"Our first Apex show of 2026 had some good offerings. UFC Vegas 113 gave us names like Dustin Jacoby, Farid Basharat and Michal Oleksiejczuk who added on to their win streaks, as well as a pair of important ranked matchups at the top of the card. Mario Bautista sent us home on a high note, putting on what might be his best UFC performance thus far. With the first Fight Night of 2026 behind us, let's look at what's next for Saturday's winners."
"Everybody is foaming at the mouth at the idea of Sean O'Malley fighting Cory Sandhagen. After all, it is one of the very best non-title fights the UFC could book right now. However, I do believe the promotion will try to book O'Malley in a Petr Yan rematch, leaving Cory Sandhagen as the odd man out in this equation. That leaves the door open for another rematch, the one Bautista called for in his post-fight interview."
"Poor guy Amir Albazi has had to endure two separate layoffs of over a year, with the bad Brandon Moreno loss sandwiched in between. And what does he get after overcoming those layoffs? A red hot, rejuvenated Kyoji Horiguchi. The Japanese fighter made sure Albazi had nothing for him, having him beat everywhere. That's two very convincing wins for Horiguchi since coming back to the UFC."
UFC Vegas 113 produced multiple win streak extensions from Dustin Jacoby, Farid Basharat and Michal Oleksiejczuk, and featured important ranked bouts. Mario Bautista delivered a second-round stoppage after a stretch of decision wins, positioning himself for higher-profile matchmaking or a rematch with Cory Sandhagen. Sean O'Malley, Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan remain central to potential marquee bookings, complicating matchmaking paths. Kyoji Horiguchi returned in dominant fashion, handing Amir Albazi a convincing loss and reinforcing his resurgence. The flyweight title picture stays chaotic following Alexandre Pantoja's injury, affecting immediate title shot clarity.
Read at Cageside Press
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]