UFC Vegas 120 left one of those nights that start with a relatively discreet card on paper and end up moving important pieces within several divisions. Quillan Salkilld was the great protagonist by finishing Mateusz Gamrot in the first round, but the evening also left the farewell of Darren Elkins, a new victory for Diego Ferreira and several performances that are worth following closely.
The big story of the night was Salkilld. The Australian arrived before the test that should definitively separate the hype from reality and responded in the most forceful way possible: submitting Gamrot with a mataleon at 4:25 of the first round.
He was not just any opponent. Gamrot has been among the best lightweights in UFC for years and precisely his fight seemed to represent the most difficult test possible for a fighter on the rise. The fact that Salkilld managed to finish him by submission completely changes his dimension within 155 pounds.
We're no longer just talking about a promise. After this victory, Salkilld enters a zone of the division where virtually every subsequent fight can have major consequences for the title.
In the co-main event, Diego Ferreira once again proved that age does not always tell the whole story. The Brazilian beat Billy Quarantillo by unanimous decision, with three cards of 30-27, in a duel between two veterans accustomed to competing at a high pace.
Ferreira was able to control the exchanges better and take all three rounds. Quarantillo once again showed the toughness that characterizes him, but this time he failed to convert his pressure into enough favorable moments to change the course of the fight.
The night also had a particularly symbolic moment with Darren Elkins' last fight.
Yadier del Valle needed only 35 seconds to finish the veteran by TKO. A forceful outcome that confirms the potential of the Cuban, although it was inevitably in the background because it was the farewell of one of the most recognizable fighters of the last generations of featherweight.
Elkins never needed to be a champion to build a respected career. His endurance, his ability to survive practically impossible situations and his way of turning many fights into real wars made "The Damage" one of those names that perfectly explain an era of UFC.
For Del Valle, on the other hand, the story is just beginning. Finishing off a veteran with such experience in 35 seconds is the kind of performance that serves to speed up a race.
Alexia Thainara got another of the important victories of the card by beating Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision. The scorecards were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Thainara, who took a particularly valuable fight due to the experience and the journey of her opponent.
Lemos has been measuring herself against the top of strawweight for years and beating her is a much more significant reference than accumulating several victories against lower-level opposition. Thainara leaves Las Vegas clearly reinforced.
Ty Miller, on the other hand, got one of the best finishes of the night against Billy Ray Goff. The fight went to the third round, but barely 15 seconds into the last round when Miller got the TKO.
It was an important victory because it didn't come through an isolated explosion early in the fight. Miller had to work for ten minutes, make adjustments, and finally find the time to close out the fight.
The preliminaries also left several interesting names.
Steven Asplund defeated Guilherme Pat by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards. There was no spectacular finishing, but there was a solid victory in a fight that required work over all three rounds.
Diyar Nurgozhay starred in one of the most curious outcomes of UFC Vegas 120. The Kazakh finished Bruno Lopes by TKO with only one second left in the first round. The clock read 4:59 when the stoppage came.
It's precisely the kind of situation that proves why a fighter can't switch off until he hears the horn. Nurgozhay found the moment when it looked like both would return to their corners and managed to avoid another five minutes of fighting.
Jose Montanha da Silva needed even less time to resolve his fight against Louie Sutherland. The Brazilian found his back and closed a fight that ended the fight at 1:50 of the first round.
It was one of the cleanest performances of the preliminaries and another example of how quickly a fight can change when there is a clear difference in certain grappling positions.
Manoel Sousa and Richie Miranda starred in one of the few confrontations of the preliminary part that needed to reach the judges. Sousa took the unanimous decision with three identical cards of 29-28.
Miles Johns didn't want to know anything about the scores either. He finished Gianni Vazquez by TKO at 3:09 of the first round, getting a necessary victory and demonstrating once again the power he can generate when he finds his distance.
In the women's duel between Juliana Miller and Ravena Oliveira, the fight ended in the second round. Miller managed to take the fight to her home turf and closed a kill at 1:38 to get the submission.
The card began with Carol Foro facing GiGi Canuto. Foro took the victory by unanimous decision after three rounds, with 29-28 on the three cards, opening a night in which the finishes would end up having much more prominence.
UFC Vegas 120 thus leaves twelve fights and several interesting conclusions.
Ferreira shows that he still has the fuel to continue competing against recognizable names. Thainara gets a victory that should considerably raise his level of opposition. Del Valle dismisses Elkins with a withering knockout and names like Miller, Nurgozhay, Montanha, Johns and Juliana Miller are strengthened thanks to their finishes.
But everything is inevitably overshadowed by Quillan Salkilld.
He had arrived in Las Vegas with twelve consecutive victories and with the feeling of being facing one of the most interesting projects in lightweight. The problem was that he was facing Mateusz Gamrot, exactly the type of opponent who usually stops fighters who move up too quickly.
Just the opposite happened.
Salkilld did not simply survive the exam. He finished Gamrot in the first round and did so precisely through a submission.
The lightweight just won a new problem. And after UFC Vegas 120, it seems unlikely that Quillan Salkilld's next fight will not be against another of the division's big names.