The APEX may have witnessed the most disappointing Combat Sports event of the year, as the UFC failed to live up to its standards. A scheduled Catchweight bout between Trevin Giles and Andreas Gustafsson was cancelled just before the weigh-ins on Friday after Giles suffered an injury.
Just minutes away from taking place, the headliner of UFC Vegas 107 was cancelled as Maycee Barber had a medical issue in the locker room, meaning she and Erin Blanchfield could not square off in the Octagon.
A result of this was that only nine fights were displayed throughout the entire event, which highlighted the event’s overall lack of success.
How the event played out
Despite only showcasing nine battles, the MMA community were provided some thrilling fights.
Rayanne dos Santos and Alice Ardelean went into a three-round war, receiving a Fight of the Night bonus.
The event then followed on with an entertaining battle between Bolaji Oki and UFC debutant, Michael Aswell Jr.
Jordan Leavitt claimed a sensational submission win in the first round, defeating Kurt Holobaugh with an Anaconda Choke.
Allan Nascimento, Zachary Reese and Ketlen Vieira all picked up unanimous decision wins, but slowed down the excitement and thrills.
They soon picked back up after Dustin Jacoby knocked out Bruno Lopes in the first round before an impressive, quick submission triumph from Ramiz Brahimaj.
The supposed co-main event saw Mateusz Gamrot keep his position in the Lightweight rankings after a dominant decision victory against Ludovit Klein.
Gamrot then proposed a call-out to Benoit Saint-Denis in his post-fight interview, giving fans a feud to look forward to.
Blanchfield’s reaction to Main Event cancellation
After Barber’s unfortunate medical issue, the New York mixed martial artist was verbally violent after the headliner was shut down. The #4 Women’s Flyweight contender expressed her frustrations about her opponent during the post-fight press conference.
The 26-year-old was disappointed with the Colorado-born fighter’s professionalism, particularly since she failed to make weight at the weigh-ins on Friday.
“She needs to look at another division. She needs to fix herself. I think she’s a complete mess in every aspect of her entire life.” Blanchfield said about Barber.
“I’ve never even had any other opponents miss weight before or act the way she does. It’s pretty crazy, especially at this level. You expect all the athletes to be professional, so it’s pretty wild.”
It seemed that the cancelled bout between the two Flyweights could have been a title eliminator with the winner facing Valentina Shevchenko.
Moving on to the bright side
With UFC Vegas 107 being a fight night that Dana White will want to forget about, an eye-catching event is on the horizon as UFC 316 takes place on Saturday.
Merab Dvalishvili defends his Bantamweight title in a rematch against Sean O’Malley.
The co-main event features Julianna Pena making her first title defence in her second reign as Women’s Bantamweight Champion against heavy favourite, Kayla Harrison.
To make this month even more exciting for MMA fans, two intriguing fight nights take place.
The first is in Atlanta, which features a headliner between Welterweight contenders, Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley.
The other features a Light Heavyweight main event clash at Baku, Azerbaijan, between Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr.
To cap it all off, UFC 317 takes place during international fight week with Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira squaring off for the vacant Lightweight Championship.
Plus, Alexandre Pantoja makes his fourth Flyweight title defence against the #4 contender, Kai Kara-France.
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