The main event saw Jan Blachowicz defend his light heavyweight title against 42-year-old challenger, Glover Teixeira.
In a performance nothing short of incredible, Teixeira not only captured the title, but did so with relative ease. After spending nearly the entire first round on top of Blachowicz, the second round had a similar outcome. A small exchange on the feet took place before Teixeira landed a heavy left hand on the former champion, giving him the opening he needed to, once again, get the fight to the ground, ultimately cementing his victory with a rear-naked-choke.
With a professional MMA career dating back to 2002, the veteran Teixeira now reaches the pinnacle of his division.
In the co-main event, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan competed for a shot at reclaiming his championship. The only caveat being, this time it was an interim championship.
After losing his title via disqualification due to an illegal knee, Yan was originally scheduled for a rematch against current champion Aljamain Sterling. However, injuries forced Sterling out of the rematch, resulting in the interim title fight taking place.
In this event, Yan took on the dynamic striker Cory Sandhagen. The fight lasted all 5 rounds, in a thrilling back-and-forth exchange that stayed predominantly on the feet.
Sandhagen managed to implement his game in the first round with volume, stance switching, and unremitting movement. But towards the third round, the tides began to turn, as Yan stayed consistent, marching forward and landing the heavier of the strikes. This constant pressure resulted in Yan receiving a unanimous decision victory.
Now, with the interim title, the rematch between himself and Sterling looks to be in the near future.
Further down on the main card, a welterweight fight took place between Khamzat Chimaev and Li Jingliang that had many questions surrounding it. Mainly, how legitimate is Chimaev. Making his UFC debut on July 16, 2020, Chimaev made headlines, not merely by virtue of how dominantly he dispatched his opponent, but by how just 10 days later, he found himself back inside the octagon dispatching another opponent even quicker.
In late 2020, a Covid-19 diagnosis sidelined Chimaev for over a year, even prompting the fighter to take to instagram and announce his retirement from the sport. Yet, in spite of all the challenges, Chimaev made a full recovery and was able to compete at UFC 267. It was there he took on the number 11 ranked Li Jingliang, who from a rankings perspective, was a major step up in competition.
3 minutes and 16 seconds was all it took for Chimaev to score a rear-naked-choke victory. At one point in the fight, he picked his opponent up, carrying him over to UFC president Dana White to verbally state how he was the most dominant fighter. Chimaev, in his 4 UFC fights, has absorbed exactly 1 strike. That level of unequivocal dominance has not been seen in the modern era of the UFC. Where he will go next exactly is not known. However, the sky's the limit based on the available data.
The next UFC fight will feature two more championship fights- men’s welterweight and women’s strawweight- and will take place Saturday, Nov. 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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