UFC 323 fight grades: Why Dvalishvili-Yan wasn’t the best fight on the card

The final UFC PPV of 2025 saw two long-reigning champions lose their titles, albeit in drastically different outcomes. Alexandre Pantoja suffered a gruesome arm injury in the opening seconds of his fight with Joshua Van to drop the men’s flyweight title by technical knockout, while Petr Yan regained the men’s bantamweight title five years after his first reign by avenging a loss to Merab Dvalishvili.

Aside from both title fights ending with two new champions, UFC 323 featured an absolute barn burner of a light heavyweight fight, a future Hall of Famer sent to retirement after a gutsy performance and several violent finishes.

UFC 323 was a wild night of fights with a variety of endings, but where does it stand among the rest this year?

After each pay-per-view, we break down and assess the quality of each fight and the fight card itself based on skill displayed, competitiveness and what is at stake. Andreas Hale takes a look at all 14 fights at UFC 323 in Las Vegas.

---

Light heavyweight: Iwo Baraniewski vs. Ibo Aslan

Result: Baraniewski defeats Aslan by first-round KO
Grade: A

The most exciting 90 seconds of UFC action in 2025 took place between these two light heavyweights. Baraniewski and Aslan charged at each other from the start of the fight and slung haymakers until one fighter ended up knocked out. Both came close to ending the fight early as they absorbed punishing power shots, but it was Baraniewski who connected with the closing punch, sending Aslan down with a right hand and finishing him off with ground-and-pound. An absolutely chaotic and ridiculously fun 90 seconds that you should go out of your way to see.

---

Men’s bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan

Result: Yan defeats Dvalishvili by unanimous decision
Grade: A-

Yan was absolutely brilliant in utilizing all of his tools to become a two-time champion and reverse his fortunes after Dvalishvili dominated their first meeting. There will be debate surrounding Dvalishvili’s decision to defend his title four times in a calendar year, but that takes nothing away from Yan’s game plan. Yan masterfully fended off Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts for the first two rounds and put his pinpoint striking to work, busting up the champion and leaving him a bloody mess by the final bell. But Dvalishvili never backed off and did all he could to claw back into the fight, gaining momentum with a trademark carry and slam in Round 3. But Yan was exceptional everywhere, regaining the title in a thriller of a main event that’s worth your time.

---

Lightweight: Jalin Turner vs. Edson Barboza

Result: Turner defeats Barboza by first-round TKO
Grade: A-

Welcome back, Jalin Turner. «The Tarantula» impressively wiped out Barboza in a one-sided beatdown in his return bout after a short-lived retirement. Rather than take a few moments to feel each other out, Turner took a page from the chaotic Baraniewski-Aslan fight and slugged it out with the vaunted striker as soon as the fight began. It didn’t take long for Turner to break Barboza down with a three-punch combination that sent the Brazilian to the mat. Turner refused to take his foot off the gas and bounced a variety of punches off of his opponent until Barboza finally crumbled to the canvas, securing Turner’s first victory in two years.

---

Light heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov

Result: Blachowicz vs. Guskov ends in majority draw
Grade: B+

Guskov and Blachowicz engaged in an entertaining battle where a draw was an acceptable outcome. Blachowicz owned the early portion of the fight with leg kicks, but the younger Guskov turned the fight in his favor by dropping the former champion with a straight right hand and appeared to be on his way to yet another violent finish. Instead, Blachowicz survived and came back with a fiery final round that saw him drop Guskov with seconds left of the fight. This was about as entertaining a majority draw fight as you’ll see.

---

Lightweight: Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan

Result: Duncan defeats McKinney by first-round submission
Grade: B+

If we’ve learned anything about McKinney, it’s that if an opponent can weather McKinney’s early storm, the opponent can win. Duncan was caught in a tornado of punches in the opening minute but survived to rock McKinney with an elbow. Dawson followed up with a takedown and ground-and-pound before finishing McKinney with an anaconda choke. Never look away when McKinney fights; you’ll almost certainly miss the ending.

---

Men’s bantamweight: Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott

Result: Talbott defeats Cejudo by unanimous decision
Grade: B

Talbott sent Cejudo to retirement in an entertaining scrap that blended the heart of a former champion with a rising star demonstrating new wrinkles in his game. Talbott was excellent, taking Cejudo down in the first round and busting him up with strikes in Round 2. But Cejudo was all guts as he continued to fight despite being battered and bloodied. Cejudo could have checked out at any time, but he refused to fold despite absorbing a great deal of punishment in the fight.

---

Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli

Result: Abdul-Malik defeats Trocoli by first-round submission
Grade: B

Abdul-Malik wasted no time imposing his will and swiftly choking out Trocoli. He set the tone by securing a takedown in the first 30 seconds. Trocoli made the mistake of leaving his neck open as he scrambled to his feet and was met with a tight guillotine choke. Abdul-Malik put the clamps on, and Trocoli had no choice but to tap out after just over a minute of action. Completely one-way traffic for Abdul-Malik.

---

Lightweight: Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres

Result: Torres defeats Dawson by first-round TKO
Grade: B

Torres violently halted Dawson’s momentum with a left hand in Round 1 of their contest. Just as it felt that Dawson was reaching his potential as a lightweight title challenger, Torres sent it to a crashing halt with a short left uppercut and punctuated the win with some hammerfists. It was an impressive win for Torres, who waited patiently for Dawson to charge in before he snuck in the left hand that ended the fight.

---

Men’s flyweight: Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira

Result: Taira defeats Moreno by second-round TKO
Grade: B-

After an opening stanza where Taira spent most of the round defending a triangle choke attempt, the Japanese grappler went to work and picked up the biggest win of his career by stopping the former champion Moreno. Taira shut down Moreno’s attempt to turn it into a striking contest with a takedown and quickly scrambled to take the former champion’s back. In a blink, Taira flattened Moreno out and rained down strikes, becoming the first fighter to stop the Mexican star. It was an impressive outing for Taira, who almost certainly cemented a shot at the flyweight title with a dominant finish.

---

Catchweight: Mairon Santos vs. Muhammad Naimov

Result: Santos defeats Naimov by third-round TKO
Grade: C+

After 10 minutes of nonaction, Santos woke the crowd up by sending Naimov crashing to the canvas with a perfectly placed straight right hand in the opening seconds of Round 3. It certainly made up for the slow-paced chess match of the first two rounds. Santos was getting the better of the exchanges, but it appeared to be a fight heading to scorecards until Naimov opened Round 3 with aggression. That physicality was met with a right hand that turned Naimov’s lights out.

---

Women’s flyweight: Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva

Result: Barber defeats SIlva by unanimous decision
Grade: C+

This solid fight between Barber and Silva had its fair share of ebbs and flows. Silva chased several submission attempts — from rear-naked chokes and heel hooks to guillotines — but Barber was resilient and found ways to turn the tide. In the first round, she reversed position and ended up on top, throwing big punches from inside Silva’s guard. She overcame an illegal upkick in Round 2 to take Silva’s back and deliver strong ground-and-pound. Barber continues to improve and is inching closer to a title fight with each performance.

---

Catchweight: Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira

Result: Ferreira defeats Vettori by unanimous decision
Grade: C

When two grapplers end up striking, it isn’t always pretty. Ferreira and Vettori spent the first two rounds on the feet as they threw looping shots at one another. Ferreira got the better of those exchanges and landed some big shots on the steel-chinned Vettori. They did some grappling in the final round but decided to end the fight standing. It wasn’t technical, but Ferreira was effective enough to get a win over a former title contender.

---

Lightweight: Farés Ziam vs. Nazim Sadykhov

Result: Ziam defeats Sadykhov by second-round TKO
Grade: C

Just as the crowd was getting restless and filling the arena with boos, Ziam suddenly ended the fight at the buzzer of Round 2. Ziam dominated from the beginning with his grappling, but it was a miserably slow affair that sucked the energy out of T-Mobile Arena. The fight was heading toward a one-sided grappling win by Ziam until the Frenchman unleashed a short elbow in the clinch that dropped Sadykhov. Sadykhov was credited with a total of seven strikes landed, which tells you everything you need to know about the fight.

---

Men’s flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van

Result: Van defeats Pantoja by first-round TKO
Grade: Incomplete

Unless you want to see Pantoja’s gruesome injury, there’s no reason to watch the 26-second fight between Van and Pantoja. The ending came before either fighter could get going as Pantoja came down awkwardly on his arm while trying to defend a takedown attempt from Van. An unfortunate ending where a grade won’t be assigned to the fight.

---

UFC 323 fight card grade: B+

Outside of the unfortunate ending to the men’s flyweight title fight, UFC 323 was the rare event that didn’t have an unwatchable fight. Nothing was overtly bad, and we were treated to a thrilling championship tilt between Yan and Dvalishvili, Baraniewski and Aslan delivering 90 seconds of mayhem and a fair share of finishes that truly entertained. The last PPV of 2025 ends as one of the best events of the year.