UFC 324 was ravaged by injury before it ever got off the ground. A few weeks out, we lost Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes. On weigh-in day, after successfully making weight, Cameron Smotherman stepped off the scale, took a few steps and then faceplanted, busting open his chin which ended up requiring stitches. This morning, just hours before the event’s kickoff, we lost yet another bout, this time due to suspicious betting activity which later revealed Alexander Hernandez was injured, so his bout vs. Michael Johnson was canceled. Rocky start to a billion-dollar-per-year deal.

The card itself was pretty good, with the prelims seeing four straight finishes. Considering that the bonuses have doubled now, and there’s added incentive ($25K bonus for all finishes that didn’t already earn a standard bonus) to get a finish, perhaps a fire has been lit under our modern day gladiators. And may I just say that the old guys really do find some magical reserves because Nikita Krylov certainly did.

The rest of the fights, save one, went the distance, with Silva-Namajunas being closer than I thought it would be. Nurmagomedov predictably routed Figueiredo, as O’Malley did with Song Yadong. The lone finish was Cortes-Acosta sending Derrick Lewis to the land of banana peels and loss.

Gaethje-Pimblett was an absolute banger—not exactly a classic, mainly because there was an abundance of chicanery with eye-pokes, low blows and just wild striking, but still very good. Paddy has no quit in him and Justin can still crack. It was very clear that the significant strikes were very different for these gents, with Gaethje’s being far more impactful. Oh yeah, some brave person put $1.3M on Paddy to win, so there’s that.

Now that we’ve reviewed the highlights, let’s check out the results and bonuses while we’re here.

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UFC 324 Results

* 155 lbs.: Justin Gaethje def. Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)

* 135 lbs.: Sean O’Malley def. Song Yadong by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

* 265 lbs.: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Derrick Lewis by TKO (ground and pound), round 2 (3:14)

* 125 lbs.: Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

* 145 lbs.: Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

* 125 lbs.: Umar Nurmagomedov def. Deiveson Figueiredo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

* 185 lbs.: Ateba Gautier def. Andrey Pulyaev by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

* 205 lbs.: Nikita Krylov def. Modestas Bukauskas by KO (punches), round 3 (4:57)

* 125 lbs.: Alex Perez def. Charles Johnson by TKO (left hook), round 1 (3:16)

* 265 lbs.: Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman by TKO (strikes, I guess), round 1 (4:59)

* 170 lbs.: Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt by TKO (punches), round 1 (4:59)

UFC 324 Bonuses

* $100K each FOTN: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett

* $100K each POTN: Ty Miller, Josh Hokit

* $25K each to the other fighters that got a finish:Waldo Cortes-Acosta, Nikita Krylov

Thank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to The MMA Vivisection & 6th Round Post-fight Show podcast Substack to enjoy our premium content. Your paid subscriptions are keeping hope alive that we can continue on with our shows. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide.

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UFC 323 delivered big in their last PPV event ever (or so they say). It had all the hallmarks of a great event going in with solid matchmaking and terrific stats on paper, and the action and skill level we were treated to surpassed our expectations. Nine finishes on a 14-fight card was just the beginning of the bonanza, as we also bore witness to a comeback story that might end up being called a fight of the year. Petr Yan gave a masterclass on how to defeat Merab Dvalishvili and ended up reclaiming his belt in spectacular, high level fashion.

Joshua Van took the belt from Alexandre Pantoja, but it was in an anti-climactic, depressing way. Alexandre went to post on his left arm on his way down to the canvas and let’s just say it didn’t cooperate, snapping the entire wrong way, grossing out multitudes of fans in the process.

Henry Cejudo put on a valiant effort in his bout with Payton Talbott, but was no match for the younger man, losing convincingly, despite a warrior’s performance. He retired in the cage and the promotion sent him off with a montage video. Hopefully he’s actually made enough to retire for real this time.

Tatsuro Taira defeated Brandon Moreno via TKO, and while some declared the referee’s call a mite early, it wasn’t egregious and the result would almost undoubtedly have been the same if it had gone on much longer. Taira was teeing off and Moreno wasn’t putting up much in the way of defense. Now that we’ve reviewed most of the main card, let’s check out the rest of the results and bonuses while we’re here.

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UFC 323 Results

* 135 lbs.: Petr Yan def. Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

* 125 lbs.: Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja by TKO (injury), round 1 (0:26)

* 125 lbs.: Tatsuro Taira def. Brandon Moreno by TKO (punches), round 2 (2:24)

* 135 lbs.: Payton Talbott def. Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

* 205 lbs.: Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov ends in a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)

* 155 lbs.: Manuel Torres def. Grant Dawson by TKO (punches), round 1 (2:25)

* 155 lbs.: Chris Duncan def. Terrance McKinney by submission (anaconda), round 1 (2:30)

* 125 lbs.: Maycee Barber def. Karine Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

* 155 lbs.: Fares Ziam def. Nazim Sadykhov by TKO (punches), round 2 (4:59)

* 185 lbs.: Official decision: Brunno Ferreira def. Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

* 155 lbs.: Jalin Turner def. Edson Barboza by TKO (punches), round 1 (2:24)

* 205 lbs.: Iwo Baraniewski def. Ibo Aslan by KO (punches), round 1 (1:29)

* 185 lbs.: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Antonio Trocoli by submission (guillotine), round 1 (1:09)

* 145 lbs.: Mairon Santos def. Muhammad Naimov by KO (punch), round 3 (0:21)

UFC 323 Bonuses

* FOTN: Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 2

* POTN: Manuel Torres, Iwo Baraniewski

Thank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to The MMA Vivisection & 6th Round Post-fight Show podcast Substack to enjoy our premium content. Your paid subscriptions are keeping hope alive that we can continue on with our shows. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide.

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UFC 322 looked terrific on paper, and in practice, it delivered several highlight reel moments. Benoit Saint Denis starched Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds to open the main card. Not to be outdone, Carlos Prates became the first person to ever knock out Leon Edwards. Then Michael Morales stopped Sean Brady inside the first round. That was followed by Valentina Shevchenko absolutely dominating Zhang Weili from bell to bell. It was so lopsided I felt sorry for Weili.

Finally, we saw another lopsided beatdown in the main event when Islam Makhachev 50-45’d Jack Della Maddalena across the board to win a second belt. It was a mauling that even John Pork had a hard time watching. Now that we’ve reviewed the main card, let’s check out the rest of the results and bonuses while we’re here.

MMA Vivisection & 6th Round is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

UFC 322 Results

* 170 lbs.: Islam Makhachev def. Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

* 125 lbs.: Valentina Shevchenko def. Zhang Weili by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

* 170 lbs.: Michael Morales def. Sean Brady by TKO (punches), round 1 (3:27)

* 170 lbs.: Carlos Prates def. Leon Edwards by KO (punch), round 2 (1:28)

* 155 lbs.: Benoit Saint Denis def. Beneil Dariush by KO (punch), round 1 (0:16)

* 185 lbs.: Bo Nickal def. Rodolfo Vieira by KO (head kick), round 3 (2:24)

* 185 lbs.: Gregory Rodrigues def. Roman Kopylov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

* 125 lbs.: Erin Blanchfield def. Tracy Cortez by submission (rear naked choke), round 2 (4:44)

* 135 lbs.: Ethyn Ewing def. Malcolm Wellmaker by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

* 185 lbs.: Kyle Daukaus def. Gerald Meershaert by submission (D’arce choke), round 1 (0:50)

* 145 lbs.: Pat Sabatini def. Chepe Mariscal by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

* 115 lbs.: Fatima Kline def. Angela Hill by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

* 185 lbs.: Baisangur Susurkaev def. Eric McConico by KO (punch), round 3 (1:38)

* 155 lbs.: Matheus Camilo def. Viacheslav Borshchev by unanimous decision (30-27, 20-27, 29-28)

UFC 322 Bonuses

* FOTN: None

* POTN: Carlos Prates, Benoit Saint Denis, Bo Nickal, Michael Morales

Thank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to The MMA Vivisection & 6th Round Post-fight Show podcast Substack to enjoy our premium content. Your paid subscriptions are keeping hope alive that we can continue on with our shows. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide.

Thanks for reading MMA Vivisection & 6th Round! This post is public so feel free to share it.