24-year-old Luana Santos looked like a seasoned veteran in easily dismantling and submitting Mariya Agapova in their preliminary-card matchup.

Santos (8-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) had little trouble taking Agapova to the mat and threatening with multiple submissions before locking in a rear-naked choke to seal the deal in less than four minutes. It was impressive work, and exactly what someone who is looking to make a mark in the women’s flyweight division should’ve done.

That’s no disrespect to Agapova, but she was coming back from a significant knee injury and a career-long layoff and hadn’t won since 2021. Santos winning the way she did makes us start to take her seriously, and if she can do that with someone who is a level up from Agapova, she’s going to be trending toward contender status.

Montel Jackson produced the highlight-reel finish that could soar him into the top 15 of the bantamweight division, which is arguably the toughest to crack of any in the UFC.

Jackson (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) stormed out of the gates against Da’Mon Blackshear and delivered an 18-second knockout that extended his winning streak to five and gave him the all-time record for most knockdowns landed in divisional history, among other achievements.

Despite all those accolades, Jackson has flown under the radar for some time. You can see why given his reluctance to call out specific names in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder, but this performance in particular did the talking for him.

Jackson deserves a big opportunity coming off of this knockout, because at 32, this needs to be where he starts to make his run toward the top, if it’s ever going to happen.

Charles Johnson delivered another surprising moment in the flyweight division when he derailed the rise of highly touted prospect Joshua Van with a brilliant third-round knockout.

Many people, myself included, designated Johnson (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) as a very tough guy with middling skills when he went through a three-fight losing skid early in his UFC tenure. He’s since rebounded with three consecutive victories, however, in two of which he was a sizeable betting underdog.

Johnson was competitive through two rounds with Van then came out and got the finish to start out the final frame in what felt like a definitive turning point for his career.

It remains to be seen how far Johnson’s grit and determination can take him in the 125-pound rankings. He’s still never been finished, and now he’s proven himself multiple times over.

You’ve almost certainly seen Drew Dober’s cut by now, and if you hadn’t before scrolling here – well, apologies.

I’ve seen the inside of his head enough to last a lifetime at this point, and there’s no doubt it was one of the most gruesome gashes in recent years.

The gore is understandably attractive to many, but it all came courtesy of the man who really deserves our attention: Jean Silva.

Silva (13-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) was brilliant in the lead-up to the fight being stopped by the doctor in the third round. He was piecing Dober up and in a flow state with his striking. He dished out flying knees, spinning elbows and more to batter and rock his Dober throughout the fight, and it was an impressive way to beat one of the most tenured fighters in the lightweight division.

But that’s not even the part that deserves the most praise for Silva. He did all of it on a two-week turnaround from his UFC 303 finish of Charles Jourdain, and at a weight class where he previously hadn’t competed in the octagon (though he missed weight against Jourdain).

Add in the fact that Silva is arguably the most unusual personality on the UFC roster at present, and we seem to have something here with this guy.