It wasn't a night for star-gazing.

In fact, the UFC's 11-bout Fight Night card from the Apex facility in Las Vegas included exactly one matchup—a main event between bantamweights Song Yadong and Ricky Simon—with a fighter ranked within the top 15 in any of the promotion's weight classes.

Yadong and Simon arrived as the eighth- and 10th-ranked fighters at 135 pounds, respectively, and their scheduled five-rounder headlined a show that had two bouts reconfigured because of injury and a third scrubbed by illness.

The lower-profile show was produced a week ahead of the UFC's next pay-per-view event, which is scheduled for next weekend at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The B/R combat team was in place to take in all the action and assemble a definitive list of the show's winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments section.

Winner: Bullying a Bully

Ricky Simon had won five straight UFC fights thanks to a style in which he consistently came forward while looking to overwhelm his opponents and get them to the floor.

He scored 24 takedowns across those five victories—one by KO, two by submission—and expected to do the same in Saturday's main event with Song Yadong.

Not surprisingly, the 25-year-old Yadong had other plans.

Instead of consistently working to evade his aggressive opponent, the China-based bantamweight fought off his front foot, defended takedown attempts and dominated the striking exchanges on the way to a one-sided fifth-round stoppage.

"We wanted to put pressure on him," said Yadong, who'd not fought since September and not won since last March, "and never let him rest."

The KO was his fifth as a UFC bantamweight and tied him for fourth in the division's history.

It also ended a run of five straight wins for Simon, who'd not lost since a December 2019 decision against Rob Font. Five months earlier he'd been KO'd in 46 seconds by Urijah Faber, who was in Yadong's corner as a lead trainer.

Simon managed two takedowns, but Yadong snuffed out seven other tries to get him to the mat and continually strafed him with left hooks. He wobbled Simon badly with a left in the third, dropped him with another at the horn to end the fourth and began the final sequence with yet another in the fifth.

A stricken Simon got to his knees to try to elude further punishment, but Yadong's continued strikes prompted Herb Dean to intervene at 1:10.

Winner: Walking the Talk

Caio Borralho sounded like he meant it.

Moments after finishing highly regarded opponent Michal Oleksiejczuk in their middleweight co-main event, the Brazilian winner found the nearest camera and made his demand.

"It's time," he said. "Put some respect on my f--king name."

There was little over eight minutes to indicate he wasn't right.

The 30-year-old product of the Fighting Nerds training team won his 11th straight fight overall and fourth in a row in the UFC, finishing Oleksiejczuk with a rear-naked choke in Round 2.

The sequence started with an aggressive double-leg takedown that Borralho quickly turned into an advantage by transitioning to his opponent's back and rolling into position to lock in the choke with his left arm. It was his fourth career submission but first in the Octagon.

And he'd told his trainers that he knew it was coming.

"I knew he was coming very hard in the first minutes," Borralho said, "but I told my corner, 'He's tired, and I'm gonna get him.' My double-leg is the best in the UFC."

Loser: Big Reffing Problem

Being a referee is a thankless job.

No one notices when you get things right. But when you get them wrong, well…they do.

And that's exactly what veteran official Chris Tognoni found out again Saturday night following the main card bout between featherweights Fernando Padilla and Julian Erosa.

Making his UFC debut, Padilla incited the first telling sequence when he drove Erosa backward to the fence with a series of clean punches.

A hard right hand sent his 39-fight opponent to the floor and prompted Tognoni to move in as if he were about to stop things right there, but he hesitated as Erosa lurched forward to his knees to smother the attack and quickly got back to his feet.

Seconds later, another right hand sent Erosa reeling as if he were about to go to the floor once again, prompting Tognoni to rush in and immediately grab Padilla by the shoulder to prevent another strike.

But Erosa never fell all the way and was already beginning to move laterally to his right when the intervention came, leaving him holding his hands up in disbelief as it became apparent the end had come for real.

The ESPN broadcast team stopped short of full-on criticism for the stoppage, but it seemed apparent they collectively thought the fight could have continued. MMA followers on Twitter weighed in as well, with many suggesting the referee had acted too soon.

"It's a tough job," said ESPN's Daniel Cormier, who never referenced the ending in his post-fight interview with Padilla. "What can you say?"

Winner: Working Overtime

Trey Waters might as well have worn a lab coat and a name badge.

Because for 15 minutes in Saturday's main card opener, he put on a clinic.

Just two weeks and a day after having an LFA title bout strapped around his waist, the Florida-based welterweight drew in as a UFC sub and took previously unbeaten opponent Josh Quinlan to competitive school across three five-minute classes.

The promotion's tallest active 170-pounder at 6'5" and possessing a remarkable 77-inch reach for the weight class, Waters used those unique dimensions to his violent advantage with an active, accurate left jab that was frequently followed by sneaky right hands.

He was able to deny Quinlan's attempts to get the fight to the floor and dominated the fight's stand-up exchanges, hurting Quinlan badly with a precise counter right hand as he pressed late in the third round and ultimately leaving his foe with a bloody, swollen right eye.

It was his eighth win in nine pro fights, with the only loss having come in a stint on Dana White's Contender Series last summer.

"I don't even have the words for it. It's crazy. I'm so blessed. I'm so grateful," he said. "One hundred percent. The fight played exactly how I planned it to go. Exactly how we trained. It's amazing."

Winner: The 'Russian Ronda'

If nothing else, Irina Alekseeva won the Saturday night nickname game.

Making her UFC debut after five bouts across four promotions, she arrived with a self-applied "Russian Ronda" tag and an intention to make an immediate impression on octagonal observers.

Mission accomplished.

The 32-year-old stepped in with five-fight UFC veteran Stephanie Egger and held her own through an initial exchange of strikes. Egger initiated a clinch to smother her opponent's offense but fell victim to a different fate when Alekseeva changed levels and chased a submission via the right leg.

Egger tried to shift her weight in an attempt to escape but tapped instantly when Alekseeva locked in a kneebar that officially ended matters at 2:11 of the first round.

It was her third finish—one previously by submission, one by knockout—in five wins (against one loss), and she greeted the tapout with a scream and a cartwheel.

"This is the first time I've been in a fight and left without a scratch, without a bruise, without anything," she said. "I knew that there were ways that I could grab her leg and pull it through and get the finish that way."

Winner: Execution by Substitution

Who says short-notice opponents can't win in the UFC?

Not Marcus McGhee, that's for sure.

The 32-year-old Arizona-based fighter wasn't a planned part of Saturday's card until midweek, when Brian Kelleher was deemed unable to compete because of injury.

But he willingly stepped into the slot with four-year octagonal veteran Journey Newson, having not fought since a January victory in the LFA promotion, though he'd kept busy in the meantime training with high-profile teammate Sean O'Malley.

McGhee swept the scorecards after a competitive first round in which both fighters aimed to land big strikes, then defended a Newson takedown attempt early in the second.

A knockdown followed soon after, and McGhee swooped in for a finish, which he was able to secure via submission for the first time in a pro career that began in 2020.

The official time of the rear-naked choke was 2:03 of the second, lifting the winner's record to 7-1—all by finishes—the first six by knockout.

"I'm on cloud nine," McGhee said. "To come in and make weight and be accepted the way I have been, it's already great. And then to go out there and put a stamp on it against a tough guy who I have a lot of respect for, like Journey, words can't explain it."

Full Card Results

Main Card

Song Yadong def. Ricky Simon by TKO (punches), 1:10, Round 5

Caio Borralho def. Michal Oleksiejczuk by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:49, Round 2

Rodolfo Vieira def. Cody Brundage by submission (arm triangle), 1:28, Round 2

Fernando Padilla def. Julian Erosa by TKO (punches), 1:41, Round 1

Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Trey Waters def. Josh Quinlan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Martin Buday def. Jake Collier by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Cody Durden def. Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Irina Alekseeva def. Stephanie Egger by submission (kneebar), 2:11, Round 1

Marcus McGhee def. Journey Newson by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:03, Round 2

Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Hailey Cowan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)