Another fight weekend is in the books, headlined by a UFC show at the Apex in Las Vegas that met all expectations provided by its deep card. The undercard delivered on all the action you could have hoped for, while the main event was also more or less what you could have figured.

I’ll have more on Tyron Woodley this week. But as usual, here are looks at three fighters outside the top fight that built their stock on Saturday:

KHAMZAT FRIGGIN’ CHIMAEV

Khamzat Chimaev entered Saturday night’s show at the UFC Apex with his hype levels solidly on the rise. Two extremely dominant wins in less than two weeks will do that for a guy – double-booking controversy aside, Chimaev looked every bit the part of an extremely promising future star, mixing powerful wrestling and murderous ground-and-pound.

Even so, he came into Saturday night’s fight with Gerald Meerschaert with a lot to prove. With all due respect to John Phillips and Rhys McKee, Meerschaert is another level of test: a highly experienced veteran who looked to pose a significant threat off his back against Chimaev.

So Chimaev killed him with the first punch of the fight.

Wait. Huh?

He can do that?

Uh, everyone might be screwed. So Khamzat Chimaev isn’t just a hugely powerful takedown and ground-and-pound threat – he can also destroy you on the feet in no time at all?

Suddenly, the upcoming fight with Demian Maia is taking on entirely new parameters. No longer is it, is Chimaev ready for this test so soon? It’s now, oh God, is Chimaev going to kill this poor old man? Hell, might he fight two or three more times before he even gets to Maia, just because he can?

Khamzat Chimaev has more wins in the UFC (three) than he’s taken strikes in the Octagon (two). The Chimaev hype rocket is about to achieve escape velocity and reach low-Earth orbit. Every other fighter at 185 (and hell, maybe 170 too) might just get left in its wake.

Mackenzie Dern

I’ve complained a little bit about this before in this space, but I feel like extremely dangerous submission threats are starting to slowly disappear from the highest levels of MMA. Modern-day wrestlers and strikers have simply learned too much on the ground – the average fighter has much higher levels of submission defense than they used to.

Which is why I am LOVING watching Mackenzie Dern in 2020. The daughter of Royler Gracie protege and sixth-degree BJJ black belt Wellington “Megaton” Dias, Dern is a world-elite level jiu-jitsu player herself, winning two world titles and striking gold in the prestigious ADCC submission wrestling championships in 2015.

Since she signed with the UFC in 2018, she’s shown that her submission mastery has played up to the highest level of the sport. Three of her four Octagon victories have come by submission, including a kneebar win over Hannah Cifers in May that was, surprisingly, the first leglock finish ever in a women’s UFC fight. And on Saturday, Dern ran an absolute grappling clinic on 15-fight UFC veteran Randa Markos before tapping her out with a first-round armbar.

Dern and Markos went to the ground almost immediately on Saturday, not necessarily by Dern’s design – she actually slipped on a leg kick and Markos followed her to the floor – but I’m sure she was just fine with the development. Immediately she was working for omoplatas, armbars, and triangle chokes, flowing from submission to submission smoothly and displaying her mastery of the art. Markos obliged her by staying on the ground with her, and it was only a matter of time before Dern got something to hit. Finally, she took top position and latched onto Markos’ left arm, and once Dern pulled her last leg free, it was all over.

I just love watching high-level grappling skill like that, and I appreciate Markos making the sub-optimal decision to willingly engage with Dern on the ground so we all got a chance to see Dern work. She’s now 4-1 in the Octagon with two straight quick submission wins – her one loss is a decision against Amanda Ribas, who looks very much the part of a potential future champ.

Dern’s stock is only on the rise, and I know one thing: when she’s in the cage, I’ll be watching.

Johnny Walker

Brazilian light heavyweight Johnny Walker came into Saturday as the latest cautionary tale against believing the hype of every flavor of the month. Walker rocketed to contention off three straight electrifying first-round knockouts, only to have the gaping holes in his game brutally exposed in losses to Corey Anderson and Nikita Krylov.

Coming into Saturday night’s fight against rising prospect Ryan Spann, it felt like Walker desperately needed a win to avoid being resigned to the dustbin of history. He was in serious danger of being another flash in the pan that we could just simply and easily forget about.

So you better believe that we saw everything from Johnny Walker on Saturday night. We saw the things that make him special, and the things that make him absolutely terrifying to root for. He got taken down and controlled up against the fence. He got dropped in the stand-up: a counter left sneaking over the top, then another right that took his legs out from underneath him. But then Spann shot for a double-leg takedown, and you remembered that Walker just has absolute crazy power. Walker held firm against the cage and blasted Spann to pieces with hammerfists and elbows that ended Spann’s night.

Johnny Walker went into a fight he desperately needed to win, nearly got knocked out two separate times, then scored a knockout of his own in an unorthodox way. That’s why I love him: he almost never has fights that follow normal conventions. When he’s in there, it feels like anything can happen, in absolutely any way, shape or form.

And for the first time in a while, Walker might have his arrow pointing upwards again. He’s recently changed camps to train at SBG Ireland, best known as the home of Conor McGregor. If the right guys can get their hands on Walker and tighten him up, who knows what the future holds: he’s just got so many gifts that you can’t teach.

Screw it, man. I’m back on the Johnny Walker train. Let’s have some fun.