RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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UFC Vegas 120 puts the focus back on the lightweight division after a fun trip to Serbia last weekend.
Australia's Quillan Salkilld is the star of the show, as he continues to ascend through the rankings. In his first headliner appearance, he'll be tasked with his stiffest test yet, the former KSW multi-weight champion and perennial UFC contender, Mateusz Gamrot.
It's a highly compelling main event. But the UFC has admittedly struggled to get behind supporting Gamrot, and this spot highlights how much more invested the promotion is in Salkilld's potential than Gamrot's.
What is the best way to describe UFC Vegas 120? It's one big prelim card.
👑 UFC Vegas 120's lineup Crown grade: F+. 👑
Mateusz Gamrot still has hopes of becoming the UFC lightweight champion. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Ed Mulholland via Getty Images
155 pounds: Mateusz Gamrot (+125) vs. Quillan Salkilld (-150)
The oddsmakers are clearly buying the hype of Salkilld here, and rightfully so. However, the deeper you dive into his resume, the more cause for concern there is.
Listen, Salkilld is an excellent fighter, and more importantly, a solid finisher. The guy is a fun time, and guaranteed excitement at 155 pounds. But he really hasn't beaten anyone overly impressive, or at least on the level of the ever-technical Gamrot. Even in some of his wins, he's shown some serious holes and weaknesses.
Take his latest win, for example. Adding Beneil Dariush to the resume never hurts, but in all honesty, it was the ghost of "Benny," whose chin is all but done and dusted in 2026. Thirty seconds into the bout, Salkilld was dropped with a jab, wisely shooting for a takedown to regain his wits. The rest of the fight was essentially Dariush controlling him against the cage until he was clipped and put away on the exit. It was impressive in the sense that Salkilld should have won in that fashion. Yet, it was far from surprising.
Salkilld, 26, scored two equally epic finishes in his wins over Jamie Mullarkey and Nasrat Haqparast before Dariush. The holes shown there were more in his grappling, when Salkilld shot wildly telegraphed takedowns that made him seem lost out there. Perhaps it was by design, as he finished the fights in Round 1. But against a more savvy, calculated opponent, that's a harmful game to play.
Gamrot, 35, is arguably the most complete fighter at 155 pounds alongside the likes of Arman Tsarukyan and former champion Ilia Topuria. Everything he does is with the finest of precision. To look at "Gamer's" grappling, in particular, that's the most compelling aspect of this matchup. Salkilld has managed to avoid ground entanglements with stellar grapplers like Dariush, thanks to his lengthy stature. Gamrot chains his wrestling and striking together cleanly with little flash, which makes him tricky for most. He's been fighting at the highest level the UFC has to offer since he arrived in 2020 — a full year before Salkilld even started his pro career.
Salkilld certainly has the talent and power to put away someone like Gamrot. But it's not like the latter has taken significant damage in his career, nor has he ever been finished by strikes. Gamrot is simply too refined with too much experience. This matchup will tell us a ton about how legit Salkilld currently is as a contender. Realistically, it's probably too much too soon after a deceiving Dariush victory.
Pick: Gamrot
155 pounds: Carlos Diego Ferreira (-170) vs. Billy Quarantillo (+140)
Most of the time, like in the main event, you can pinpoint the directions UFC is intentionally matchmaking with the best-case scenario. The young riser surpassing the seasoned contender and such. But it's hard to pinpoint a more meaningless co-main event than this one, pitting 37- and 41-year-old lightweights against each other.
Nonetheless, Billy Quarantillo is back, folks. It's been two years since "Billy Q" last entered the Octagon for a thrilling back-and-forth battle against Cub Swanson at featherweight. With that in mind, it's been nine years since Quarantillo fought at 155 pounds, pre-dating his UFC run.
Carlos Diego Ferreira has been more active than Quarantillo, fighting and losing two hard-fought battles against Grant Dawson and Alexander Hernandez. The veteran put up a good fight in the latter bout, showing he still has some left in the tank, before succumbing to a late second-round finish.
At this juncture, "CDF" makes for a very winnable return bout for Quarantillo. But it just seems like too tall a task for Quarantillo to overcome with the layoff.
Pick: Ferreira
145 pounds: Darren Elkins (+525) vs. Yadier del Valle (-750)
It's time for the last dance of "The Damage."
Honestly, it's been time for Darren Elkins to retire. And sometimes you just don't need an announced retirement bout, folks. It's OK to simply walk away without suffering more, well, damage.
But that's been the name of the game for Elkins: Get beat up, then win or don't. It sounds dumb. Like Nate Landwehr's infamous "If I don't lose then I'm probably gonna win" quote. That's because it is dumb. Elkins has miraculously made a career off absorbing a disturbing amount of punishment on a fight-by-fight basis. The man has always moved like he's made out of petrified wood, but now, at age 41, more than ever.
Yadier del Valle — best known for the Isaac Dulgarian debacle — admittedly should be nowhere near the colossal favorite status that he is. Despite Elkins' weathered nature, he's still Darren freaking Elkins. He's more than gritty and determined enough to get a hold of del Valle and take care of business with vintage wrestling and ground and pound.
We've just seen this story too many times in the sport. There are very few happy endings, regardless of the matchmaking set in place.
Pick: del Valle
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