Biggest Winner: Lone’er Kavanagh
Kavanagh didn’t expect to be headlining a UFC event in just his fourth bout with the promotion, but that is the position he found himself in after he agreed to replace Asu Almabayev against Moreno. And it turned out to be a good move because the British brawler put on one of the best performances of his UFC career against the biggest test to date in the former of an ex-champion. Kavanagh was quicker to the punch all night, and when Moreno got his licks in he stood in the pocket and absorbed them. In the end, he did enough to secure a unanimous decision win. It was a great bounce back fight for Kavanagh, who was coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Charles Johnson, the first defeat of his career.
Runner Up: David Martinez
In just his third fight inside the Octagon, Martinez secured a huge win over a former Bantamweight title contender in Vera, dominating “Chito” for 15 minutes to pick up his tenth straight win. Prior to his win over Vera, Martinez was coming off a win over Rob Font. so it’s not like matchmakers were taking it easy on him. Martinez will likely land in the Top 15 with his latest conquest, which means the competition will only get tougher. And that is right up his alley because Martinez has shown that he isn’t afraid of anything matchmakers throw at him and is ready to pull off an upset after another.
Biggest Loser: Marlon Vera
We can go with Brandon Moreno here, who has lost two straight for the second time in his UFC career, or Daniel Zellhuber, who lost his third in a row. But we are giving “Chito” the spot because he has now lost four straight after coming up short against David Martinez. Vera has not won a fight since defeating Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 in Aug. 2023 and his latest defeat will take him out of the Top 10. It’s a drastic downfall for the Ecuadorian, who know has to wait to see if his latest setback will get him releases or if the UFC power ups give him one more chance to turn things around.
