UFC action returned to the UFC Apex with a little bit of chaos and a lot of style in another reworked main event. After Nikita Krylov was forced to withdraw from his headlining bout against Ryan Spann due to illness, middleweight prospects Brendan Allen and Andre Muniz stepped into the main event slot. Elsewhere on the card, several prospects made their presence known with eye-opening finishes, including the returning Tatiana Suarez, who fought for the first time since June 2019. 

Performance of the Night: Brendan Allen

Allen made the most of the surprise spotlight against Muniz when upgraded into the main event the day of the fight. Against the highly touted Muniz, Allen showed his skills on the feet, reversed Muniz on a takedown and finished his work with a methodically worked rear-naked choke in the third round. 

Performance of the Night: Tatiana Suarez

After more than three years away, Suarez returned with some fury against Montana De La Rosa. In a pitstop at flyweight before returning to strawweight, Suarez implemented her usual brand of exhaustive grappling. In the second round, she secured a front-headlock position in the middle of the octagon and jumped into a guillotine choke that earned her the second-round finish.  

Performance of the Night: Mike Malott

Mike Malott secured yet another first-round finish in his sophomore appearance with his submission victory over fellow Canadian Yohan Lainesse. Ontario’s Proper prospect started off patient, capitalzing on Lainesse’s overextension to secure the takedown and work toward the arm-triangle finish.

Performance of the Night: Trevor Peek

In his UFC debut, Trevor Peek showed the UFC brass exactly what he means when he described himself as violent and mean. Peek came out aggressive early, and late in the first frame, he connected with several sledgehammers on Erick Gonzalez. Eventually, he overwhelmed his opponent and earned the stoppage right before the end of the round. 

Performance of the Night: Jordan Leavitt

Normally known as a grappler, Jordan Leavitt bounced back from his disappointment in London with a vicious knockout win over Victor Martinez. In the first round, the UFC debutant Martinez was aggressive, but Leavitt found his way to a nice clinch, and from there, he landed several knees to Martinez’s dome that put him away and placed Leavitt back in the win-column. 

Performance of the Night: Joe Solecki

Joe Solecki was at his backpacking-best against Carl Deaton en route to a second-round submission win. In the first round, Solecki worked his way to Deaton’s back and threatened chokes for the majority of the round, and much of the same occurred in the second round. It was a nice and tidy effort from the Contender Series graduate as he looks to climb the lightweight ladder.

This story first published at UFC.com.