UFC 228 flew under the radar for many, but showed off a main card that featured prospects and contenders alike.
The women's strawweight division already saw a contender emerge with Tatiana Suarez winning earlier in the night. However, Jessica Andrade is already prepared to put herself back into the title conversation, and effectively one-upped Suarez with her brutal knockout of #4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz Saturday night. After the fight, Andrade said that she hoped to fight Rose Namajunas for the UFC Strawweight Championship this December in an effort to avenge her failed title opportunity from 2017.
#5 bantamweight Jimmie Rivera returned to the cage just two months after being knocked out by Marlon Moraes, and nearly walked into a similar kick from #7 John Dodson. Their fight was technically proficient, but lacked the excitement to capture the imagination of fans in attendance. Rivera walked away with a unanimous decision win that only served to get him back in the win column.
#15 Zabit Magomedsharipov continued his hype train with a Suloev Stretch win over late replacement Brandon Davis. This was particularly notable, because it was the second Suloev Stretch of the night following Aljamain Sterling's. Previously, there had only been one Suloev Stetch submission in UFC history.
To kick off the PPV portion of the show, Abdul Razak Alhassan knocked out Niko Price to keep the event rolling. It served as Alhassan's third victory in a row in the UFC, and moved him to 4-1, with only a 2017 split decision loss.
You can see our full, live coverage of UFC 228 at this link, and tune into our live post-show podcast at this link. Fightful breaks down the UFC rankings each week they're updated on our subscription service, FightfulSelect.com.
