With the topic of illegal eye pokes fresh on the mind of most in mixed martial arts following last weekend's aborted heavyweight title bout between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, Saturday's co-main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas couldn't have played out in a more bizarre and unprecedented manner.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Finally, after a ludicrously long wait, Tom Aspinall could enter the cage and attempt to defend undisputed Heavyweight gold.

Aspinall was enraged after the fact, telling Daniel Cormier after the fact that he had been poked ‘knuckle deep’ in his eye, and that both eyes had been affected. A replay appeaered to show just how gruesome the move was from the Frenchman.

Ankalaev ended Pereira's run as light heavyweight champion at UFC 313 in March, a run that came after Pereira jumped up in weight after losing the middleweight title. On that night, Ankalaev was able to use his clinch game to smother Pereira and take him out of a comfortable range for his dangerous strikes.

In a 5-round lightweight bout in the main event, Charles Oliveira and Mateusz Gamrot meet Saturday at UFC Fight Night 261 in Rio de Janeiro.

Ofli was in brief distress when Ramos chased his own finish via knee bar in the opening moments of the fight, but he wriggled loose and soon took control while recording his 13th win in 18 fights and first in the UFC after losses in August 2024 and February 2025.