UFC Vegas 104 results: Sooo … About last night | Vettori vs. Dolidze 2

Last night (Sat., March 15, 2025), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 104. Often, the highlight of these “Fight Night” cards is the main event, whereas the rest of the night is hit-or-miss. This time around, the sequence was flopped. The main card match ups seemed to really promise excitement, whereas the top bout of the evening featured an unnecessary rematch that wasn’t even a particularly fun fight two years ago. If nothing else, it was a different dynamic than the usual!

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 104’s best performances and techniques:

Dolidze Scores Revenge

Marvin Vettori’s return to action didn’t go as planned.

“The Italian Dream” was able to employ his previous game plan to a reasonably successful degree for about 12 minutes. He landed a good few low kicks in the first, ate some shots in the second, and stunned Dolidze with a counter in the third. All told, it was a pretty decent start, even if Dolidze was giving him some issues with his low kick checks and funky backhand swings. Unfortunately for him, that success didn’t last.

More than any technical adjustment from either man, Vettori’s cardio failed him here. That’s quite unusual, as it’s always been a strong suit. Blame it on Dolidze’s heavy hands or the long layoff, but either way, Vettori simply couldn’t match his opponent’s output in the championship rounds. Against a heavier hitter, it’s really, really hard to throw fewer shots and still sway the judges.

Here’s hoping UFC doesn’t opt to book a rubber match in March 2027.

Even in victory, Dolidze didn’t look particularly impressive. His striking is punishing, but it’s still so one note and immobile. He rises a couple spots up the ranks, but a decent kickboxer who can move their feet well will still tune him up.

Chidi Bang Bang Puts On A Masterclass

Chidi Njokuani revived his career by dropping down to Welterweight.

Despite being relegated to an action fighter at 185-pounds, I didn’t really see the point in the 6’3” veteran starving himself to make a lower class. He’s in his mid-30s and was struggling to make the weight nearly a decade ago, which doesn’t sound like a recipe for success. He did miss weight on Friday, which is a definite knock against him.

The performance itself though … pretty flawless. No notes. Njokuani stranded Elizeu Zaleski — a very experienced and dangerous striker himself — at distance mercilessly. The Brazilian couldn’t get anything going and just kept taking teeps anytime he tried to step into the pocket. When he got really aggressive, Njokuani grabbed his head and smashed him with a knee to the jawline.

It was a lovely display of Muay Thai. If Njokuani can get a handle of his weight, it would be really interesting to see him matched with a top Welterweight striker.

Blackshear Outlasts The Renegade

Cody Gibson has never looked sharper on the feet than last night.

He stormed out of the gate, firing crisp combinations and ripping up the body. He blended his takedowns into the barrage really well, making the level changing offense more effective as a result. Despite the aggression, his head movement looked good too, and he was definitely getting the better of the exchanges.

The problem is that Gibson has trained for many years now to finish combos with a takedown, and Da’Mon Blackshear is an outstanding grappler. Twice, Gibson managed to ground his foe, only to be reversed and put in terrible positions. Blackshear was absolutely dominant from top position, simultaneously hurting Gibson with strikes, pinning him in place, and threatening with submissions.

He forced the kimura in beautiful fashion. Strangely, it was the second kimura of the night, the first time that’s happened since 2010!

Undefeated No More

UFC Vegas 104 was a bad introduction to the broader fanbase for Contenders Series product Diyar Nurgozhay. Not only did the Kazakh standout come up short in his official debut, but he missed weight massively on Friday as well.

Conversely, this was easily the best showing yet of Brendson Ribeiro. His footwork made the difference in exchanges, as the Southpaw was continually able to shift off towards a favorable outside angle, allowing his straight shots to find the mark more often. He also landed several hard left kicks to the liver, which clearly backed off Nurgozhay.

Nurgozhay shifted strategies in the second with a takedown, and he landed it quite easily off a poor guillotine attempt. Just as the momentum seemed to be shifting, Ribeiro locked up a kimura from half guard, flipped his foe over, and forced the submission. He improves to 2-2 in the UFC and has won his last two bouts, stopping all but one of his 17 victories before the final bell.

Heavyweight Move Denied

A couple days ago, side-by-side photos of Ryan Spann at Light Heavyweight then now at Heavyweight circulated the web. “Superman” appeared to put on no muscle in the move, only a bit more belly. Immediately, I was less than optimistic about his chances against Waldo Cortes-Acosta.

For roughly two minutes, Spann looked sharp. He moved fast, flashed the jab, and chopped low kicks. I wandered if I underestimated his athleticism or didn’t realize just how much better a decent 205-pounder is than the average Heavyweight. Then, Cortes-Acosta landed a couple shots, and Spann clearly didn’t like them one bit.

Heavyweights hit different.

A minute later, Spann was starting to breath a little heavy, unaccustomed to moving around all that extra mass. Cortes-Acosta, conversely, was only getting rolling. His jab started to land more and more often, and he took chances on big right hand swings. The fight grew a little ugly with general fatigue and fouling, but the Dominican athlete remained in control all the while.

I have to say, the finishing combo off a stiff jab, pull back, and lovely check hook was quite nice. At age 33, “Salsa Boy” has won four straight and could use a shot against a Top 10 foe next.

As for Spann … it’s time to start back up on that 205-pound diet.

Additional Thoughts

Kevin Vallejos defeats Seung Woo Choi via first-round knockout: Vallejos entered his UFC debut with real hype behind him, a blue chip prospect at 23 years of age. Credit to the young Featherweight, he lived up to expectations, wasting little time in feeling out Choi’s range then blasting him with a powerful right hand over the top. It’s a strong start to his UFC career, which looks to be long and promising.

Carlos Vera defeats Josias Musasa via first-round rear naked choke (highlights): Things were not looking good for Vera a couple minutes into the bout. Musasa was a lot bigger, able to shuck off his takedown attempts easily and start digging into his lead leg with heavy kicks. Musasa’s success appeared to be snowballing when Vera hid a right high kick behind a right hand, throwing it a half-step slower than the simultaneous Edwards vs. Usman style same-side head kick. It landed flush against the jaw and floored Musasa, who wasn’t conscious enough to prevent the rear naked choke. “Pequeno” cashes as a major underdog, scoring his first UFC win in the process.

Andre Lima defeats Daniel Barez via third-round rear naked choke: Andre Lima is one of the best unranked prospects at 125-pounds. He scored his third-straight UFC win last night in highly impressive fashion, battering Barez in every facet of MMA. His success started on the feet, as he broke down Barez’s lead leg with ripping kicks and built upon his lands with heavy body shots and slicing elbows. When Barez tried to clinch up and wrestle, he usually ended up on his back! Lima simply outclassed him, and the late rear naked choke served as an exclamation point on an overall stellar performance.

Carli Judice defeats Yuneisy Duben via first-round knockout (highlights): Duben was the rare Contenders Series product who entered with a bit of a story already. She was widely expected to get smashed in her Contenders Series showing — because she never fought anybody even remotely decent — then won via dramatic KO almost immediately. Those expected weaknesses made an appearance here, because Duben was swinging wildly and without any kind of process from the first bell. Judice found her range quickly and lined up a clean head kick, securing the early finish and first win of her UFC career.

Priscila Cachoeira defeats Josiane Nunes via first-round knockout (highlights): Cachoeira is a controversial subject amongst UFC fans, a known cheater who isn’t even all that good at fighting. Several times, I’ve seen outraged fans demand her release after a loss. The other side of the equation is that she’s a rarity in Women’s MMA, an athlete with genuine KO power. Nunes can crack as well, but she was out-sized and outgunned in the firefight that took place here, leading to a dramatic uppercut KO in the favor of “Zombie Girl,” who rebounds after consecutive losses.

For complete UFC Vegas 104 results and play-by-play, click here.