UFC Vegas 5 took place Saturday, August 1, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card was headlined by a middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan.
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
Vicente Luque picked apart Randy Brown, eventually landing a brutal knee along the fence to hurt Brown and finished him with ground strikes in the second round. Luque was a -180 favorite while Brown was +155
Jonathan Martinez took the fight to Frankie Saenz, stuffing Saenz’s takedown attempts and hurting him multiple times with head kicks. The fight should have been stopped between the second and third rounds, but Martinez put Saenz away early in the third via TKO. Martinez was victorious as a +240 favorite while Saenz was +205
Jamal Emmers put on a show against late replacement Vince Cuchero, landing heavy shots on the feet and mixing in takedowns to keep him off balance to easily win a unanimous decision as the biggest favorite on the card. Emmers was -425. Cuchero was +345
Underdogs that Won
In the main event, Edmen Shahbazyan started out pretty strong in the first round against veteran Derek Brunson, but Brunson dominated the second round, nearly finishing the fight with ground and pound, then he put Shahbazyan away early in the third with more of the same. Brunson was +295 while Shahbazyan was -355
Jennifer Maia made quick work of Joanne Calderwood, dragging the fight to the floor, where she proceeded to latch onto an armbar and force the tap inside first round. Maia was a +167 underdog while Calderwood was -192
After a close first round where both Lando Vannata and Bobby Green put a hurting on each other, it was Green who had more gas in his tank the rest of the way as he pulled away in rounds two and three to take a decision. Green was a slight +120 underdog while Vannata was -140
Draws
In the opening bout of the evening, Cody Durden started out very strong against Chris Gutierrez, taking the fight to the floor and controlling dominant positions for almost the entire frame, but Gutierrez bounced back to win rounds two and three, and with all three judges giving Durden a 10-8 first round, the bout was declared a unanimous 28-28 draw. Durden was +235 while Gutierrez was -280
Pick’em Fights
Johnny Munoz Jr. started strong against Nate Maness, scoring takedowns and threatening from top position, but Maness bounced back to just barely take the second and third rounds to steal a decision, aided by a point deduction for a low blow. Munoz Jr. and Maness both were pick’em -110
