The UFC is on the road this weekend, with Houston, TX as the destination. However, this card reads more like an Apex event than a premium fight night. There are three ranked fights, but not all ranked fights measure out equally. The main card is where the better quality bouts are, but we’ve seen better. Strickland vs. Hernandez is the most intriguing an…

We are here this week to celebrate the legacy of Sean Strickland—and by “legacy”, I mean the ties that bind him to fight nights at the Apex and occasionally on the road events. Yes, yes, I know he’s headlined a PPV here and there, but it seems that wick has burned its way down the candle into the dregs. To celebrate him jabbing and teeping his way into …

The UFC has created magic at the Meta-Apex—a real feat for those that have been down on fight cards that take place there. This event looks more like an on-the-road event than a Pandemic House show. The main card is where the largest concentration of talent lies, as expected. And let’s not overlook the best part of it, the return of the Gooch to action.…

UFC 325 wasn’t built the same as its predecessor, sacrificing quality to ensure local favorites were featured prominently on the card, and having a main event that kind of makes no sense. But that doesn’t mean the event was a bust—quite the opposite. The undercard saw an even mix of finishes to decisions, and some fresh ROAD to UFC talent to keep our eye on in the future.

The main portion of the card bore witness to Quillan Salkilld embarrass Jamie Mullarkey in about three minutes flat, proving the gigantic gulf in the odds was justified. Tai Tuivasa took his sixth, straight loss at the hands of Tallison Teixeira, and it was as depressing as you might assume, for those that didn’t watch. UFC has to let Tai go and stop embarrassing him in front of his people.

Mauricio Ruffy took Fiziev nearly to the end of round two, then decided he would end Rafael’s suffering, scoring the TKO and sending the Azerbaijani back to the L side of the column. Benoit Saint-Denis put a whooping on Dan “Prostituta” ← (IYKYK) after a first round of Hooker besting him with body kicks and guillotine attempts. The second round was a different story once BSD got the Aussie down, raining down elbows and strikes of all kinds, bloodying the man to the point that Herb Dean stepped in to wave the fight off.

Alexander Volkanovski proved once again that he’s the featherweight kingpin. He damned near got a shutout, but I gave Diego Lopes a narrow round 2, as did two of the judges. The third judge gave Volk a perfect 50-45, which was also acceptable, as many fans and pundits did. It was a terrific contest, though, and Lopes never looked like he was out of it. He never gave up trying to get the fight finished, yet still couldn’t solve the riddle. On to the next one.

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

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UFC 325 Results

* 145 lbs.: Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)

* 155 lbs.: Benoit Saint-Denis def. Dan Hooker by TKO (elbows), round 2 (4:45)

* 155 lbs.: Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev by TKO (punches), round 2 (4:30)

* 265 lbs.: Tallison Teixeira def. Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

* 155 lbs.: Quillan Salkilld def. Jamie Mullarkey by submission (rear naked choke), round 1 (3:02)

* 205 lbs.: Billy Elekana def. Junior Tafa by submission (rear naked choke), round 2 (3:18)

* 185 lbs.: Cam Rowston def. Cody Brundage by TKO (ground and pound), round 2 (4:08)

* 185 lbs.: Jacob Malkoun def. Torrez Finney by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

* 170 lbs.: Jonathan Micallef def. Oban Elliot by technical submission (rear naked choke), round 2 (3:31)

* 145 lbs.: Kaan Ofli def. Yizha by majority decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

* 155 lbs.: Don Mar Fan def. Sangwook Kim by unanimous decision (30-27. 30-27. 30-27)

* 145 lbs.: Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay by TKO (knee), round 3 (3:28)

* 135 lbs.: Lawrence Lui def. Sulangrangbo by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

UFC 325 Bonuses

* $100K each FOTN: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes

* $100K each POTN: Quillan Salkilld, Mauricio Ruffy

* $25K each to the other fighters that got a finish:Keiichiro Nakamura, Jonathan Micallef, Cam Rowston, Billy Elekana, Benoit Saint-Denis

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.

The UFC is giving us back-to-back numbered events to kick off their second event of the year and under the Paramount umbrella. It’s a solid affair with some fights built for action (Hello Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy!) and the latest ROAD To UFC finale. We’ve got lots of fresh faces to see, and plenty of veterans for those that don’t care for new ta…

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.

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 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.

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

The UFC is finally back for their first card of 2026 and the first card of their Paramount+ broadcast deal. It’s a good show, worth investing the time to watch it, with a main event that pits the aging slugger against the more youthful grappler. All the fights on the main portion are solid and should appeal to a wide range of fans—even without the Nunes-Harrison title bout. Now, let’s take a look at all the fights from the main card and the rest of the alternative stats.

UFC 324 Main Card

* Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett 155 lbs

* Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong 135 lbs

* Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis 265 lbs

* Natalia Silva vs. Rose Namajunas 125 lbs

* Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva 145 lbs

UFC 324 Alternative Facts

* Ranked Fights: 7

* Ranked Fighters: 15

* Fighters coming off losses: 7

* Contender Series Alumni: 8

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 0

* Debut: 1

Make sure to tune in immediately after this Saturday’s fights for breakdowns and analysis on our 6th Round Post-Fight Show.

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.

We are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, guys & gals. Next week, you’ll be getting a certified Vivisection—no filler! If you missed our last episode, the guys broke down the first half of their 2025’s Worst, so you should definitely have a listen. This week, our crack team of analysts are all here to give you a look back at the…