Rosas Jr.'s Scary Finish, Perez-Dumont Chaos, and Gane vs Hokit

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

• UFC Champion Insists on Duel Against Conor McGregor: “It Would Be Fun” (Ag. Fight (BR))
• Update from UFC on main event fighter (r/MMA)
• [Spoiler] Loser of Co-main event throws an identical reaction as she did in her previous loss. (r/MMA)
• UFC Vegas 121 Results: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos (MMA Fighting)
• Watch: Raul Rosas Jr. beats Raoni Barcelos with scariest knockout in UFC history (MMA Weekly)
• UFC Vegas 121 live blog: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Raoni Barcelos (MMA Fighting)
• UFC Vegas 121 results: Sooo... About last night | Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos (MMA Mania)
• Update on Raoni Barcelos following UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs Barcelos (UFC News)
• Raul Rosas Jr., Raoni Barcelos, two others transported to hospital following violent UFC Vegas 121 (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• UFC Vegas 121 video: Security intervenes following Ailin Perez’s controversial win over Norma Dumont (MMA Fighting)
• Till beats Romero by unanimous decision in BKFC (ESPN MMA)
• UFC provides medical update on Raoni Barcelos following scary knockout (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Henry Cejudo wins split decision over Wanna Walton in Misfits Boxing debut (MMA Fighting)
• UFC Vegas 121 Bonuses Revealed After Upset-Filled Card (Yahoo Sports MMA)

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 101 for September 27th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Raul Rosas Jr. over Raoni Barcelos, and this one is being called the scariest knockout in UFC history.
NORA: I watched it back twice and it's ugly. Rosas Jr. earned his contract off the Contender Series, the youngest in promotion history.
DUKE: Eighteen years. That's basically a generational fight and the kid just walked through it.
NORA: He did, and it moves him right into the thick of the bantamweight picture. That was billed as two guys trying to push closer to a title shot, and Rosas Jr. just made the loudest statement of the two.
DUKE: And the UFC paid him for it. Fight of the Night, one hundred thousand dollars apiece.
NORA: On a card with twelve fights and eight finishes. That's an absurd finish rate for a Fight Night card.
DUKE: Upset city all night long, apparently.
NORA: Pretty much.
DUKE: Okay, but I gotta ask about Barcelos, because that knockout looked bad in real time.
NORA: It did. He was taken straight to a Level 1 trauma center, got a CT scan and a full evaluation. The UFC's official word is he's stable, alert, responsive, and has full movement, but he's staying under supervision.
DUKE: That's the update we want to hear, honestly, given how that finish looked.
NORA: And it wasn't just him. Four fighters total went to the hospital off that card, Rosas Jr. included, plus two others from other bouts, all just precautionary.
DUKE: Four fighters, one night. That tells you how violent this thing actually was start to finish.
NORA: It really does.
DUKE: Now let's talk about the co-main, because Ailin Perez and Norma Dumont, that was a legit grudge match, and it did not end clean.
NORA: Perez got the decision, but after the final horn it took several members of security to actually step in and separate things. That's how hot it still was between them.
DUKE: And here's the part that's got the Reddit community buzzing. Somebody pointed out the loser threw the exact same reaction after this loss as she did after her previous one.
NORA: Which is a wild little detail if you go back and watch the tape. Same body language, same response, different night.
DUKE: That's the kind of thing that sticks with people online more than the actual scorecards do.
NORA: It really is.
DUKE: Alright, shifting lanes, Justin Gaethje is talking about Conor McGregor again, and this one's actually got some juice to it.
NORA: On the Flagrant 2 Army podcast, Gaethje said facing McGregor in a farewell fight would be, quote, it would be fun, end quote.
DUKE: That's Gaethje for you. The lightweight champion, and he's still floating a McGregor fight as his own walk off.
NORA: It's worth remembering Gaethje holds the belt right now, so any farewell run through McGregor would have to get sorted around actual title business first.
DUKE: Let's sit with this one for a second, because I don't think people take it seriously enough.
NORA: You don't buy it?
DUKE: I buy that Gaethje means it. I don't buy the UFC just hands its own champion a farewell tour against a guy who hasn't been consistently active.
NORA: Right, and that's the tension. McGregor as a money fight makes sense for everybody's wallet. McGregor as a legitimate lightweight contest right now is a completely different question.
DUKE: Gaethje's not exactly known for picking easy fights though. Remember, this is a guy who's built his whole career on wars.
NORA: That's true, and if he's serious about it being his last dance, a McGregor fight probably sells better than almost anything else out there for him.
DUKE: I just want it on record, if this happens, I called it interesting before it was cool.
NORA: Noted.
DUKE: Let's bounce over to combat sports outside the cage for a second. Darren Till beat Yoel Romero by unanimous decision in BKFC.
NORA: That's Till's second bare knuckle bout, and both of these guys are former UFC title challengers, so there's still name value in that matchup even outside the octagon.
DUKE: Till's clearly building something in that BKFC world now.
NORA: Looks that way. And speaking of former champs doing something different, Henry Cejudo made his Misfits Boxing debut.
DUKE: Split decision win over Wanna Walton, right?
NORA: Correct, and that fight almost didn't happen the way it was planned. Cejudo was originally supposed to fight influencer boxer Deen the Great, who pulled out, and Walton stepped in instead.
DUKE: Triple C's got hands, apparently, wherever he decides to use them.
NORA: Two division UFC champion turned boxer for a night. Interesting side quest for him.
DUKE: Alright, let's get into what's actually next, because there's a Contender Series card coming up fast.
NORA: Dana White's Contender Series, Season Ten, Week Eight, that's Tuesday, just two days away. George Staines takes on Loai Abushaar in the main event.
DUKE: Contract on the line for basically everybody on that card, that's always the appeal.
NORA: Always is. Natalia Silva takes on Wang Cong in the main event.
DUKE: That's a nasty little style clash on paper.
NORA: It really is, veteran craft against young pressure. That's the kind of fight that tells you a lot about where a division's heading.
DUKE: And after that we've got a run of cards worth flagging early. Allen versus Duncan on October tenth.
NORA: Then Buckley versus Malott on the seventeenth, and UFC 333 on the twenty fourth, Volkanovski versus Evloev.
DUKE: That Volkanovski card alone is loaded top to bottom.
NORA: One of the deepest cards on the calendar right now, no argument there.
DUKE: Alright, time for the pick. Nora, talk to me about Gane and Hokit.
NORA: We've got Ciryl Gane over Josh Hokit, seventy one percent.
DUKE: And the odds on that fight?
NORA: Gane's the favorite at minus two fifty, Hokit's the underdog at plus two ten. That betting line implies about sixty nine percent for Gane, so we're a little higher than the market.
DUKE: Okay, small gap, but you're still on Gane. Why?
NORA: Reach and size, mostly. Gane's got a three inch height edge and a seven and a half inch reach advantage over Hokit.
DUKE: That's a real gap at heavyweight. What about age? Gane's not exactly a spring chicken anymore.
NORA: He's eight years older, and normally that's a mark against him, but at heavyweight the reach and height edges outweigh it.
DUKE: Fair.
NORA: And there's the résumé factor too. Gane's fought for and defended a title, he's shared the cage with Ngannou and Jones. That kind of high level experience matters against someone who hasn't seen that level of competition.
DUKE: So it's a lean, not a lock.
NORA: A lean, yeah. Seventy one isn't overwhelming, but it's a real edge, and it's ahead of where the sportsbooks have it.
DUKE: I'll ride with Gane on this one too, but Hokit's got nothing to lose swinging for the fences.
NORA: That's exactly why it's a lean and not a lock.
DUKE: That's it for today's show, Nora.
NORA: Big weekend, bigger week coming.
One more thing before we go. We're on Ciryl Gane here. Who are you taking? And while you're here, two quick ones. Our free Fight Tracker is at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.