Overall, I'd have to say UFC Utica was an above average card. The Fight Pass prelims were fantastic, featuring two exciting comeback wins from talented UFC newcomers Jose Torres and Nathaniel Wood. We saw a power bomb gone wrong and slick d'arce choke from Wood, who was even more out of his fight than Torres at the time of the finish. Even though the Fight Pass prelims were cut short by one fight, they were still clearly two of the most exciting fights of the night. It's really a shame though, that the Torres and Wood fights were buried on Fight Pass, unavailable to the general public. Due to this questionable decision by the UFC, we were all subject to four straight ho-hum unanimous decisions on the FS1 prelims. The only suspense came from waiting to see if David Teymur would finally get penalized for cheating, whether it be from eye poking (or gouging), or fence grabbing. Other than this, all four winners on the prelims generally coasted to easy decision wins. 

When the main card finally rolled around, many were anticipating someone getting knocked out in the fight between Sam Alvey and Gian Villante. Instead, other than one knock-down, we were treated to Villante following Alvey around for 15 minutes with the occasional trading of punches for two seconds. I am glad though, that Alvey was given the win. I'm tired of seeing octagon control be a deciding factor in scoring fights when the fighter "controlling the octagon" does nothing with that control. Villante landed hard a couple times, but it was Alvey who landed harder more, plus he had the knock-down. Considering his camp, who he trains with, and his recent fights, Gian Villante has to be one of the most disappointing fighters in the UFC. 

On the other hand, Julio Arce is proving to be a viable prospect at featherweight, certainly not disappointing anyone. He probably already has some of the best boxing in the division, and he showed that he can fight successfully on the ground, as he RNC'd the feisty Daniel Teymur. Keep an eye on Arce in the coming months; I think he'll be ranked sooner rather than later. Next, Ben Saunders may have signed Jake Ellenberger's pink slip from the UFC with a knee to the liver. To be honest, I had thought Ellenberger was already gone from the UFC until I saw his name appear on the Utica card, but regardless, his days in the UFC have to be numbered now, right? He just can't seem to get things going these days.

In the co-co-main event, Walt Harris finally obliterated Daniel Spitz at the very end of the second round, taking us to what we were all really waiting for on Friday night: The Gregor Gillespie show and Moraes vs Rivera. Gregor Gillespie promptly rewarded us all for our patience with an absolutely dominant performance against Vinc Pichel. Surprisingly, Pichel seemed to be able to defend himself relatively well on the ground, as he was mounted multiple times and still survived. Also, Gillespie was wearing the damage in this fight, not Pichel, so I guess a golf clap for Pichel. However, the end result seemed inevitable in this fight, as Gillespie took the fight wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Not to be cliche, but this performance was in fact Khabib-esque, in that once Gillespie had control of his opponent, there was no chance of escaping. Also, once Pichel was allowed to stand up at the beginning of round two, it was obvious that the fear of the takedown was allowing Gillespie to land punches at will, before he wanted to take Pichel down again. This phenomena was very apparent in Nurmagomedov vs Iaquinta, where Iaquinta almost seemed to be willing to eat hard jabs all night if it meant he wouldn't have to go back to the ground with Khabib. This showed briefly in the second round before Gillespie took Pichel down for the final time, broke him, and submitted him. Like Khabib, if you are competent in the stand-up but can absolutely dominate in grappling situations, you are going to be near impossible to beat. If Gillespie remains active, he's going to be a problem for a lot of people. I only wish he wasn't 31, as he looks like he can be destined for greatness, no exaggeration. It only seems right that he fights a ranked opponent next, but the lowest ranked lightweight not already booked for a fight is Al Iaquinta at 10, which seems too far a jump to me. Plus, it has even been rumored that Iaquinta and Justin Gaethje will fight at the end of the summer, which is just fine if you ask me. I'd guess Gillespie would get matched up with Evan Dunham, who just left the rankings.

For all the hype the main event garnered, it lasted only 33 seconds. Marlon Moraes head-kicked Jimmie Rivera and finished him on the ground, making a resounding statement in the process. Moraes now has two brutal first round KO's in a row and is deserving of a title shot, in my opinion. TJ-Garbrandt 2 is already booked for August, Dominick Cruz has shown no inclination of what he intends to do next, and if we're being honest, Raphael Assuncao is never getting a title shot. Therefore, Marlon Moraes is probably next in line. He's a very likable guy and his fighting style is perfect for the "just bleed" folk. If TJ Dillashaw wins the rematch with Cody Garbrandt, hopefully TJ and Moraes get booked for the New Year's Eve card. However, if Garbrandt wins the rematch, this could easily become a trilogy, which no one outside of the UFC's bantamweight division will have a problem with. It will simply just clog things at the top of the division for a little while, but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

As for Jimmie Rivera, I'd bet that he bounces back from this very well. I believe he can hang with anyone in the division; he simply got caught on Friday night. His arm was even up to block the kick, so it's not like he got hit with something he wasn't ready for, Moraes is just an expert striker and landed a perfectly placed head-kick on him. Nothing to be ashamed of there. Looking at the top 15 in the bantamweight division, if my memory serves me, there's a lot of guys who aren't currently booked for fights. He could easily get re-booked against Dominick Cruz, all the way to being booked with someone like Cody Stamann, who's ranked 11. I could see Rivera being favored against any of these guys, and rightly so. He's young, athletic, and probably more determined than ever, I would hope. Now, we transition to UFC 225: Romero vs Whittaker 2. Very exciting times, people.