The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from UFC Fight Night 235

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the UFC Apex on Saturday after a one-week hiatus, hosting an action-packed card headlined by middleweight contenders Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. After an awkward, ugly 25-minute scrap, Imavov picked up his first win since 2022 by majority decision.

Despite an underwhelming finale, Saturday’s card produced highlight reel finishes and exciting performances from several fan favorites. Here’s the good, bad and the ugly from UFC Fight Night 235.

The Good: Spectacular Finishes

UFC Fight Night 235 had a share of memorable finishes from notable names. Several fighters, including Molly McCann, Charlie Radtke and Randy Brown, violently raised their stocks, but the most spectacular finish of the night arguably goes to Zimbabwe’s finest Themba Gorimbo.

Gorimbo, who went viral last August after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprised the welterweight contender with a brand new home, has stolen the hearts of mixed martial arts fans with his charming, humble demeanor and fight-ending power. Gorimbo produced another viral moment with a 32-second flash knockout over Pete Rodriguez.

Seconds after flattening Rodriguez, Gorimbo proclaimed his love for Daniel Cormier before boldly claiming he’d be welterweight champion by the end of the year. Mind you, Gorimbo is not even ranked in the Top 15. While his expectations may be naively optimistic, you can’t hate on the guy's energy.

Speaking of energy, McCann surged into a new weight class after finishing off Diana Belbita in the final second of her strawweight debut. “Meatball” looked leaner and lighter at 115 pounds, but still carried threatening power in her overhand right. McCann blasted through Belbita’s high guard before flipping the script and ending the fight with the first submission of her career.

What could that mean for the strawweight division? With bangers like Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade and champion Weili Zhang, McCann’s personality mixed with her punching power could be a nice fit.

Radtke and Brown searched for knockouts following their decision wins and found them off fundamental combinations. Radtke cold-cocked Gilbert Urbina with a simple, yet sensational, left hook while Brown put Muslim Salikhov out with one of the oldest boxing combinations in the book: two blinding jabs followed by a straight right hand. As a boxing purist, I love seeing simple combinations produce devastating results. You know what they say: you can’t beat the classics.

Related » UFC Fight Night 235 Round-by-Round Scoring

The Bad: The Sub That Got Away

Fresh off her armbar finish over McCann last July, Julija Stoliarenko looked to stay in the win column and punish Luana Carolina for coming in three pounds overweight for their flyweight feud.

Stoliarenko, a dangerous grappler with 10 career submissions, nearly got her wish in the first round after locking up Carolina in a gnarly armbar attempt near the fence. Stoliarenko’s grasp was deep, but time wasn’t on her side, as the bell rang seconds before she could force a tap.

Still, as Stoliarenko headed back to her corner, she seemed confident that another opportunity would come her way. The question was if she could capitalize on it,

Stoliarenko found her answer with two minutes left in the fight. This time, she had the armbar and all the time in the world to finish it. After some scrappy scrambling from Carolina, the submission switched to a triangle before reverting back to an armbar.

But no matter how much Stoliarenko twisted and turned, she couldn’t secure the hold. Before she knew it, she lost control of Carolina altogether. Blessed with newfound freedom, the Brazilian emancipated Stoliarenko from her senses with a thudding right hand that put her flat on the canvas. It only took a few more punches before referee Eric McMahon called the bout.

Stoliarenko can only blame herself for the loss. Carolina hasn’t stopped an opponent since 2016, and a win would’ve provided the Lithuanian with some momentum. But if her chin can’t hold up against a pillow-fisted fighter of Carolina’s statue, how can she expect to hang with the killers of the flyweight division?

The Ugly: Shield Your Eyes!

It only took 11 seconds to end Makhmud Muradov's middleweight melee against Aliaskhab Khizriev, but not for the reasons you would hope. Before any man could find their footing, Khizriev inadvertently jammed his finger into Muradov’s left eye.

Muradov was in visible pain after taking a pointer to the cornea. The cage-side physician quickly examined, and after a 90-second conference between Muradov, the translator and referee Herb Dean, the fight was declared a No Contest.

Both men walked away disappointed by the outcome. Muradov, who last defeated Bryan Barberena last July, was looking to stay active and put together his first win streak since 2021. Khizriev has been plagued by inactivity despite coming into the fight with a perfect 12-0 record. When he’s in the cage, he’s always capable of stopping a fight early, but Saturday’s stoppage wasn’t what he had in mind.

Eye pokes continue to plague fights despite the organization’s efforts. Last April, the UFC debuted its new glove design at UFC 287 with hopes of fixing the problem, but as seen with Justin Tafa's horrific eye injury the following June, the problem persists.

With the nature of the sport, there is no way to get rid of accidental eye pokes completely, and when they do happen, we can only hope fighters can push through. Five minutes can only give a fighter so much time to recover, but when a finger is jammed in your socket, there is no victory in sight.