Everything That Happened At UFC Vegas 83!

It wasn’t the biggest fight card of the year, but UFC Vegas 83 delivered some solid action last night (Sat., Nov. 18, 2023) live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, including a masterclass main event win by surging bantamweight contender Song Yadong over Chris Gutierrez.

In addition to Yadong’s headlining performance, UFC Vegas 83 produced a plethora of finishes, memorable outings, and key storylines heading into the new year. Check out some of those takeaways below and let us know what you took from Saturday’s card in “Sin City.”

‘Lionheart’ Has Lost His Roar

It’s been nearly five years since Anthony Smith fought Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title. “Lionheart” has been a staple of the 205-pound class after that 2019 meeting, but since then Smith hasn’t delivered the same action inside of the cage.

Over the years, “Lionheart” has dropped important matchups to the likes of Glover Teixeira, Magomed Ankalaev, Aleksandr Rakic, and Johnny Walker. Smith has been able to capture finishes over lesser ranked opponents and washed-up veterans along the way, but nothing that leads us to believe he’s still a top threat in the division.

On Saturday, Smith found himself matched up against Khalil Rountree. The former Ultimate Fighter standout has also been a division staple over the past five years, but Rountree is not some sort of world beater that has zero holes in his game. Sure he had won four-straight coming into UFC Vegas 83, but Rountree has dropped the ball multiple times throughout his career and tends to let opponents hang around for too long.

Some people believed that Smith would be able to utilize his deep bag of tricks and overall experience to eke out a win. He had fought some of the best in the world throughout his career so he should have been able to compete against Rountree. Unfortunately for Smith, that wasn’t the case. For the most part he was outmatched and eventually finished with a nasty third-round TKO.

It was proof that Smith isn’t quite the same fighter he once was and maybe someone who’s no longer a top 10 competitor.

Haqparast Headed Up

There was a time when Nasrat Haqparast was considered one of the more promising rising prospects in the lightweight division. He comes from a great MMA gym and had won three out of his first four trips to the Octagon. It seemed like he was destined for ranked competition for years to come.

That was before Haqparast suffered a knockout loss to Drew Dober back in 2020. That was the first knockout defeat of his career. Haqparast did rebound with wins over unranked lightweights Alexander Munoz and Rafa Garcia, but quickly dropped back-to-back decisions to veterans Dan Hooker and Bobby Green. It seemed like Haqparast would have to wait a long time before being provided with another potential breakout moment.

Fortunately, Haqparast has turned things around of late. He scored decision wins over Landon Quinones and John Makdessi to get back on track at 155 pounds before stepping into the Octagon this weekend against hard-nosed brawler Jamie Mullarkey. It was a chance for Haqparast to showcase he’s more than just a mid-level lightweight and he did just that. The Tristar Gym product absolutely steamrolled Mullarkey with a blistering first-round TKO.

It was the standout performance he was looking for and a likely launchpad to a top 15 matchup in early 2024.

The Asian MMA Scene Is Sizzling

This weekend’s card showcased a ton of Asian MMA talent and for good reason. The region continues to develop some of the best young fighters in the sport and it was on full display at UFC Vegas 83 in “Sin City.”

Leading the way was obviously Yadong’s main event beatdown over Gutierrez. The Chinese fighter is clearly one of the best bantamweight contenders in the world today and guy who can really do it all. Adding to the mix was South Korean prospect, Hyun Sung Park, who made a name for himself by winning on the Road To UFC series. Park was matched up against Shannon Ross on the “Prelims” undercard and delivered an impressive second-round knockout.

Last but not least, undefeated Japanese flyweight, Tatsuro Taira, was also on display as the 23-year-old prospect destroyed Carlos Hernandez with a second-round TKO. Taira pushed his UFC record to 5-0 in the process and turned in another performance that proves the Asian MMA scene is on the rise.

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For complete UFC Vegas 83 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.