It was a fight card only a hardcore fan could love.
On a Saturday jam-packed with high-profile college football, playoff baseball and the first Hockey Night in Canada of the 2021-22 regular season, the UFC threw a star-less hat into the ring—or Octagon, as it were—with a 10-fight show from its Apex facility home base in Las Vegas.
Of the 10 fighters on the main card, only one, Aspen Ladd, arrived to the weekend as a ranked commodity as part of a scheduled five-round main event with Brazilian export Norma Dumont.
Brendan Fitzgerald and Michael Bisping had the announce-table call for ESPN+, while Joe Martinez handled in-cage introductions in place of stalwart Bruce Buffer and Din Thomas was in the house for intermittent technical analysis and commentary.