If early returns are indicative, Saturday was a banner night for the UFC.
The octagonal combat conglomerate produced a card of compelling fights from top to bottom in Southern California, headlined by a seismic shift in both the featherweight and pound-for-pound ranks with Ilia Topuria's upset victory in the pay-per-view main event.
Alexander Volkanovski had held his title since 2019, defended five times and ascended to consensus acclaim as the promotion's all-time best at 145 pounds. But after a hard right to the jaw, he was left in a heap and the Spain-based Georgian was deemed a new star.