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The final UFC card of the 2023 calendar year was one for the ages; a captivating main card that kept everyone engaged in this iconic event.
The first of these main fights was a Featherweight bout, with Josh Emmet facing late replacement Bryce Mitchell. This fight was supposed to be the featured prelim before the main card, but Ian Garry had to pull out of his fight with Vicente Luque. The first round started with early pressure from Emmet and not long after, Mitchell swayed in to dodge a punch and was met with Emmet's extraordinarily powered right cross that slept Mitchell. This was one of the most brutal knockouts this year- rendering Mitchell unconscious- leaving many scared for his well-being. This one-punch-power netted Emmet a performance of the night bonus and was well deserved.
The second of the main card fights was a Lightweight bout between Tony Ferguson and Paddy Pimblet. There was a lot of talk about this fight and both men needed a win to reengage themselves as true contenders. Pimblet won a questionable decision and Ferguson was on a 6 fight-losing streak. The fight started with Pimblet looking very relaxed on the feet, controlling distance and tempo to not get in any risky scrambles or clinch battles with Ferguson. The round was all Pimblet as he landed long-range attacks with short bursts and a huge display of striking prowess as he almost knocked out Ferguson in the first. The latter two rounds consisted of calculated yet gassed out jiu-jitsu scrambles and top control from Pimblet. In the end, with his overall ground pressure and top control throughout the fight, Pimblet won it unanimously. This was big for Pimblet as it cemented him as a contender. As for Ferguson, it extends his losing streak to 7 fights and questions, when he is due to hang the gloves up?
For the third fight, we have Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson facing against Shavkat Rakhmanov. This was the heaviest better's difference of the night with Wonderboy as a +450 underdog. In the first round, it was all Shavkat as he put a ton of pressure on Wonderboy by closing the distance and putting his back against the cage. This went on for the duration of round one and won him the round. Going into round two, Wonderboy fought his fight but was quickly put against the cage. With some impressive takedown defense from Wonderboy, he lasted for a while until Shavkat finally took him down and it was practically over as he had Wonderboy in a modified Kimura lock which led him to take the back. With five seconds left in the round, Shavkat submitted Wonderboy with a rear naked choke, being the first to submit Wonderboy in his career. This win pushed Shavkat's undefeated record to 18-0 with all being finishes (10 by submission/ 8 by knockout), bringing him into title contender status.
Our Co-Main Event was a rematch between Brandon Royval and Alexandre Pantoja. This marks Pantoja's first defense as the champion and against someone whom he beat two years ago via submission. Pantoja looked great throughout the fight laying dominating ground control and top position draining Royval throughout the opening rounds with scrambles ending with him on top and in control throughout the first three rounds. Pantoja stunned and dropped Royval in the second but that's about all that happened. The championship rounds started with Pantoja swiftly taking the back and holding onto it for the duration of this round with a very deep rear naked choke sunk in but escaped by Royval. The fifth round was where Royval needed to come and win this fight. He was landing quality strikes in combinations but could do nothing to stop getting taken down leading Pantoja to a unanimous win on the judge's scorecard. Securing the title status to Pantoja, we don't know who's next in line for the champion.
Now to the main event, we had Leon Edwards facing off against Colby Covington. We all saw this match to be a great fight as there had been some beef between these two which, in a way, made it a grudge match too. The entire round was controlled, kept standing and at the tempo, exactly what Leon wanted. When Colby shot for a takedown, Leon landed one right back, giving the judges no choice but to give him the opening rounds. This match was Colby's first in two years and was a strange one, as Colby's unrelenting pace was nowhere to be seen which confused all viewers. Colby had no response to Leon's distance control and takedown defense. The only round Colby really put up a fight was in the fifth round where he put some of the wrestling to good use and ended with Colby on top but the decision was made. Leon gets to hear Bruce Buffer say, "And Still." It was a hard-fought battle and was a well-deserved victory for the champion.
There isn't another UFC event until January 13th with Johnny Walker V. Magomed Ankalaev 2. While there are so many great ways to finish a year, the UFC ended with a bang.
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