It was back to the UFC APEX this past Saturday night, as the UFC held its May 31 Fight Night event -- UFC Vegas 107: Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber in its headquarters.
The night ended up being history making in a way no one expected -- the scheduled main event of the evening did not make the walk to the Octagon.
The planned main event between Blanchfield and Barber would have been a battle of top-five women's flyweight contenders. Blanchfield has won 10 of her last 11 and was to come into this fight off a November win over Rose Namajunas. Barber, meanwhile, is on a six-fight win streak and would have competed for the first time since UFC 299 after battling several health issues during 2024.
Only nine bouts went ahead on the night -- five on the main card and four in the prelims. The final event of the evening, the originally scheduled co-main event, saw Mateusz Gamrot compete in his first fight since his UFC 305 loss to Dan Hooker, as he took on L'udovit Klein.
The main card also featured Dustin Jacoby taking on Bruno Lopes, a women's featherweight battle between Ketlen Vieira and Macy Chiasson, and Zachary Reese facing Duško Todorović.
Let's now take in the good and the bad with this week's edition of Hits and Misses!
Miss - Boy, Did This Card Fall Apart
I can't say for certain that this was the worst card in the history of the UFC like some on a certain social media platform are saying. But after the entertaining Apex night that was the UFC Fight Night on May 17, this one, held in the same venue just two weeks later, definitely has to be up there for the Worst Card of 2025.
Firstly, "card subject to change" really came into play in this show. Andreas Gustafsson originally gets booked with Jeremiah Wells before an injury to Wells sees him replaced by Trevin Giles -- only for Giles to be pulled on the day of weigh-ins after falling in the bathroom. Ramiz Brahimaj and Billy Ray Goff faced each other because their original opponents, Oban Elliott and Ko Seok-hyun, respectively, had visa issues. So, the UFC decided to play "le switcheroo." Michael Aswell filled in on just days' notice against Bolaji Oki after MarQuel Mederos fell ill.
And then of course came what happened in the main event -- when Maycee Barber's sudden medical issue resulted in her fight with Erin Blanchfield being canceled right before Octagon walks. The Fight Night became UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs. Klein IN RETROSPECT. That is insanity.
And it's only after all that you can point to a lack number of fights, a lack of star power, and a lack of finishes.
Despite some entertaining evenings such as UFCs 314 and 315, as well as the Burns vs. Morales card of two weeks ago, UFC Vegas 107 provided us a stark reminder that the sport of MMA is in a recession period -- and that (even some WWE fans may tell you) the UFC under TKO's rule just may be providing us the darkest modern timelime in this promotion.
Hit - Jordan Leavitt Reminds Us How Entertaining He Can Be
Only one finish came on the preliminary card, and fortunately it was such a highlight, as Jordan Leavitt pulled off a quick submission of Kurt Holobaugh.
Both men are great grapplers, but Leavitt proved he was the better fighter on this night. He not only was the one who initiated the ground battle, but he dominated with top pressure but putting Holobaugh to sleep with a choke.
On top of that, he had a solid worm celebration that he showed off following his victory.
Leavitt hasn't been the most dominant since bursting onto the UFC scene from Dana White's Contender Series, but he's had some great finishes. In addition to this one against Holobaugh, he's also earned bonuses from his slam KO of Matt Wiman and his finish of Victor Martinez.
This was Leavitt's first fight after missing all of 2024, and he reminded fight fans just how exciting he can be to watch here.
Miss - Ketlen Vieira's Weight Issues, Macy Chiasson's Performance
Ketlen Vieira and Macy Chiasson was a fight I had my eye on solely based on their names alone in this card that didn't have the greatest of star power. Unfortunately, their name values and their status as top-five bantamweight contenders couldn't save a fight that ultimately proved to sound a lot better on paper.
It was a one-sided slaughtering on the side of Vieira. After landing some powerful strikes early on, Vieira was dominant on the ground for most of the fight, overwhelming Chiasson with top pressure and strong positioning, limiting most of Chiasson's offense. It wasn't until the closing stages of the last round that Chiasson tried to blitz and overwhelm Vieira on the feet -- and even then it wasn't enough.
On the Vieira side of the things, it was a strong performance. Unfortunately, part of the problem with this fight is that it took place at a weight class the UFC doesn't do anything with anymore (not like they did much with it in the first place either) -- women's featherweight. The two were scheduled to face off at 135, but the fight was moved to 145 on the day of weigh-ins because of "weight management" issues on the side of Vieira.
If this fight had taken place at its originally intended weight class, I think there would have been a lot more talk about her being in line to face the winner of next week's Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison title fight. There still can be, but the weight management issues will definitely bring that into question. This is especially after how May also saw weight management issues get involved in Jose Aldo's retirement fight with Aiemann Zahabi.
Meanwhile, for Chiasson, this was just a brutal outing. This was definitely a step back after a 2024 that saw her earn performance bonuses in finishes of Pannie Kianzad and former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva. You just have to hope it was an off night, she dusts off and gets back to the planning room and can get back to her recent powerful self in her next outing.
Hit - Dustin Jacoby Delivers Some Needed Violence
When this card needed a wake-up call, Dustin Jacoby was the one to deliver it. He also had one of the only finishes on the night, pulling off a quick, powerful victory over Bruno Lopes.
Jacoby rocked Lopes with a jab. Then he did more damage with an elbow. Then a couple of hooks started a wild flurry against Lopes, who was up against the fence, before Lopes crumbled to the mat for an easy first-round finish.
After getting knocked out by Dominick Reyes last year, which brought about four losses in five fights, things looked grim for Jacoby. But back-to-back knockout victories now show just how fun it can be to watch the former GLORY Kickboxing star.
Hopefully this is the start of him getting back to winning ways that he had when he came into the UFC in 2020.
Hit - From Injury To Shining Performance For Ramiz Brahimaj
If Jordan Leavitt had the great submission and Dustin Jacoby had the great KO, then Ramiz Brahimaj had the upset of the evening and the feel-good moment of it.
Brahimaj pulled off a strong submission victory of his own, taking out Billy Ray Goff. He got Goff down and to his back quickly before Goff stood up and got the fight in a clinch, landing a strong elbow in the process. Brahimaj, however, showed off slick submission skills by going from a guillotine choke attempt to a ninja choke that put Goff to sleep -- ending things before the referee could.
Brahimaj was a major underdog going into the fight, and that just adds to the story of how a spinal injury could have ended his career just a couple of years ago.
A feel good moment for Brahimaj, and it's hopefully more positive momentum that he can ride.
Miss - Erin Blanchfield And Maycee Barber Don't Make The Main Event Walk
The main event promo package on ESPN+ had just finished airing. The camera transitioned back to the UFC APEX. But no music played. At first I'm sitting there thinking "Well, typical UFC on ESPN and a production botch" -- only to then see that the commentary team was confused by no fighters making the walk out just as I was.
And when the camera transitioned back over to the UFC commentary team before a throw to a sudden commercial break, I just knew this fight wasn't happening. And indeed it didn't.
Unfortunately, since COVID, we've seen instances of sudden cancelations of bouts during cards. Trevin Giles fainted moments before his scheduled bout with Kevin Holland. Chas Skelly was already in the Octagon when his February 2021 fight with Jamall Emmers was scrapped due to Emmers suffering back spasms. We've seen several instances in this five-year timespan where fighters are pulled on the day of the event due to illness or some sort of medical issue.
But if we're talking exclusively main event fights, we haven't seen a thing like this happen since UFC 24 in March 2000, when Kevin Randleman slipped backstage and received a concussion, canceling a scheduled heavyweight title bout with Pedro Rizzo -- ruining the whole "First Defense" tagline of that card.
As of press time, we have no official word as to what happened other than a last-minute medical issue. Blanchfield claimed in an interview on the broadcast that Barber suffered a seizure but she wouldn't entertain a re-scheduling with Barber due to Barber's "unprofessionalism."
If it's true Barber suffered a seizure for whatever reason, Blanchfield's call of someone being "unprofessional" feels dirty. But simultaneously, you have to feel for her, being ready to go after all her work and preparation -- only for the fight to be called off as she's getting ready to make the walk. Fortunately, she did reportedly receive her show and win money.
Also, it's such a shame that Barber goes through this after battling a litany of health issues stemming from Epstein-Barr that included a nine-day hospitalization, with Barber's health getting so bad to the point she felt she was going to die. And now, here we are. And knowing how brutal the MMA fanbase, let alone the whole industry, can be, this historic circumstance -- combined with her weight miss and Blanchfield's doubts Barber would make it to the cage -- may end up being a bad PR time for her.
The sudden main event cancelation was just the cherry on top of the gross sundae that was the May 31, 2025 UFC Fight Night event.