Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC Vegas 89

UFC Vegas 89 went down last night (Sat., March 23, 2024) inside UFC Apex featuring a women’s Flyweight fight that saw Rose Namajunas defeat Amanda Ribas via unanimous decision (see it again here). In the co-main event, Karl William defeated Junior Tafa, also via unanimous decision, after 15 minutes of Heavyweight action.

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Biggest Winner: Rose Namajunas

Look, it wasn’t the most exciting fight, but Namajunas gets the nod her for the simple fact that she picked up a much-needed win, getting her back into the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly two and a half years. The victory snapped her two-fight losing streak and saved her from digging a deeper hole for herself because a third straight defeat would have been detrimental to her career. Instead, “Thug Rose” takes out the No. 8 ranked fighter at 125 pounds, which increases her chances of cracking the Top 15 in a division she’s only competed in two times. She still has a way to go before she starts getting into the championship conversation, but she has to be breathing sigh of relief after picking up her first win as a Flyweight.

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Runner Up: Edmen Shahbazyan

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“The Golden Boy” hasn’t quite lived up to all the hype he had when he made his UFC debut in 2018, starting off his career with the promotion with four straight wins before going 1-4 in the five fights the followed coming into his fight against A.J. Dobson. And things weren’t looking all the great for him early in the fight after getting rocked by his foe. But a bit later in the opening frame, Shahbazyan turned it all around and managed to drop Dobson and eventually score a come-from-behind finish. It’s a win that likely saved his UFC career (for now), and will give him a ton of confidence going into his next fight.

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Biggest Loser: Igor Severino

This one is no surprise. 20-year old Igor Severino came into his first fight with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) with eight straight stoppage wins, an undefeated record (8-0) and all the potential in the world to make a nice career for himself on the biggest stage of them all. Unfortunately, he left without a job. For whatever reason, Severino decided to bite his opponent, Andre Lima, midway through the fight, leading to a bizarre disqualification. To make matters worse, Dana White immediately cut the Brazilian prospect, ending his UFC career before it even had a chance to take off. Now, not only will he never get the chance to fight inside the Octagon again, his reputation has been tarnished as a dirty fighter, which might make it difficult for him to land with another promotion anytime soon.

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For complete UFC Vegas 89 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.