Saturday’s UFC Vegas 113 marked the promotion’s first Fight Night event of the Paramount+ era and took place at the newly revamped Meta Apex.
Fortunately, the new and improved Apex comes with more than a new name. There is seating for fans, and while limited, it’s nice to have an actual cheering section in the building. It certainly made a difference in the broadcast, but it’s worth noting that, like every other UFC card, half the fans didn’t show up until the second half of the night.
There were four finishes at UFC Vegas 113, two of which came on the main card portion of the event. That included the main event, which saw bantamweight contender Mario Bautista submit Vinicius Oliveira.
What comes next for the losing half of UFC Vegas 113? Now that Bryson Hester has the flu (but is not yet out of it), I will fill in this week. Time to shake off the matchmaker rust!
Vinicius Oliveira
The big story coming into UFC Vegas 113 was Vinicius Oliveira’s weight. A week after the fight he claimed to be 30 pounds. That’s a lot of weight to lose in just a few days. Thanks to his dedication, Oliveira did make weight for the fight, but he also gassed early. For a fighter who claimed in his first main event that he would be fighting for the bantamweight title within a year, things weren’t looking good.
Oliveira noted during his media day appearance that he won’t be above 135 pounds for long and will move up to featherweight at some point. Honestly, he might want to think about that sooner rather than later. After the Contender Series in 2023, the now 30-year-old took the long road to the UFC, posting a 20-3 record when he made his promotional debut. He’s in his prime, and if the cut to 135 is so draining, he needs to step up now and make a good run.
It’s hard to justify a ranked opponent for Oliveira after Saturday’s show, but since he’s coming off a main event exit, how about No. 15-ranked David Onama for a featherweight debut? Onama himself suffers a loss against Steve Garcia. This will likely work as a co-main event on another Apex map.
Oliveira’s next fight: David Onama, at featherweight
Amir Albazi
Flyweight Amir Albazi’s toughest opponents to date have been injuries and consistency. Oh, and Kyoji Horiguchi and Brandon Moreno.
To be honest, Albazi can handle this. He was outmatched by a smart veteran with a speed advantage. Horiguchi is honestly a top three flyweight in the world, whatever his UFC ranking may be. He has won gold in several major promotions and is back in the UFC chasing the last title that has eluded him. Albazi, meanwhile, was pulled from a fight last year, was not medically cleared and had been out for more than a year when he stepped into the cage on Saturday.
What he needs is a reasonable turnaround, and honestly, a tune-up style fight. He will drop back slightly from his No. 6 ranking this week, but someone hovering around the No. 10 spot could work. Alex Perez, who scored a victory over Charles Johnson in which Perez missed weight, is in tenth place and fits that bill perfectly.
Albazi’s next fight: Alex Perez
Prison Almeida
With all due respect to the fighters, who undoubtedly went through tough training camps, there were no winners in Rizvan Kuniev vs. Jailton Almeida. Almeida came into action on short notice to replace the unranked Ryan Spann and fought with a puzzling lack of urgency. When Kuniev held him against the fence, Almeida opted to more or less stand and wait for the referee to resume the action. He did this several times, but it led to a rather tepid fight that had the Meta Apex fans erupting in cheers.
Just a year or so ago, Almeida was seen as a potential future champion. A former light heavyweight, he has speed and power, but sometimes he seems to forget how good he is. All the resources it took to beat an opponent like Kuniev, but he just couldn’t pull the trigger. You could blame the short-term nature of the fight, but he chose to take the fight anyway.
Almeida has now lost two in a row, but that won’t hurt him much in the heavyweight division, which is so shallow that Gable Steveson, who has yet to fight in the UFC, is seen as the possible savior of the division. England’s Mick Parkin, ranked No. 12, is coming off the first loss of his career (against Marcin Tybura) and is 4-1 in the UFC. It’s hard to see someone going that far. Just what the doctor ordered.
Almeida’s next fight: Mick Parkin
Marc-André Barriault
The Canadian ‘Power Bar’ is about as fan-friendly middleweight as you’ll find. Three consecutive post-fight bonuses. Two consecutive Fight of the Nights. Unfortunately, he was on the losing side of both. Still, his bank account is happy and the UFC has no plans to scrap the Quebec Bonus Machine.
However, Barriault, a former TKO doubles champion, is 1-5 in his last six fights. He needs a win, stat.
Sedriques “SD” Dumas enters. “The Reaper” has practically reaped his own soul during his UFC run, with inconsistent results and multiple arrests for shenanigans outside the octagon. It’s quite impressive that he still has a job; Dumas must have dirt on someone in the UFC. All kidding aside, Dumas literally had to pull out of UFC 317 because he could not get a judge to approve the removal of his ankle monitor in time. Dumas has two defeats and a No Contest (accidental foul) in his last three assignments. Barraiult could finally push him away from the UFC.
Barriault’s next fight: SD Dumas
Jean Matsumoto
Bantamweight Jean Matsumoto fell to 1-2 in his last three after a loss to Farid Basharat at UFC Vegas 113.
Brazilian Matsumoto started his UFC run with a pair of quick wins before landing a fight with Rob Font on short notice when Dominick Cruz pulled out and retired. It’s hard to pin that loss on him, but Basharat’s loss will slow his momentum a bit more (in between those setbacks, he earned a split-decision win over Miles Johns).
Next? TUF winner Ricky Turcios is in need of an opponent after Cameron Smotherman collapsed at the UFC 324 weigh-ins, causing their fight to be canceled. That’s as solid a match as any.
Matsumoto’s next fight: Ricky Turcios
Julius Walker
The “Juice Box” Julius Walker fell to 1-2 in the UFC on Saturday after being stopped by Dustin Jacoby. A valiant effort, but the light heavyweight now finds himself in a difficult situation. He was originally supposed to be confronted Uran Satybaldiev at the event, and if that fight can be rebooked, that makes the most sense.
Walker’s next fight: Uran Satybaldiev
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