Sooo … About Last Night

Last night (Sat., March 1, 2025), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 103. What happens when an uninspired card suffers hit after hit? That’s the question UFC Vegas 103 sought to answer. Not only did the fight card lose big names several weeks ago, but on weigh-in day, two more bouts were canceled. Based on how many of the fights that happened ended up going to a decision, perhaps the shorter bout list was a blessing in disguise? Ultimately, this was one of the more skippable events in recent memory, but there were still some rather fun scraps throughout the evening.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 103’s best performances and techniques:

Kape Answers The Call

The question with Manel Kape is always whether or not he’ll throw punches. “Starboy” has the fastest hands in a division filled with extremely quick men, he’s got real knockout power, and his wrestling defense has become excellent in recent years. The only thing holding him back is that sometimes, he just doesn’t throw enough offense!

That was no issue versus Asu Almabayev. Kape stalked his foe aggressively, trying to pin him against the cage often. Whenever Almabayev stopped his feet, Kape would feint and explode with a big strike or throw in combination. Credit to the Kazakh fighter, he actually landed some powerful kicks and hard punches from his back foot, but he just couldn’t manage to deter Kape.

The unfortunate part of the performance was a trio of potential eye pokes. The first was almost certainly a punch to the eye ball and did really damage, but Kape’s slapping left hook in the latter two incidents may have been genuine eye pokes. “Starboy” just surged forward and unleashed nasty combinations though, sending Almabayev running until the referee intervened.

Old gloves, old problems?

Middleweight Madness

Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez was never going to be particularly high-level and certainly shouldn’t have been the co-main event, but at least it was a whole lot of fun.

Brundage started the fight by making use of his athleticism, getting off first with powerful swings. He run Marquez’s bell a couple times simply by starting faster and closing distance quickly. Marquez, meanwhile, was having difficulty getting going, but he is tough as an old shoe.

Midway through the first, Marquez scrambled up and cracked his opponent. The tide turned in an instant, and he was suddenly swarming for the finish. Brundage isn’t known for his durability, but credit to the collegiate wrestler, he hung tough and didn’t go away. Before long, both were swinging wildly and had lost their mouthpieces in the chaos.

Ultimately, Marquez came on a little too strong, a little too early. He’s known for the comeback finish, but this time, he just ended up trading power blows with a more athletic fighter who was still dangerous. When Brundage didn’t go away, Marquez was vulnerable and absorbed a huge knee and right hand.

He hit the ground hard for the fourth time in a row.

Additional Thoughts

Nasrat Haqparast defeats Esteban Ribovics via split-decision: It is a genuine crime to put Ribovics inside the Apex after his Noche UFC “Fight of the Year” versus Daniel Zellhuber. As expect, this fight was an absolute banger and deserved to be in front of a crowd. The first round belonged to Haqparast on the strength of raw hand speed and sharp counter punching, but Ribovics forced his way back into the fight with tenacity and volume. By the third, he had really worn down the more experienced man and done lots of damage, so it really come down to a very competitive second round. Despite the loss, it was an incredible scrap that cements Ribovics as a top-tier action fighter who shouldn’t be hidden from view.

Mario Pinto defeats Austen Lane via second-round knockout (highlights): Regardless of its main card placement, I cannot pretend this was a high-level fight. There was a lot of firepower on display but very little defense. Pinto tried fighting patiently in the first to mixed results, so he opted to say “F—k it!” and brawl in round two. Lane was caught with his hands low while leaning back by an absolutely massive overhand right — that’ll do it!

Sam Patterson defeats Danny Barlow via first-round knockout (highlights): This bout was a quality reminder that timing still beats speed. Barlow is an athletic Southpaw with a slick left hand, but there’s not much more to his game (which makes sense given his experience level). Patterson, conversely, isn’t known for being a huge hitter, but the English prospect has a lot more experience against skilled opposition. He was able to control the range with his feints, drawing reactions from Barlow then sliding his right hand into the target. His straighter right found its way inside Barlow’s more looping left several times, and one such connection stunned “LeftHand2God” badly. Moments later, he was asleep on the canvas, and his undefeated record was no more.

Chepe Mariscal defeats Ricardo Ramos via unanimous decision: This was a confusing bit of matchmaking, seeing as Mariscal was riding a four-fight win streak whereas Ramos had lost two of his last three. Still, both of these Featherweights came to scrap. Mariscal pushes one hell of a pace and has a knack for being offensive from every position, which generally kept him in the driver’s seat. Ramos hung tough and kept throwing home run shots, which at least kept a bit of tension even as “Machine Gun” continued to pull away.

Ramazan Temirov defeats Charles Johnson via unanimous decision: As is classically the case with mediocre “Fight Night” cards, some of the best match ups were hidden on the undercard. Right away, Temirov showed off the explosiveness that makes him a serious prospect, firing swinging wide with huge punches. Johnson started the fight slow and let Temirov control the dance early, but he began to wake up in the second and get to work by hitting the body more often. By the third, Temirov was a little fatigued, whereas “Inner G” was just hitting his stride. Unfortunately for Johnson, that rally came too late, and he came out on the wrong side of a close decision that hinged on the second. Either way, it was a competitive and skilled fight.

For complete UFC Vegas 103 results and play-by-play, click here.