A deep-dive into the upsets, judging controversies and pound-for-pound consequences that emerged from UFC 323 in Las Vegas
1. Petr Yan Is Back – And The Bantamweight Division Just Got Crowded Again
ESPN’s headline: “Yan wins UFC 323, throws kinks in MMA title line.”
Translation: The most technically violent 135-pounder on the planet reminded everyone why he once held gold, and why every contender at the top of the bracket now has to re-book their calendar.
Translation: The most technically violent 135-pounder on the planet reminded everyone why he once held gold, and why every contender at the top of the bracket now has to re-book their calendar.
1.1 The Scorecards That Nobody Argued About
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50-45, 49-46, 49-46 across the board
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+65 significant-strike differential on Yan’s ledger
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Zero takedowns conceded in 25 minutes
It was the Russian’s first five-round decision since the Cory Sandhagen fight, but stylistically it looked more like the Jose Aldo beat-down that announced Yan as a future champion: patient leg-kick entries, level-change feints into shovel hooks, a suffocating collar-tie that turned clinch space into a laboratory of knees and elbows. Most important, he displayed the defensive wrestling that disappeared during his pair of razor-thin losses to Merab Dvalishvili. When opponent #3 Deiveson Figueiredo shot a reactive double at 3:10 of round two, Yan sprawled, cross-faced, and came up swinging—message sent.
1.2 Immediate Title Geometry
UFC matchmakers are already pencilling Yan (18-4) opposite the Sean O’Malley–Merab winner targeted for August. If Merab prevails, the promotion has a ready-made grudge match; if O’Malley retains, Yan’s rebound victory gives him the cleanest case for an immediate rematch of their 2023 thriller. Either way, the queue behind them—Umar Nurmagomedov, Song Yadong, Marlon Vera—just got longer.
2. Scorecards Under The Microscope – Again
For the third consecutive pay-per-view, the judges overshadowed the fighters. This time the lightning rod was the co-main: a split-decision nod for lightweight stalwart Arman Tsarukyan over former interim champ Dustin Poirier that left the T-Mobile Arena crowd booing like it was 2017.
2.1 The Numbers
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Total strikes: Poirier 133, Tsarukyan 131
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Significant strikes: Tsarukyan 91, Poirier 86
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Control time: Tsarukyan 6:42, Poirier 0:16
Two judges gave Tsarukyan rounds one and two; one gave Poirier every round but the second. Media scorecards on MMA Decisions split 14-11 for Tsarukyan, illustrating how thin the margins were. The controversy, however, isn’t about arithmetic—it’s optics. Poirier landed the cleaner head shots, wobbled Tsarukyan late in the third, and walked forward the entire fight. Tsarukyan’s top control, while positional rather than damaging, satisfied the “effective grappling” clause in the unified rules.
2.2 UFC Reaction
Dana White refused to criticise officials at the post-fight presser but confirmed the promotion will “probably” bring in new blood from the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s upcoming training seminar. Until then, expect every close main-event to end with a chorus of “robbery” on MMA Twitter—whether warranted or not.
3. Women’s Flyweight Finally Has A Clear No. 1 Contender
Erin Blanchfield’s second-round arm-triangle of former title challenger Taila Santos wasn’t just the biggest win of her career; it was the most dominant submission ever executed inside the UFC’s 125-pound division against a top-three opponent.
3.1 What Makes Blanchfield Different
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Chain-wrestling: six takedowns in 11 attempts, seamlessly transitioning from single-leg to body-lock
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Submission IQ: recognised the arm-triangle from half-guard, jumped to mount, finished without losing the angle
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Age: 24—seven years younger than champ Alexa Grasso
Valentina Shevchenko’s trilogy loss to Grasso at UFC 306 left the division in limbo. Blanchfield (12-1) now becomes the undeniable next title challenger, and her style—pressure boxing into reactive takedowns—poses fresh problems for Grasso’s counter-striking/clinch-trip game plan.
4. Heavyweight Chaos: An Unheralded Contender Crashes The Top Five
If you entered UFC 323 thinking Marcos Rogério de Lima was a curtain-jerker with heavy hands and questionable cardio, you left googling his reach and birth certificate. The 38-year-old Brazilian flattened No. 5 contender Sergei Pavlovich inside 64 seconds, recording the fastest knockout by a non-top-ten heavyweight since Francis Ngannou starched Alistair Overeem in 2017.
4.1 What The Punch Metrics Say
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Pavlovich had never been knocked out in the first round in 18 pro bouts
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De Lima’s overhand right landed at 97% power on the UFC’s force-plate cage
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Divisional log-jam: Jon Jones is rehabbing a pectoral tear; Stipe Miocic wants one more dance; Tom Aspinall holds interim gold
De Lima’s win means the UFC now has four viable title challengers (Jones, Miocic, Aspinall, Pavlovich) plus a wild-card gate-crasher who turns 39 in September. Don’t be surprised if the promotion books Jones-Miocic for the New York card and shelves Aspinall until 2025, forcing de Lima into an eliminator against Ciryl Gane.
5. Pound-for-Pound Shake-Up: Who Gained, Who Dropped?
Using ESPN’s consensus P4P list (pre-323), here’s how the weekend reshuffled the deck:
Stock Up
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Petr Yan (No 12 → 8) – dominant rebound over a former champion
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Erin Blanchfield (unranked → 14) – first 125er to break the barrier since Grasso/Shevchenko trilogy
Stock Down
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Sergei Pavlovich (No 6 → 11) – first-round starching always hurts
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Dustin Poirier (No 9 → 13) – third split-decision loss in five fights, future unclear
On The Bubble
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Arman Tsarukyan (No 10 → 9) – squeaker keeps him in the conversation but doesn’t vault him over Islam Makhachev
FAQ – Everything You’re Still Arguing About On Monday Morning
Q. Was Tsarukyan-Poirier really a robbery?
A. Statistically it was a coin-flip. Poirier landed more visible damage; Tsarukyan owned control time. Under current scoring criteria, either outcome is defensible, which is why the UFC is quietly lobbying for open scoring.
A. Statistically it was a coin-flip. Poirier landed more visible damage; Tsarukyan owned control time. Under current scoring criteria, either outcome is defensible, which is why the UFC is quietly lobbying for open scoring.
Q. Does Yan deserve the next title shot ahead of Umar Nurmagomedov?
A. Popularity says yes; politics say maybe. Umar is 17-0 but has zero main-event wins on PPV. Yan’s victory over Figueiredo gives him the bigger résumé, plus a ready-made storyline against either O’Malley (rematch) or Merab (grudge match).
A. Popularity says yes; politics say maybe. Umar is 17-0 but has zero main-event wins on PPV. Yan’s victory over Figueiredo gives him the bigger résumé, plus a ready-made storyline against either O’Malley (rematch) or Merab (grudge match).
Q. Will Blanchfield wait for Grasso or take another fight?
A. She’ll wait. The UFC already announced Grasso-Blanchfield for Noche UFC in September, Mexican Independence Day weekend, at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
A. She’ll wait. The UFC already announced Grasso-Blanchfield for Noche UFC in September, Mexican Independence Day weekend, at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Q. Is Marcos de Lima a legitimate title threat at 38?
A. One punch doesn’t make a contender, but it buys him a top-three opponent. If he beats Gane or Aspinall, the narrative flips from feel-good story to Cinderella title shot.
A. One punch doesn’t make a contender, but it buys him a top-three opponent. If he beats Gane or Aspinall, the narrative flips from feel-good story to Cinderella title shot.
Q. What’s next for Dustin Poirier?
A. He admitted in the post-fight presser that retirement “sounds better every fight.” A fourth bout with Conor McGregor remains the biggest money option, but only if McGregor beats Michael Chandler and Poirier decides the paycheck outweighs the physical toll.
A. He admitted in the post-fight presser that retirement “sounds better every fight.” A fourth bout with Conor McGregor remains the biggest money option, but only if McGregor beats Michael Chandler and Poirier decides the paycheck outweighs the physical toll.
Epilogue: The Ripple Effect
UFC 323 will be remembered less for one viral knockout than for the way it re-ordered three divisions. Bantamweight has a restored boogeyman, flyweight has a young assassin, and heavyweight has a 39-year-old wild-card who swings like a prime Hendo. Add another judging firestorm and the matchmaking crystal ball is suddenly murky again—exactly the kind of chaos that keeps fight fans hitting refresh on the ESPN roster page until the next pay-per-view cycle begins.