In one of the best all-around cards of the year, the MMA fandom saw it all to end the ESPN era of the UFC. From all-time championship performances, wild knockouts, crazy brawls, draws, and even tragedy all unfolded in Vegas in the final pay-per-view of the year. A night to remember in UFC history with two new champions crowned, but those two fights could not have gone any differently. The perfect card to end one era and move on to the next, as UFC will move to Paramount+ at the start of 2026.
UFC 323 Recap:
Jan Blachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov: Light Heavyweight
The main card of UFC started with a rare majority draw when Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov met head-to-head. The former champion in Blachowicz, had been a part of two majority draws in his career and some controversial robberies. Most notably in his title fight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282. With draws included, he had not won his previous three fights. He was set to face a KO machine, Bogdan Guskov, who had been on a terror in the light heavyweight division.
In the first round, it was extremely close, but Jan outlanded Guskov barely and had a submission attempt to edge out the round. In the second round, however, Guskov dominated Blachowicz on the ground and didn’t let up once. He was able to secure a 10-8 round in two of the judges’ minds and set Kuskov up well going into the third round. The last round did not go Guskov’s was, though, as Jan started to land heavy shots and hurt Guskov multiple times and even dropped him with ten seconds to go in the fight. Blachowicz won rounds one and three, but with the 10-8 round two, the scorecards were even, leading to a majority draw.
Payton Talbott vs Henry Cejudo: Bantamweight
One final dance in the octagon for the former two-division champion in Henry Cejudo, as he said himself, this would be the last fight of his career. It would be easy, though, as he faced one of the most exciting new fighters in the UFC in Payton Talbott. Talbott has burst onto the scene and is one of the best young prospects coming up in the bantamweight division.
Talbott did not take it easy on the Hall of Famers as he used his superior size and reach to punish the Olympic gold medalist. The striking of Talbott was on full display, and he was exceptional in his work on Cejudo’s body. Cejudo has his moments on the feet as well, with some hard shots landing, and he did a good job with his leg kicks, but it wasn’t enough. What was especially impressive was the wrestling of Talbott; he stuffed almost every takedown of Cejudo and even took him down with some showboating antics afterwards. Talbott dominantly won 30-27 and could find himself in the top ten rankings soon.
Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira: Flyweight
Tatsuro Tiara and Brandon Moreno met in a top-five flyweight-ranked fight that had a controversial ending. In the first round, both men were feeling each other out on the feet before they started to exchange some good scrambles in the grappling department. Moreno tried to lock in a triangle submission on Taira early in the round but didn’t have the angle to complete the choke. However, Moreno kept trying and held on for dear life as Taira just played defense so he wouldn’t get submitted. This triangle attempt lasted almost the entire round, and it was hard to judge who won because nothing major happened for any fighter.
Controversy struck in the second round after Taira would take Moreno down 90 seconds in. After a scramble, Taira took Morenos back and flattened him out. He then proceeded to land clubbing ground and pound strikes to Moreno’s head. He covered up, but not all of the punches were landing clean, and it didn’t appear that Moreno was too hurt. Moreno covered up, and the fight was called, leading to a TKO win for Taira.
The former champion immediately got up and disagreed with the stoppage, indicating that he was fine and could have continued. The call was made, though, and Taira walked away with the TKO win. Fans were not too happy with the stoppage as this was a consequential fight, and Moreno seemed to be fine after it was called. Nonetheless, Tatsuro Taira is next in line for the flyweight title shot after this win and could achieve that goal in the near future.
Alexandre Pantoja vs Joshua Van: Flyweight Championship
Alexandre Pantoja is won of the greatest flyweights in UFC history and looked to continue his legacy against the 24-year-old phenom in Joshua Van, who was unranked earlier this year. In what was set to be a thriller ended in heartbreak as just seconds in, Van caught a kick from Pantoja and tried to knock him over. Pantoja stuck his arm out to brace himself, but with his weight coming down, his arm would snap.
A freak and gruesome injury that put an end to what was looking like a great championship bout. Joshua Van would win the title due to Pantoja not being able to fight after the injury, and Van became the second youngest champion in UFC history behind Jon Jones. A tragic injury that could have career-changing effects for Pantoja and leaves many questions in the flyweight division. Van is now the champion, and it looks like his next challenger will be Tatsuo Taira coming up soon in 2026.
Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili: Bantamweight Championship
Petr Yan put on one of the greatest and most high-level championship performances of all time against the bantamweight GOAT Merab Dvalishvili. This was Merab’s fourth title fight of the year, and he has already shown that he is one of the greatest fighters to ever live. Most fans thought that there was not a bantamweight in the world who had a chance of beating Merab and might never be one. Petr Yan had something else to say, however. He faced Merab at UFC in 2023 and lost by unanimous decision, which was his third loss in a row after losing his title to Aljamain Sterling. Since then, he went on an impressive three-fight win streak and made it look easy along the way. He is one of the most skilled fighters in all of MMA, and he showed why on the biggest scale.
Since the opening round, Yan was in control of the fight. He used his elite boxing to keep Merab at range and established his jab early. He also did a great job of mixing in kicks, which Merab had difficulty handling all night. Yan also took Merab down multiple times, which is not something that fans are used to seeing. Yan even slammed Merab down on his head at one point, which showed the skill and dominance that Yan was portraying. Yan’s kicks really started to take effect in round three, where he landed a massive liver kick to Merab that hurt the champion. This was one of many that Yan would land, and every one he threw was more devastating to the body of Dvalishvili.
What was the most impressive part of Yan’s performance, though, was his take-down defense and cardio. Merab shot 29 takedowns and only landed two, which were inconsequential as Yan got right back up. Nothing that Merab was working as Yan fought the perfect fight. He would win by unanimous decision and reclaim the bantamweight championship. From being 0-3 a few years ago to champion, it is one of the best career comebacks in recent memory. A historical night for Petr Yan against one of the best to ever do it. A rematch for the trilogy looks like it could be next, but other top contenders are going to buy in for that bantamweight gold. The future of the division is uncertain, but the excitement is there to stay.
