The headliner of the 13-bout card at UFC 303 in Las Vegas was a dominating title fight between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka. Dan Ige filled in at short notice in the co-main event, but Diego Lopez let the promotion know he was ready to take center stage. But what were the biggest moments of International Fight Week? And who stood out the most on the card? Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Jeff Wagenheim offer their final thoughts.
Wagenheim: Things just keep getting better for Alex Pereira. Agreeing to take this title fight on just two weeks' notice, outside the country and far from his training gym, was legendary enough, but his performance on Saturday catapulted the UFC light heavyweight champion into the stratosphere.
Pereira scored a head kick knockout 13 seconds into the second round in the main event of UFC 303. After he took down former champion Jiri Prochazka with a left hook just before the horn at the end of the first round, the T-Mobile Arena crowd was stunned and eager to see more from this exciting powerhouse: another title defense at 205 pounds, or maybe he's ready to move up to heavyweight?
In his post-fight in-cage interview with Pereira, commentator Joe Rogan was already trying to sell the heavyweight move, one that could lead “Poitan” to an unprecedented feat: After just nine trips to the Octagon, he's already won championships at middleweight and light heavyweight. No fighter has ever held three UFC belts.
“I see that as my future,” said Pereira, who was a two-division kickboxing world champion in another sport. “I said that the last time I was here too. … The organizations didn't seem to be very interested. … I think the fans have a lot of say in this. Whatever they want. At the end of the day, it's the fans that are paying. If that's what they want, it's inevitable.”
Meanwhile, UFC's heavyweight division doesn't need to add to an existing stalemate between champion Jon Jones, interim champion Tom Aspinall and former champion Stipe Miocic, and the 205-pound division could still use the star power of Pereira, who shone brightly before this night but is now dazzling.
But you can't micromanage a phenom like Pereira, and the UFC will likely find him with the most enticing opportunity to further accomplish things that few could have predicted just a few years ago.
This is not the second coming of Conor McGregor, whom Pereira replaced on Saturday. The Irishman is the biggest star in the history of the sport, but his influence extends far outside the cage, which these days is mostly soap opera. Pereira, by contrast, is a fighter through and through. He's outspoken during his mic time, speaking through a translator. What makes him more of a star than anyone else at UFC is what happens the moment he steps into the cage, starting with a chillingly calm stare during the introduction and ending with a chillingly gruesome knockout. Fans will gladly prefer that to hackneyed histrionics.
Lopez, Ige get star treatment after UFC 303
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Dan Ige and Diego Lopez will compete in a hastily-scheduled co-main event by decision
Dan Ige and Diego Lopez will battle it out over three rounds in the co-main event of UFC 303.
Hale: Sure, Diego Lopez extended his winning streak to four with a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige, but the real story is how the fight came about and how Lopez and Ige, two fights who never expected to face each other until about four hours before the fight, pulled it off.
Let's start with Ige.
On Saturday morning, he went to watch the fight as a fan. By Saturday night, he was in the co-main event, fighting strong in the final round to pull off a stunning upset in a fight he was never supposed to be in.
As for Lopez, he could have pulled out of the fight at any time. With Brian Ortega moving up to 155 pounds on Friday morning, he could have even fought at a lower weight limit for this bout. When Ortega had to pull out due to illness, Lopez didn't want to risk a fight at a catchweight of 165 pounds, especially against an opponent as tough as Ige. But he did.
Win or lose, that doesn't necessarily matter as much as the courage it took for both men to put on this co-main event fight together and give the fans an exciting match.
Now that Ige has made his mark in the history books and achieved something memorable, whatever he wants next will be his, so long as it doesn't interfere with Lopez's plans.
As for Lopez, his arrow was already pointing to the ceiling. If he wants to fight at UFC Noche at The Sphere, he should. If he wants to fight someone like Alexander Volkanovski (he called Volkanovski out after the fight), let him have that fight. If Volkanovski is up for it.
Regardless of who wins, a star was born that night, and while stars often enjoy preferential treatment because of their status, Lopez and Ige will likely be hoping to reap a boon or two in the future.
The moment of truth arrives for Machado Gary
Okamoto: UFC has orchestrated Ian Machado-Garry's career beautifully. Seriously. And Machado-Garry has given back to UFC by evolving and transforming into a leading contender in the welterweight division. He's stepped up the level of competition at the right time, and it hasn't always been easy, but maybe that's a good thing. A close split decision win over Geoff Neal in February, and another close win over Michael Page on Saturday. These experiences have been valuable to his overall career, and he maintains a perfect record in these close bouts.
That being said, nothing is being built around this now. Machado-Garry has entered a division where it is difficult to find an opening. It is great to see him come out of these difficult situations and come out on top, but the difficult situations themselves need to be addressed. Machado-Garry has not always looked very comfortable in different aspects of these fights. He overcame it with confidence, good decision-making and very good skill, but again, against future contenders, there will be no clear path to victory.
Incidentally, his history of moving from gym to gym doesn't seem to have hindered him. In fact, in a fight like Paige's, he's got a guy like Henri Hooft who's taught him Dutch kickboxing, but he also has a guy who's a Muay Thai shootboxer on his side, and Demian Maia, so it's not a bad thing. It's not generally considered a good thing for a fighter to move from gym to gym, but it certainly seems to have worked out well for Machado Garry.
