by I’ve often said that some of the best UFC cards are the free ones on ESPN, and tonight’s undercard was no exception to that rule! UFC Vegas 78 was a very heavy card with 13 fights booked. 8 of those fights ended with a decisive finish, with 7 of those 8 on the undercard to start the show.
In a wild start, the first seven fights ended in violent finishes, one after another with 6 of those 7 finishes coming in the first round! A UFC record.
Fight one resulted in Luana Santos defeating Juliana Miller by TKO in 3:41
Fight two resulted in Da’Mon Blackshear twisting Jose Johnson into submission in 3:47
Fight three resulted in Jaqueline Amorim striking Montserrat Ruiz into submission. This one actually got out of the first round as the finish didn’t come until 3:41 of the third round.
Fight four resulted in Martin Buday submitting Josh Parisian by kimura in just 4:11 of the first round.
Fight five resulted in Isaac Dulgarian defeating Francis Marshall by TKO from elbows at just 4:48 of the first round.
Fight six resulted in Terrance McKinney over Mike Breeden, knocking him out in only 1:25 of the fight.
And finally, fight seven resulted in Marcus McGhee taking out JP Buys with a vicious KO at 2:19of the opening round.
As for the main card, Cub Swanson walked away with his 29th career victory and 14th in the UFC, to improve his overall record to Hakeem Dawodu by unanimous decision. I actually had it the other way, with Dawodu getting the win easily by points, but that’s why I’m a writer and not a judge I guess.
The main card only saw one knockout as Khalil Rountree Jr defeated Chris Daukaus in only 2:40 of the opening round. This was his 12th career win with 8 by knockout. This is also his fourth straight win since September of 2021 as he appears to be on the rise yet again!
As for the main event, it was a back-and-forth affair that eventually saw Vicente Luque defeat Rafeal dos Anjos by decision, 3 rounds to two, on two judges, and 4 rounds to 1 on a third. This was a much-needed win for Luque, after two straight losses at the hands of Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal. Luque is hoping to climb back into welterweight title contention.
