The motion returned to the UFC’s dwelling base of Meta APEX as Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi went face to face for a attainable shot on the undisputed UFC flyweight title.
Listed below are our energy rankings for the evening’s high performers at UFC Vegas 119.
UFC Vegas 119 Energy Rankings
1. Manel Kape
Portugal’s hard-hitting flyweight contender showcased his punch energy in MMA gloves in beautiful vogue as he turned his major occasion combat with Kyoji Horiguchi on its head with one connection from his heavy fingers.
Horiguchi had largely dominated the primary two rounds, and regarded in stable kind within the third, however then Kape discovered a house for his punches as he shocked the Japanese legend with a giant shot that put Horiguchi on wobbly legs.
Kape closed in to complete the job and put himself proper in line for a shot on the title. It’s possible that he’ll have to attend for the rematch between Joshua Van and former champ Alexandre Pantoja, but when that combat will get delayed and the UFC brass need to hold Van lively, Kape is in prime place to step in and take benefit.
2. Murtazali Magomedov
UFC debutant Magomedov arrived within the UFC with an ideal file, and a superbly symmetrical end fee, with 5 KOs and 5 submissions from his 10 fights. On Saturday evening, he added to his submission tally with a first-round end of Melsik Baghdasaryan, and he did so in positive type.
Magomedov completed Baghdasaryan with a rarely-seen tornado submission to take his profession file to 11-0 together with his sixth sub end. Given the spectacular approach wherein he distributed with Baghdasaryan, it’s extremely possible that the Kyrgyz athlete will likely be bumped up in competitors sooner slightly than later. And within the featherweight division, there’ll be no scarcity of thrilling matchups to check his mettle as he seems to work his technique to the highest.
3. Navajo Stirling
New Zealand’s Stirling won’t be brash, however he’s actually filled with confidence in his skills. Given his excellent skilled file 10-0 file, that’s no shock.
Stirling wanted lower than a spherical and a half to complete the all the time powerful, all the time aggressive Ion Cutelaba within the co-main occasion as he put the division’s large names on discover with one other spectacular exhibiting.
The Kiwi striker from City Kickboxing seems to be taking an identical path to his teammate, reigning mild heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg, as he steadily makes his approach up the 205-pound division. And, after registering his fifth straight victory contained in the Octagon, it’s extremely possible that we’ll see him within the cage with ranked opposition subsequent outing.
4. Christian Rodriguez
After the hardest interval of his skilled preventing profession, Christian Rodriguez was in want of an unturn in fortunes, and he received it in excellent vogue on Saturday evening.
Rodriguez, who misplaced his longtime head coach Duke Roufus after his premature demise final yr, was on a two-fight skid, and had made the choice to maneuver to Las Vegas and resume his profession underneath the tutelage of head coach Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture. And in his first combat together with his new coach and workforce, he delivered a efficiency to recollect.
Confronted with hard-hitting Hyder Amil, Rodriguez went toe to toe together with his opponent earlier than finally dropping him and ending him with a guillotine choke that finally rendered Amil unconscious.
It was an emphatic victory, and one which marks the beginning of a brand new chapter in “CeeRod’s” profession.
5. Vinicius Oliveira
After exploding his approach into the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Sequence, a lot was anticipated of Vinicius Oliveira within the UFC’s bantamweight division, however after coming to just accept that he was draining himself and forcing himself to combat in a compromised state, Oliveira made the choice to maneuver as much as featherweight.
His divisional debut got here on Saturday evening, the place he engaged in a enjoyable back-and-forth battle with featherweight vet Andre Fili that finally ended with Oliveira claiming a second-round TKO.
With the Brazilian now in a weight class that ought to carry the most effective out of him, the sky might be the restrict for “LokDog”.
