4 Positives & 4 Negatives From UFC Fight Night: Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval 2

Negative - Picking Up Where We Left Off...

The last time the Octagon was in Mexico saw the infamous No Contest in the main event between Rodríguez and Jeremy Stephens, and the moments that came along with that (angry crowd launching objects at the cage, Brendan Fitzgerald hiding under the commentary desk, "El Pantera" flipping out at Michael Bisping... etc., etc.).

After a disappointing and inconclusive end to that event four years ago, the hope was that the UFC's return would begin in a much better fashion. Suffice to say, it did not...

Instead, the opening fight of the night came to an anticlimactic close in under a minute when Erik Silva appeared to injure his knee after getting his foot caught in the gap between the cage and the canvas.

With that, Muhammad Naimov was gifted a victory. And having had a sizable asterisk attached to his last win over Nathaniel Wood at UFC 294 owing to some pretty blatant fouls, the Tajik fighter's latest wasn't exactly a statement maker either.

There are plenty of good ways to start a card. An injury, obviously, is not one of them.

Positive - Mexico Gets On The Board

After a string of North American arena events and the horrendous setting the Apex brings to other cards, how good was it to see a packed-out venue right from fight one?

Credit to those inside Arena CDMX because their volume did not decrease after a fairly rough start to proceedings, which saw Silva's injury to open the night followed by a widely debated decision loss for one of Mexico's own, Victor Altamirano.

And the fans got rewarded for their patience in the third fight of the prelims, when debutant Ronaldo Rodríguez emerged victorious from an entertaining flyweight scrap with Denys Bondar courtesy of a buzzer-beating submission in round two.

Although those in attendance showed no signs of a dip in enthusiasm, a home country win to keep them amped up is always good for atmosphere. And from the enthralling back and forth he had with Bondar to his rear-naked choke for the triumph, "Lazy Boy" certainly delivered what was required.

Negative - Excuse Me?

When it comes to judging, there are a select few fights that separate the competent from the incompetent. Claudio Puelles vs. Farès Ziam could well be one of those fights. For anyone who watched, you probably can guess my thoughts on judge Raul Salas...

Puelles essentially did nothing that could contribute toward a mixed martial arts victory in any sense. Significant strikes? Four across three rounds. Submission attempts? Zero in 7 minutes and 14 seconds of control time.

That begs the question, what on Earth did the local judge see from "Prince of Peru" to give him two rounds? The fight was extremely lackluster and Ziam did not set the cage alight, but what did he do? Actually attempt effective offense!

The French lightweight did not offer a whole lot, but it would have taken a whole lot less for Puelles to have warranted round wins based on two significant strikes and no submission attempts across five minutes.

Considering local judge Miguel Jimenez scored Altamirano vs. Felipe dos Santos 30-27 in favor of the Mexican, that begs the question, was some South American bias at play on the scorecards last night?

One veteran judge also isn't free from criticism in regards to this fight and, of course, it's Chris Lee. The perennial bad scorer gave the second frame to Puelles — a round in which the Peruvian failed to record a single significant strike to go along with his inactivity in the grappling department.

At a time when we're still constantly battling the scoring misconceptions peddled by the likes of Dominick Cruz when it comes to control time, mistakes like this really, really do not help.

Negative - In MMA, Cheaters Win

Welcome to your weekly (usually) reminder that no sport allows frequent fouling quite like mixed martial arts.

Ever since starting this editorial years ago, one thing has remained a constant in the negative column — fence grabs. What may seem like a split second grip on the cage can completely change the trajectory of a bout, with one fighter's about-to-be-successful attempt to bring a fight to the ground ripped away by an illegal move.

In such an instance, officials should be taking a point. Fighters know the rules and are reminded in the back, so why do they get one free illegal prevention of a takedown? That question should be asked to Bladimir Puga, who let one of the most grievous fence grabs in recent memory go unpunished. 

The moment came in the prelim contest between Raoni Barcelos and Cristian Quiñonez, when the Brazilian clung onto the cage for dear life as he was about to be dragged down. That, and the two or three grabs that followed, were greeted with nothing but warnings from the referee, allowing the Brazilian to continue on his merry way en route to a submission victory later in the fight.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, why wouldn't fighters utilize their free fence grab to stop a takedown? Until referees start doing their jobs, who can blame them?

Positive - Fighter, Part-Time Crowd Controller 

The prelims may have started on the wrong foot, but the same certainly can't be said for the main card.

That was courtesy of Mexico's own Manuel Torres, who made his fight against a tough opponent in Chris Duncan look easy. Having been caught early, "El Loco" gave "The Problem," well... a problem. After executing a superb takedown, Torres was able to latch onto his Scottish opponent's neck, forcing the tap via rear-naked choke in less than two minutes.

And having thrilled his home crowd with a rapid finish in round one, Torres transitioned to its controller when one of the most vicious fan brawls in recent UFC memory broke out while the result was being made official inside the Octagon.

After following two first-round knockouts with a quick submission and strong post-fight display of calmness and charisma, Torres has established himself as a rising name to watch at 155 pounds. 

Positive - 'Golden Boy'

If nothing else, Saturday's UFC Fight Night taught us that Mexico has an incredibly bright future in MMA when it comes to the lightweight division.

After a standout performance on Dana White's Contender Series, Daniel Zellhuber had a surprisingly lackluster UFC debut in 2022, falling to a decision loss in a low-activity affair against Trey Ogden. Since then, however, "Golden Boy" has return to winning form, and in some style.

Zellhuber's latest performance was undoubtedly his best to date, as he thrilled his home fans with a masterclass in striking opposite the tough and game Francisco Prado. From his jab to brutal knees in the clinch, Zellhuber used a whole host of weapons to leave his Argentine counterpart's face barely recognizable.

Initially, this bout threatened to be a negative owing to the corner interaction between Prado and his coach prior to round three. During the broadcast, it appeared that Prado expressed concern over his vision and was met with a dismissive "you don't need eyes" response — of course, not a great advert for fighter safety.

But coach Asim Zaidi clarified his remarks to MMA Mania's Alex Behunin, noting that the translation had missed some important parts of the quote, which apparently saw him state, “You don’t need your eyes in close range! You need your eyes in long range... Do not fight him in the center! Fight him in the clinch, so you don’t rely on your eyes.”

So, although I wouldn't have minded Prado's corner throwing in the towel given the damage he sustained, we can instead focus attention on Zellhuber's superb performance.

Negative - Late In The Day

The status of Raul Rosas Jr.'s fight quickly went from warmup posts on social media to a cancellation moments before he was set to make the walk.

The 19-year-old was one of the most notable names scheduled to compete on the main card, having risen to prominence when he became the UFC's youngest-ever signee and winner in the second half of 2022.

His career has since been under the spotlight, and although Christian Rodriguez stalled his ambitions of a record-breaking bantamweight crowning, he bounced back last time out with a 54-second knockout of Terrence Mitchell.

Unfortunately, the Mexican-American was unable to build on that momentum on Saturday night, with a bout of illness forcing him out on extremely late notice. A mid-event cancellation is always a negative, not least for the two fighters, who had their camps, preparations, and weight cut rendered null and void on the night.

Luckily, it appears that Rosas Jr. and Ricky Turcios will have the chance to put on a performance at next weekend's event instead. But missing out on a walk inside Arena CDMX and instead being slated for a warehouse appearance in Las Vegas will no doubt be disappointing for both.

Positive - 'T-City' Reborn

Thank goodness I'm not sat here writing a negative about how Brian Ortega's return from injury saw him out injured seconds before the fight after twisting his ankle during Bruce Buffer's introduction... 

One of the biggest storylines heading into Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Mexico City was Ortega's comeback from a 19-month layoff. Last time out on Long Island, a shoulder injury ended his main event with Rodríguez prematurely.

Pre-fight, "T-City" touted his improvements while on the sidelines and vowed to show a 'reborn' version of himself inside the cage. Through the opening minutes, it looked as though that wasn't going to be the case, with "El Pantera" flooring Ortega thanks to some vicious strikes early.

But although some exchanges left Marc Goddard taking a close look at things, Ortega not only survived, but he quickly thrived. Having finished round one on top, "T-City" went about his work in a dominant round two. And at the expense of a seemingly fatigued and out-of-ideas Rodríguez, he locked in an arm-triangle choke for the win early into the third frame.

It had been a long time since we'd seen Ortega's submission prowess reap rewards. While he came close to taking the belt from Alexander Volkanovski with it, his previous victory by tap-out came all the way back in 2017.

Seeing some vintage groundwork from "T-City" was a plus, but the real positive here came through a fighter battling adversity and injuries to return triumphantly.