UFC Vegas 71 Curtis Blaydes vs. Sergei Pavlovich kicked off with an insane bantamweight scrap between Brady Hiestand and Danaa Batgerel. The first started out a bit slow in the early going but then things picked up with quickness towards the end of the first.  The first round seemed relatively close and was anyone's round.

In round two, Batgerel came out guns blazing and clipped Hiestand with a left hook that floored him for a moment and then grappling exchanges ensued. Hiestand was able to take the back and maintain some good control time with rear-naked submission attempts. Batgerel reversed position, landed some ground and pound before ending the round on the feet striking at range.

In round 3 it looked like Hiestand knew he could possibly be down 2 rounds to 0 as he came out with a lot more urgency. Meanwhile, Batgerel seems to have slowed down considerably and the fight gets to the final bell. The live odds had Batgerel as a massive -1000 favorite coming down to the closing moments. He was ultimately taken down by Hiestand and then that was the beginning of the end where Hiestand just started hammering him with strikes until the referee called it.

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This was one of the great comebacks of 2023 and the sky is the limit for Brady Hiestand. He is now 2-0 since his Ultimate Fighter Finale loss to Ricky Turcios and is just 23 years of age. If this is a foreshadowing of what's to come for tonight's fights then we are in for a great night of fights!