Raul Rosas Jr. got the finish he needed, and it wasn't pretty to watch. Down the stretch against Raoni Barcelos in the UFC Vegas 121 main event, Rosas Jr. found a fifth-round knockout that left Barcelos needing to be stretchered out of the Meta Apex. However you feel about the stoppage, the result is the result: Rosas Jr. gets his hand raised and keeps building toward a spot in the bantamweight title conversation. Barcelos, for his part, was reportedly alert and responsive afterward, but the visual of him being carted out is the kind of thing that sticks with a crowd long after the scores are read.
The co-main event was billed as a title eliminator of sorts, and we're hearing the winner could be primed for a run at gold, with Kayla Harrison reportedly set to face Amanda Nunes in November. Ailin Perez got the job done against Norma Dumont, taking a unanimous decision by 29-28 scores across the board. This was a grudge match built on real animosity, and it showed after the final horn when security had to step in to separate the two. The fight itself didn't match the buildup, with the action fizzling in stretches, but a win is a win, and Perez now has a real case to push for a shot at the winner of Harrison-Nunes.
Elsewhere on the card, Luis Hernandez turned in one of the fastest and most talked-about moments of the night. Stepping in on just two days' notice to replace an injured Mickey Gall, the Miami-Dade sheriff choked out Sedriques Dumas with a guillotine in 57 seconds to win his UFC debut. That's about as good a first impression as you can make on short notice, and it's hard to imagine the UFC doesn't look to bring him back quickly after that kind of showing.
The TUF 34 finales didn't go according to script. Tina Black was crowned the women's tournament winner, reportedly with a nasty TKO finish, taking home the plaque and a UFC contract. The men's final was a mess: Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu was awarded the win over Mehemmedeli Osmanli by disqualification after Osmanli landed a blatant illegal knee to a grounded Akylbek Uulu just 2:19 into round one. Akylbek Uulu gets the contract and the title, but not the kind of visual highlight reel he was hoping to build his UFC career around.
Around the rest of the card, none of those results move the needle the way the top of the card did, but they add up to a solid night of work for the winners and keep the bantamweight picture shifting heading into the next round of UFC Fight Night bookings.