It was a light night, figuratively and literally, in the UFC octagon.

The MMA conglomerate went heavy on smaller fighters across an 11-bout card at the Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday, with all but one match made at featherweight and below—including a main event between ranked flyweights Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira.

They were the only fighters among 22 with numbers alongside their names going in, with Perez looking to defend his No. 5 standing against the streaking 24-year-old Taira, who was 5-0 since arriving in 2022 and had climbed to No. 13 among the 125-pounders.

Perez, 32, had dropped two of three since a first-round tap-out loss to then-champ Deiveson Figueiredo in a failed title attempt at UFC 255.

The B/R combat team took in the action and compiled a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.

Winner: Staking a High-Level Claim

The finish wasn't pretty. But the result was just what Tatsuro Taira wanted.

The streaking 24-year-old flyweight kept his record perfect with a 16th straight professional victory and sixth in a row in the UFC with a second-round finish of fifth-ranked Alex Perez.

The official end came at 2:59 of the second when Perez was unable to continue with what initially appeared to be an injury to his right knee.

The veteran former title challenger fared well enough in the opening round with strikes and activity, but Taira immediately seized the initiative and upped his work rate to begin the second. He charged in to secure a takedown after two minutes and was instantly onto the kneeling Perez's back, prompting him to stand as Taira locked in a body triangle.

And from there, he dug deep into his sublime bag of technical tricks.

Taira laced his legs around Perez's left leg and used his hands to seize control of his opponent's right wrist, then leaned backward and shifted their combined weight to Perez's right knee, which gave out as the stricken man groaned in pain.

Referee Herb Dean called an immediate halt as cage-side personnel tended to Perez.

"That was all initiated by Taira. That wasn't an accident," analyst Michael Bisping said. "That was one of the best and cleanest performances I've ever seen."

Perez had won his last fight following a three-fight skid that included a failed title shot in 2020. Taira immediately seized the championship-level narrative and issued a challenge to the entire 125-pound ranks while bellowing the name of current champ Alexandre Pantoja.

"I have something to say to the flyweight division," he said. "Please line up in front of me. Everyone."

Loser: Co-Main Math

English isn't Douglas Silva de Andrade's language of choice.

But it's clear the Brazilian bantamweight veteran understands numbers.

Which is why his reaction to a unanimous decision loss to Miles Johns in Saturday's co-main event—including two of three judges scoring a shutout against him—made sense.

Because the action over 15 minutes didn't seem to equal those scores.

The 38-year-old Silva de Andrade was on the statistical short end of the significant strike count in two of three rounds, but he seemed to land the harder strikes throughout the fight and visibly had his younger foe on skates down the stretch.

He reacted to Joe Martinez's official announcement with a shrug and outstretched arms, while Johns steered directly into post-fight bravado as if he'd not been in doubt.

It was his third straight UFC win and sixth in eight fights alongside a no contest.

"I am very happy," he said. "I finally feel like I've found the Miles Johns from the practice room here in the octagon. These bantamweights better watch out.

"The new Miles Johns has the heart of a lion. You're going to have to kill me to get me out of here."

Winner: Veteran Resilience

It wasn't supposed to go Lucas Almeida's way.

The 33-year-old Brazilian had been finished in two straight fights and was in on Saturday's main card against a younger opponent in Timmy Cuamba who was looking to break through after a short-notice loss in his UFC debut four months ago.

Sometimes, though, it doesn't go according to chalk.

Instead of being the opponent to allow his 25-year-old foe to get over with the Apex crowd, Almeida instead dumped Cuamba to the floor with hard shots in each of the first two rounds before surviving a late rally and escaping with a narrow but deserved unanimous decision.

All three judges scored it 29-28, or two rounds to one, for Almeida, who'd not won since a Fight Night show in the same venue exactly two years and 11 days ago.

"I went through the desert, two losses in a row," he said, "and Jesus grabbed me by the hand and said, 'You have to go through this to get to the other side.'"

Almeida landed 66 strikes to Cuamba's 35 across the first two rounds and defended both of his foe's takedown attempts to create the margin he held onto through the third.

"I know that Timmy is a very tough fighter," Almeida said. "But I worked so hard. Everyone who trains with me knows I worked so hard, and I was ready for this."

Winner: Going the (Almost) Distance

Brady Hiestand is a tough man to dissuade.

His bantamweight opponent, Garrett Armfield, certainly tried with a variety of hard strikes —including a volley that yielded a second-round knockdown—and myriad submission attempts, but it wasn't enough to stop an intensely determined 25-year-old.

Eventually, it was Hiestand who laughed last in the form of a third-round submission via rear-naked choke. The official time was 1:52.

"I wanted a dominant performance, but I'll take a third-round finish, I guess," Hiestand said. "I've got heart and I've got cardio. If you're in a fight with me, you better go all the way until the end."

It was his third straight win in the UFC and ninth in 11 fights overall, including an appearance on The Ultimate Fighter, and rewarded a persistent attack that saw him notch six takedowns in 13 tries, establish more than five minutes of control time, and hold a striking advantage in both the first and partial third round.

He's scored at least three takedowns in each of his UFC appearances.

"He can be a nail or a hammer," analyst Dominick Cruz said. "At the end he was a hammer. But what gets Hiestand through these fights is that when he's a nail he doesn't stop fighting."

Winner: Chopping the Tree

It shouldn't have been that easy.

Upon simply looking at Asu Almabayev and Jose Johnson standing across from one another in the cage, the 5'4" man had no business fighting—let alone beating—the tallest flyweight in UFC history who stood eight inches taller and had a six-inch reach edge.

That, though, is why they fight the fights.

Almabayev's strategy from the outset was to get inside his taller foe and take the fight to the ground, and the gameplan proved successful as the Kazakh flyweight ground his foe into competitive mulch across 15 minutes on the way to a clear unanimous win.

Each of the three judges scored it 3-0 for Almabayev, who set the tone with five takedowns and better than four minutes of control time through the first round. He escaped Johnson's desperate chase of a triangle choke and went after a submission of his own in the second round, then notched a sixth takedown and continued to pursue a finish to the horn.

It was his third straight win in the UFC and 16th in a row overall since 2017 and prompted a specific post-fight callout of fourth-ranked contender Kai Kara-France.

"The gameplan every time is wrestle, wrestle, wrestle," Almabayev said. "No wrestling, no fight."

Winner: Countering with Convention

Fighting a guy who thrives on the unorthodox?

Lean into the fundamentals.

That's what welterweight Adam Fugitt did in the main-card opener with Josh Quinlan, whose strategy of running in, throwing punches from multiple angles, and dashing out was countered by consistent, hard kicks on the way to Fugitt's narrow split-decision win.

Two judges saw it two rounds to one in Fugitt's favor to offset a third who saw it in Quinlan's direction, giving Fugitt his 10th win as a pro and second in four UFC tries.

"(It was) too close," Fugitt said. "That's a tough man over there. I knew it was gonna be a scrap."

Quinlan was the busier and seemingly more effective fighter through the fight's first half, but he appeared more tired as the match reached its latter stages and Fugitt scored more often and more effectively with hard kicks to the torso, head and arms.

"A lot of kicks. All over," he said. "I'm trying to kill that wrist and take away a weapon, and the head kicks come off of it."

Quinlan lost for the third straight time after winning his UFC debut in 2022.

"I'm feeling good," Fugitt said. "A lot of things went into this camp. I've grown a lot as a person and came out on the other side."

Loser: Not Quite Mayhem

Sometimes there's truth in advertising. Other times, not so much.

The prelim feature between Nate Maness and Jimmy Flick seemed destined to be a pier-six brawl, or at the very least an action-packed duel, given that there had been nine finishes in the last 10 fights involving the two fighters prior to Saturday.

But then it wasn't.

Make no mistake, the 15 minutes between the 30-somethings was compelling enough but didn't rise to Fight of the Night consideration on the way to a clear-cut unanimous decision in favor of Maness announced just seconds after the final horn.

It was a second straight UFC win and fifth in seven tries for Maness, who swept all three rounds on two scorecards and earned a 2-1 nod on the third. The B/R card was in line with the majority and had it a shutout for Maness, who held a 139-41 edge in strikes and defended all but one of Flick's eight takedown attempts.

Flick fell to 2-3 in the UFC and 17-8 in his career.

Loser: Finishing Stronger

Carli Judice was faster, sharper and more effective as her three-round preliminary fight with flyweight foe Gabriella Fernandes reached the final horn.

But unfortunately for the 25-year-old in her first official UFC appearance, she didn't have more time to add to her work.

Instead, the fight went to the scorecards based on what had already occurred and it didn't turn out well for Judice, who came out on the short end of a split decision in which all three judges saw it 2-1 in rounds—with two tipping in the Brazilian's direction.

As a result, it was Fernandes picking up her first win with the promotion after two straight losses by decision.

"I told my team this was gonna be a tough fight and I wasn't gonna let them down," Fernandes said. "She's a tough girl."

The combatants worked through a reed-thin first round in which Fernandes landed more powerful shots while Judice rallied late and appeared to tire Fernandes with movement and precision work. Fernandes rallied well in the second and scored with several heavy left hands to Judice's head, but the American rallied herself down the stretch and appeared to be better equipped had the fight been scheduled for four or five rounds.

Judice landed more strikes in the first and third rounds and held an overall 186-126 edge in that statistic and the fighters were even with two takedowns apiece, leading the B/R card to lean to Judice by a 29-28 tally.

"Coming off two losses, everyone knows how tough that is," Fernandes said. "I got a knockdown in the first round. I hit her, she got wobbly, and she started running."

Winner: Saving His Skin

Westin Wilson was fighting for his competitive life.

The 35-year-old hadn't made it past the first round in two UFC appearances on the way to KO losses, so he made no secret of the fact that he intended to "grapple his head off" when faced with striking ace Jeka Saragih on Saturday's preliminary card.

So, when the Indonesian came charging across the cage at the outset, he was ready.

Wilson evaded the early onslaught and had the fight on the ground within seconds, quickly working his way into an advantageous position and ultimately locking in the armbar that drew a tap-out from Saragih in only 109 seconds.

Saragih had arrived as a -355 betting favorite.

"It feels fantastic," said Wilson, who scored the second armbar finish and 12th overall submission of his career, which began in 2014 and had included 23 fights in multiple promotions before his arrival to the UFC last summer.

"I've got the arm collector in my corner," he said. "He's a tremendous coach and I have a great team behind me."

Winner: Weathering the Storm

For 10 minutes, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was the "Wolverine."

But once the third round of his featherweight fight with Melquizael Costa began, he was far closer to the "Emptied Gas Tank."

That left Costa, who'd been taken down four times and controlled for nearly seven minutes across the first two rounds, a path to a comeback victory.

The 27-year-old Brazilian immediately seized the advantage when presented, snuffing Nuerdanbieke's final takedown attempt and quickly getting to his back to lock in a rear-naked choke that drew a tap-out surrender at 1:50 of the round.

"This is a beautiful day," said Costa, who'd lost two of his first three UFC appearances.

It was his first submission win with the promotion and seventh overall across 21 career wins, and he mentioned that versatility when chatting afterward with analyst Michael Bisping.

"I have seven finishes, seven decisions, seven knockouts," Costa said. "I am a problem for everyone. I know there are a lot of high-level grapplers. But we have very good people (to train with). We're ready for anybody."

Winner: Protecting the 0

Josefine Knutsson has some lofty career goals.

She arrived to Saturday's show unbeaten in seven fights and had broken through in the UFC with a clear scorecard victory in her debut nine months ago.

But even though her pursuit of a championship at 115 pounds remained intact with another victory in the Fight Night show's opening bout, there's work to be done.

The 28-year-old Swede was taken to the ground and punished while there, but her one-sided activity on the feet was enough for the veteran kick-boxer to earn 29-28 nods from all three judges against Brazilian foe Julia Polastri.

Knutsson held wide striking advantages in each of the three rounds but was also taken down three times in three tries and had to wriggle her way out of a third-round triangle attempt to maintain her unbeaten slate.

"I need to put in a little bit more work on the ground. It was expected that she'd try to take me down," she said. "Even though this is only my second fight in the UFC, all the strawweights should watch out because I'm coming."

Loser: Hitting the Number

Tagir Ulanbekov missed his invitation to the party.

The 32-year-old Russian was set to take part in the third of four flyweight bouts on Saturday's card but missed his opportunity on the scale when he weighed in at 129.5 pounds, more than three pounds over the contracted limit of 126.

Ulanbekov is 4-1 since reaching the promotion in 2020 and climbed to No. 12 in the divisional rankings after a second-round choke-out of Cody Durden in an early prelim bout at UFC 296 in December. His scheduled bout with Joshua Van was canceled, which elevated bantamweights Douglas Silva de Andrade and Miles Johns to the co-main slot.

Middleweights Ikram Aliskerov and Antonio Trocoli had been on deck in the initial Fight Night lineup before Aliskerov was shifted to next week's headliner against Robert Whittaker in Saudi Arabia when Khamzat Chimaev pulled out with an illness.

Full Card Results

Main Card

Tatsuro Taira def. Alex Perez by TKO (injury), 2:59, Round 2

Miles Johns def. Douglas Silva de Andrade by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Lucas Almeida def. Timmy Cuamba by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Brady Hiestand def. Garrett Armfield by submission (rear-naked choke), 1:52, Round 3

Asu Almabayev def. Jose Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Adam Fugitt def. Josh Quinlan by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Nate Maness def. Jimmy Flick by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Gabriella Fernandes def. Carli Judice by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Westin Wilson def. Jeka Saragih by submission (armbar), 1:49, Round 1

Melquizael Costa def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke by submission (rear-naked choke), 1:50, Round 3

Josefine Knutsson def. Julia Polastri by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)