UFC Vegas 63: Kattar vs. Allen winners and losers

On Saturday night, referee Herb Dean raised Arnold Allen’s hand to signal his TKO win over Calvin Kattar in the main event of the UFC Vegas 63 Fight Card. With that, Allen tied UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski for the longest active winning streak in the promotion’s 145-pound weight class. True, the win came under less than ideal conditions – a knee injury prevented Kattar from continuing – but that doesn’t erase the win from Arnold’s record.

Allen, 28, began his march through the UFC featherweight division in June 2015 with a submission win over Alan Omer. As of Saturday night, Allen was the No. 6 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings. Kattar checked in in 5th place. It’s not a ban, but there’s a good chance the two will switch positions when this ranking is updated.

In the co-main event, a welterweight bout between Max Griffin and Tim Means ended with Griffin receiving the split decision nod.

Read on for the winners and losers of UFC Vegas 63, held at the UFC Apex and streamed on ESPN+.

Winner:

Arnold Allen: Before his fight against Calvin Kattar ended in Kattar being unable to continue due to a knee injury, Arnold Allen did things for Arnold Allen. Which means he landed punches while dodging his opponent’s offense. When Allen entered UFC Vegas 63, he ranked second among active UFC featherweights in shot defense, avoiding 66.7 percent of his opponent’s significant shots.

Allen’s defense against Kattar, who averaged 5.19 strikes per minute before the event, was better than his UFC average. In the first five minutes of the fight, Allen had a remarkable 76 percent defense.

With UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski expected to fight for the promotion’s lightweight title at UFC 284 in February, the UFC may decide to crown an interim featherweight champion. If that’s the case, Allen, who should be able to return to the octagon very soon barring an unknown or undisclosed injury, would be a prime contender for being a half of that interim title junk.

Max Griffin: Max Griffin scored a big win over Tim Means in the co-main event. Griffin used his punch to injure his opponent and his wrestling to control Means on the mat.

Griffin did an excellent job in the third round by following directions from his corner. Griffin’s faith in his trainers allowed him to gain 3:44 control time during the third verse and limit Means to 10 significant strikes landed.

The win put Griffin back on the winning column after a split-decision loss in March to Neil Magny that ended a three-fight win streak.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta: Waldo Cortes-Acosta clinched his first UFC win and improved his professional record to 8-0 with a decision win over Jared Vanderaa. Cortes-Acosta packs a lot of power into his punches, but he’s eaten too many calf kicks that have slowed him down. I expect Cortes-Acosta will use his UFC Vegas 63 win as a learning experience and make adjustments to his style and approach. If he doesn’t do this, he will get into trouble when faced with higher-level competition.

Tresean Gore: Tresean Gore was likely fighting for his UFC career alongside Josh Fremd on Saturday night. Gore was 2-0 on promotion, but he scored a wicked technical submission win via guillotine choke to secure his first win under the UFC banner.

Dustin Jacoby vs. Khalil Rountree Jr: Dustin Jacoby and Khalil Rountree Jr. exchanged solid blows. Both fighters mixed their punches and targets well, but Rountree’s power carried him to victory.

The win put Rountree on his first three-fight win streak as a UFC fighter. Jacoby, who was the No. 13 fighter on the official UFC light heavyweight rankings prior to UFC Vegas 63, suffered a first loss in his second run with the UFC. Jacoby has been 6-0-1 with the promotion since his return in 2020.

Roman Dolidze: Roman Dolidze’s finish against Phil Hawes wasn’t easy to watch, but it was a big KO win for Dolidze, who is now on a two-fight win streak.

Marcos Rogerio de Lima: Marcos Rogerio de Lima ran over Andrei Arlovski at UFC Vegas 63, knocking him down early in the first round and then finishing the fight with a rear naked choke at the 1:50 mark.

De Lima called for a matchup in Brazil in January, a fight he should book considering he only had three hits on Saturday.

Jun Yong Park: Jun Yong Park picked up an intelligent and artisanal submission win over Joseph Holmes. Park used his wrestling to negate his opponent’s height advantage, then slowly collapsed Holmes on his way to the rear naked choke victory.

Steve Garcia: Steve Garcia bounced back from an ugly KO loss at UFC 275 to score his own highlight reel stop at UFC Vegas 63. Garcia scored three knockdowns in 92 seconds against Chase Hooper on Saturday before Herb Dean waved the fight away.

Cody Durden: Cody Durden started his first win streak in two fights on Saturday with a win over favorite Carlos Mota. Durden used his wrestling and heavy point play to neutralize Mota, amassing 12:32 control time en route to his victory.

Durden fought to his strengths in this matchup, but it must be pointed out that Mota was happy to allow Durden to do so.

Christian Rodriguez: One of the first things to notice in the opening bout of the UFC Vegas 63 fight card was how relaxed Christian Rodriguez looked. The 24-year-old, who fell from the featherweight division after losing in his UFC debut in February, was calm and collected throughout the fight. While Rodriguez has to work on his takedown defense, he showed off his technique, strength and fight IQ by scoring the fight-ending anaconda choke after Joshua Weems defeated him.

In addition to a new weight class, Rodriguez had a new gym – Fight Ready – for this competition.

Rodriguez’s win over Weems was a nice setback.

Loser:

Calvin Kattar: Calvin Kattar tried his best, but an injured knee prevented him from going past the eight-second mark of the second round of his fight against Arnold Allen.

Timo means: Tim Means celebrated his 10th anniversary with the UFC in February. Means has had his ups and downs as a member of the UFC roster and his loss to Max Griffin put him on the rise to his third loss in two fights, but he’s still a viable competitor and he’s never lost more than two fights in one Row.

Jared Vanderaa: I suspect the UFC appreciates Jared Vanderaa’s willingness to fight, but his loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 63 put him on a five-fight loss streak going back to October 9, 2021. It will be a surprise to see Vanderaa back inside the octagon.

Dan Miragliotta: Referee Dan Miragliotta screwed up during Phil Hawes vs Roman Dolidze fight. After Hawes was injured by a leg lock, Miragliotta got between Hawes and Dolidze, seeming to indicate through his body language and the fact that he put his hand on Dolidze that the fight was over. However, Miragliotta allowed the fight to continue, resulting in a compromised Hawes being KO’d.

Miragliotta had to stop this fight after deciding to get between the two men and touch the fighter who was on the offensive. There is no room for indecision in an MMA fight. Miragliotta should have left with his first reaction, which seemed to be to end the fight.

Corner by Phil Hawes: Phil Hawes’ corner allowed their fighter to continue after apparently suffering a knee injury against Roman Dolidze. I find no fault in Hawes trying to continue despite being compromised. However, Hawes’ corner is said to be there to protect him if needed. They failed and Hawes suffered an ugly knockout loss as a result of their inaction.

Andrei Arlovski: Andrei Arlovski could have tied Jim Miller with a win at UFC Vegas 63 for most wins in UFC history. That didn’t happen. Instead, Marcos Rogerio de Lima submitted the former UFC champion in the first verse. The loss ended Arlovski’s four-fight winning streak.

Chase Hooper: Chase Hooper was and is a one trick fighter and he didn’t get a chance to show that trick at UFC Vegas 63 because he was too busy getting knocked down by Steve Garcia.

Hooper is a tough young man, but the UFC hasn’t done him any favors by keeping him on the roster when he needs to work on his flashy offense and defense.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, 23-year-old Hooper needs time to develop his quick wits. If the UFC took care of this young man as a potential future UFC fighter, it would keep him on a developmental deal and put him on a par with the competition.

Carlos Mota: When Carlos Mota returns to the gym next week, the ex-LFA champion’s team will need to guide him through takedown defense drills and work from the bottom position to get back to a standing position.

The hyped 27-year-old was far too comfortable fighting from his cover and looking for submissions that weren’t there. That will not work in MMA with the current evaluation criteria.

Mota gave up four takedowns and gave up 12:32 control time. He had a recorded submission attempt.

Joshua Weems: Joshua Weems picked up his matchup against Christian Rodriguez at short notice. He missed the weight by 3.5 pounds and looked overwhelmed during his submission loss to Rodriguez. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Weems is one and is done with the UFC.