UFC Fight Night 234 Results: Knockouts Galore in Las Vegas

We just witnessed the first UFC event of 2024 and the year could not have started with a better card. We are all here for the knockouts and submissions and this card did not disappoint. Here are all the UFC Fight Night 234 results.

UFC Fight Night 234 Results: 6 Knockouts, 1 Submission, 4 Decisions

Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs Waldo Cortes Acosta – Acosta won via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)

As expected, this was not the typical heavyweight match. In most cases, you see two monstrous fighters rushing for a knockout or a submission and the matches often end in the first round. We anticipated that Arlovski would keep his distance and save energy as he always does. At 44 years old, you can't expect anything else. With this said, there wasn't much action in the first round until the final 30 seconds when Cortes-Acosta finally caught Arlovski off-guard and landed a series of heavy punches.

The second round did not surprise us with more action. Acosta was clearly annoyed by Arlovski's defensive approach and tried to trigger him with gimmicks. Nothing interesting happened until the final 30 seconds when Acosta rushed forward seeking the knockout again.

Round 3 mirrored the previous segments, although Arlovski opened up a bit and we saw more attempts and short exchanges. Cortes-Acosta was truly angry and at one point screamed at Arlovski and pointed toward the clock. In the end, he won via unanimous decision, as expected.

Middleweight: Phil Hawes vs Brunno Ferreira – Ferreira won via KO (4:55, Round 1)

Phil Hawes and Brunno Ferreira always bring the heat and we all expected a first-round finish here. Ferreira took Hawes down twice and also hit him with a devastating knee that would take out 9 out of 10 fighters. Props to Hawes for surviving that punch but Ferreira connected a thunderous left overhand that turned the lights off. What an unbelievable performance by Brunno Ferreira after his first career defeat in his last appearance but also one of the most unsurprising UFC Fight Night 234 results.

Bantamweight: Ricky Simon vs Mario Bautista – Bautista won via Unanimous Decision

We had mixed expectations for this bout and this is why we skipped it on our UFC Fight Night 234 predictions. But both fighters delivered and the bout was quite entertaining for a bantamweight match.

Bautista was the more active fighter at the start and connected a brilliant one-two that wobbled Simon. His opponent followed up with a combination and a takedown but Bautista rose back easily. We saw a brutal knee from Bautista that forced Simon to resort to a clinch.

It seemed like Bautista was in control but Simon caught him off-guard with a devastating left overhand that knocked Mario down. It appears that Bautista injured his knee in the opening round as he told his corner that he couldn't throw kicks.

Both fighters were proactive in the second round and it was an entertaining segment although neither of them inflicted serious damage.

The third round was a dogfight. Both fighters were throwing at full power, Simon got a takedown, Bautista landed several brutal shots to the head and Simon shot for a takedown a few more times without success. Ricky barely survived that last round, he was completely out of the match by the third minute. Bautista was in full control and rightfully won the match via decision.

Lightweight: Jim Miller vs Gabriel Benitez – Miller won via Submission (face crank, 3:25, Round 3)

Despite his age, we expected Jim Miller to win again and he did not disappoint. Unlike Arlovski, Miller never fights for a decision. He either takes his opponent out or goes to sleep himself. No surprises here – the first round was aggressive on both ends and Miller even got cut below the eye. At the same time, he destroyed the right leg of Benitez. His thigh was bright red at the start of the second round.

Both fighters were just absorbing punches during the first couple of minutes of the second round as if defense is only for the weak. Jim Miller got a surprising takedown mid-round and maintained control until the end.

The third round was as competitive as the first two and both fighters had their moments. Yet Miller clearly did not want to go to distance and got a takedown that translated into a face crank submission to end this contest.

Light-Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker – Ankalaev won via KO (2:42, Round 2)

After a draw with the light-heavyweight title on the line and then a surprising no-contest in the first match against Johnny Walker, Magomed Ankalaev had to win this bout in the most convincing way possible. There was no other option for him. We expected to end the UFC Fight Night 234 results with a knockout but it wasn't as easy for the Russian as we anticipated. Johnny Walker looked changed and even worked as the first number in the first round. He was active and threw a lot of kicks and we would even go as far as to give him the first round. Ankalaev needed time to adjust to the correct distance and learn Walker's tricks.

Did we expect to see another comical situation after the illegal knee strike in the first match? Maybe. But we definitely did not expect Ankalaev to throw such an accurate kick in Walker's crotch. Johnny was absolutely shocked after that moment and the referee stopped the match for about two minutes. He also gave Ankalaev a serious warning. After this, we definitely believed that the referees would give the first round to Walker.

Ankalaev started the second round with a lot of intensity and tried to get closer and hurt Johnny. After all, the Brazilian had a huge reach advantage and this was a clear problem for Magomed. But Ankalaev was clearly in pursuit in the second round and Walker was just circling through the octagon, trying to maintain a safe distance. And it did not work for long – Ankalaev caught him off-guard with a devastating right that took Walker down and the follow-up shot probably broke his nose.

UFC Results Tonight: Here is the Full Card

Main Card:

• Light-Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker – Ankalaev won via KO (2:42, Round 2)
• Lightweight: Jim Miller vs Gabriel Benitez – Miller won via Submission (face crank, 3:25, Round 3)
• Bantamweight: Ricky Simon vs Mario Bautista – Bautista won via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Middleweight: Phil Hawes vs Brunno Ferreira – Ferreira won via KO (4:55, Round 1)
• Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta – Acosta won via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)

Prelims:

• Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger vs Preston Parsons – Parsons won via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)
• Bantamweight: Marcus McGhee vs Gaston Bolanos – McGhee won via TKO (3:29, Round 2)
• Bantamweight: Farid Basharat vs Taylor Lapilus – Basharat won via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)
• Featherweight: Westin Wilson vs Jean Silva – Silva won via TKO (4:12, Round 1)
• Lightweight: Nikolas Motta vs Tom Nolan – Motta won via TKO (1:03, Round 1)
• Flyweight: Joshua Van vs Felipe Bunes – Van won via TKO (4:31, Round 2)

With all the UFC Fight Night 234 results in place, we can confidently say that this was a brilliant event. What a way to start the new year! Now, we can start talking about the huge event next week and the highly-anticipated match between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.