UFC Vegas 24 took place Saturday, April 17, 2021 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card was headlined by a middleweight bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.
Closing odds are courtesy of one of the most popular Las Vegas based sportsbooks Circa Sports. Here’s a quick recap of each of those fights.
Favorites that Won
In the main event of the evening, Robert Whittaker put on a clinic against Kelvin Gastelum, outstriking Gastelum and surprisingly outgrappling him over the course of five rounds to win a one-sided unanimous decision. Whittaker was -245 while Gastelum was +210
Tracy Cortez held her own on the feet with Justine Kish, then repeatedly scored takedowns and did damage from top position to win a decision. Somehow it was only a split decision, but Cortez was clearly the winner. Cortez was -335 while Kish was +280
Alex Munoz looked to land heavy blows on the feet combined with takedowns, but Luis Pena utilized his length to land effective strikes over the course of three rounds and the judges sided with Pena via split decision. Pena was -160 while Munoz was +140
Alexander Romanov clearly took round two with a takedown and heavy ground and pound against Juan Espino, and both men had moments in round one. In round three, Espino landed a low blow and Romanov was unable to continue, forcing the fight to go to the scorecards early, which Romanov won via split technical decision. Romanov was -155, while Griffith was +135
Dakota Bush came out strong with aggression, but Austin Hubbard paced himself, outlanding Bush on the feet the rest of the way and even outgrappling him with takedowns to earn a unanimous decision. Hubbard was -220 was while Bush was +190
In the opening bout of the evening, Tony Gravely landed some heavy shots against Anthony Birchak, eventually dropping him with a nasty hook and finishing him midway through the second round. Gravely was -365 while Birchak was +300
Underdogs that Won
Andrei Arlovski continued to defy the odds, staying light on his feet and outstriking Chase Sherman over the course of three rounds to win a decision. Arlovski was +128 while Sherman was -148
Jacob Malkoun surprisingly used his wrestling against Abdul Razak Alhassan, surviving the stand-up exchanges long enough to repeatedly dump Alhassan on his back to win a one-sided unanimous decision. Malkoun was +240 while Alhassan was -285
In her UFC debut, Lupita Godinez slammed and outstruck Jessica Penne, but she repeatedly put herself in awkward positions by attempting head and arm throws and initiating clinches against a superior grappler and Penne was able to take her back in rounds 1 and 2, which was enough to sway two judges to award Penne the split decision. Penne was +220 while Godinez was -260
Bartosz Fabinski came out aggressive, looking to land big shots and take Gerald Meerschaert down, but Meerschaert immediately locked in a guillotine and submitted him. Meerschaert was +110 while Fabinski was -130
