspinall’s teammate, Ante Delija, who delivered the eye poke to Waldo Cortes-Acosta is peak hilarity … and yet the situation only grew more humorous as the clown show unfolded.
Let me take a step back: Cortes-Acosta vs. Delija was looking like a typical “Salsa Boy” fight. He was jabbing and clinching, using his size to slow down the more explosive knockout artist. Delija landed a good combination against Cortes-Acosta along the fence, and when he stepped in to do it again, he poked Cortes-Acosta right in the eye. The ref didn’t see it, and Delija flurried for the TKO finish … until the review revealed the eye poke, and the bout was restarted a few minutes later … without a point deduction.
2025 is the year of the restart.
Cortes-Acosta’s eye was still bothering him, but he blasted Delija with a counter right hand shortly after the reset, immediately turning the tables for a knockout win of his own — pure comedy. If you’re willing to overlook the bizarreness of it all, we should probably start giving “Salsa Boy” a little more credit. He’s 3-1 this year against tough competition, and two of those victories came via knockout.
He’s not the flashiest Heavyweight of all time, but he’s definitely earned his Top 10 slot.
An Impressive Upset
In the lead up to Isaac Dulgarian vs. Yadier Del Valle, I wrote, “There’s going to be an early takedown battle, and Dulgarian is very likely to come out on top. Often, grapplers accustomed to winning from top position like del Valle really struggle when placed on bottom by a superior wrestler, so that’s a concern here.” As it turns out, I was totally correct … except for the part about Dulgarian winning that pivotal takedown battle!
Indeed, Dulgarian shot for a takedown in the opening 30 seconds, but it was Del Valle who sprawled expertly and circled his way into top position. Dulgarian looked horribly uncomfortable from bottom position, showing real inexperience in his insistence on trying to punch from bottom position. Even as Del Valle worked to the back and then slid under the neck, Dulgarian was throwing punches behind his own head rather than fully committing to latching onto a hand and halting the strangle.
Hopefully, this loss will serve as a painful learning lesson. As for Yadier del Valle, this is the kind of statement win that really helps separate him from the Featherweight pack. Now 10-0, the jiu-jitsu black belt clearly has real athletic ability and technical skill alike.
A Catchweight Slugfest
Cody Durden vs. Allan Nasciment0 was a banger.
Durden stepped up on short notice, which explains why this was a catchweight rather than proper Flyweight contest. Despite the lack of preparation, he brought the fight to Nascimento, boxing very nicely with crisp jabs and clubbing right hands. Nascimento’s defense was rather flawed, but the Brazilian landed hard shots of his own. His calf kicks were finding the mark early, and Nascimento stung Durden with a few hard counter shots even early in the fight.
Durden was still pushing the pace in round two, but it’s clear the low kicks were slowing him down a little bit. Then, a counter combo from Nascimento floored him, allowing the fight to finally move to the floor off a Durden desperation shot. Nascimento immediately attacked the neck, flipping Durden over with an anaconda choke that eventually finished the contest.
Strange circumstances aside, Nascimento has now won four straight and deserves a shot at a ranked opponent. Durden will hopefully get a full camp for his next bout, as his stock didn’t fall despite the loss.
Additional Thoughts
- Charles Radtke defeats Daniel Frunza via third-round rear naked choke: It’s a common MMA trope that a matchup of two grapplers will result in a standup battle, but how often does the opposite happen? Both Radtke and Frunza typically win fights via knockout, yet this whole fight took place on the canvas. Radtke, as it turns out, was the much better wrestler and had very little difficulty countering Frunza’s aggression with well-timed reactive shots. Once on top, he tied up wrists and advanced position easily, breaking down Frunza repeatedly en route to the eventual submission win — the first of his pro career!
- Billy Elekana defeats Kevin Christian via first-round rear naked choke (highlights): I enjoyed this more than the average unranked Light Heavyweight collision! Christian looked sharp early in his UFC debut. Standing at 6’7” with an 80 inch reach, Christian imposed his range well with punishing right kicks to the inside calf and body. Elekana stalked consistently and waited for his moment, eventually timing Christian’s lateral movement with a well-timed right hook. Christian hit the floor in a world of trouble, and Elekana jumped his back to seal the deal with a sleep-inducing strangle.
- Donte Johnson defeats Sedriques Dumas via second-round guillotine (highlights): For a brief moment, this bout was intriguing. Johnson, a UFC newcomer with a 6-0 record filled entirely by first-round knockouts, came out swinging, and Dumas dumped him with a reactive single leg takedown. Dumas did a really good job of tying up Johnson and forcing his foe to wrestle, which is great strategy against an inexperienced young hitter. Unfortunately, Dumas is terrible. He failed to do anything with his wrestling, tired himself out while trying to outlast Johnson, and then tripped over his own feet on no fewer than three occasions while throwing the worst spinning backfists since Ben Askren vs. Demian Maia. The wrestling continued into the second when Dumas opted not to defend a guillotine choke, resulting in an easy strangle for Johnson’s first career victory. Why is this guy on the UFC roster again?
- Talita Alencar defeats Ariane Carnelossi via third-round rear naked choke (highlights): The opening bout of the night proved to be surprisingly fun. Carnelossi opened the contest with pressure, taking advantage of her superior kickboxing. Unfortunately for her, Alencar was considerably better with both takedowns and general grappling. Carnelossi was scrappy and continually forced scrambles, but Alencar managed to stun her in the second with a hard shot and remain in control. With both women exhausted in the third, Alencar still found her way to top position one last time and forced the tap for her third UFC victory.
For complete UFC Vegas 110 results and play-by-play, click here.
