Overview
- The opening welterweight bout featured both fighters making their UFC debuts with cautious, low-action first two rounds.
- Referee Jim Perdios issued an inactivity warning to Jefferson Nascimento during the fight before stepping in late in Round 3.
- Abdullayev secured takedowns and landed ground strikes in the third, and Perdios stopped the bout at 4:28 of Round 3 for TKO by ground-and-pound.
- The official result stands as Abdullayev improving to 20-3 and Nascimento taking his first pro loss, with media and fans criticizing the timing of the stoppage.
- Coverage focuses on officiating because the three judges’ scorecards were reported tied at the time, a detail that made the referee’s call decisive and could affect both fighters’ early UFC trajectories.