The return from the Octagon to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas started with a bang when two middle weights laid a high beam.
UFC 313 promised to be the largest map of the year so far with Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev at the top of the map on March 8.
The night had to overcome some obstacles before he started with 2 out of 12 planned attacks that fell of the map at the last minute.
As a result, the promotion on UFC 313 started much later than expected, filling the temporary employment team before the opening match finally started.
Fortunately for the Vecht fans who were forced to wait a little longer than normal, the very first fight of the night suggested the standard for the rest of the card to follow.
Ozzy Diaz reveals that he could not see it after beating Djorden Santos in a three -round fight
In the only UFC Fight Pass Prelim, the American Ozzy Diaz looked back to bounce back from a loss on his Octagon debut by going to the middleweight.
He faced the Brazilian Djorden Santos who earned his place on the Roster through a unanimous decision gain on the Contender Series of Dana White in September.
It soon became clear that these two men would really test each other in three rounds in what was largely a boxing match with a few knees and elbows thrown in.
While Diaz clearly got the action better from the promotion in the final round, the previous two could have go in all directions, but all three judges scored the fight the same.
The cards let the American win the second and third round for a unanimous decision of 29-28 in favor of Diaz.
Some fans debated the score of the second round where Santos landed more strikes, but on closer inspection the Victor produced the more important shots.
After an emotional response to raising his hand, Diaz told Joe Rogan in his interview after the fight that he was seriously affected during the fight after he had lost vision in one eye.
“I don't know what happened in the first exchange, I couldn't see from my left eye, so I had to get into that paint, I had to dig deep. It was f— tough, I couldn't see, we had one exchange in the beginning and that was it, my left eye, I couldn't see it. “
Both men still have a long way to go before they win a performance bonus
Ozzy Diaz and Djorden Santos started UFC 313 with a fight from the night candidate, but there is still a lot of action that could take that place from them.
It will always be difficult to win a performance bonus when Justin Gaethje is on the map, especially given his first fight with Rafael Fiziev who stole the show on UFC 286.
Not to mention the most important event between two of the most consistent finishers of the light heavyweight division in Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.
Still, if the fighting gets better than the opening game, we are in Las Vegas for a special evening.
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