For years, UFC fans have known the rule: the higher-ranked fighter gets the red corner. But, at the UFC Vegas 112, this long-standing tradition – one that had only been broken a few times before – was violated. 

In the last ESPN event, the women’s bantamweight fight between Luana Santos and Mellissa Cornden saw this rule broken. Despite Cornden being an unranked fighter, she fought from the red corner, and her opponent, #15-ranked female 135-pound fighter, Santos, was in the blue corner. Although the Brazilian emerged victorious, that shift caused massive confusion among the fans who contemplated why the UFC took this decision. 

UFC Vegas 112 sees a rare tradition break  

“Weird (and maybe not important) but why is a ranked fighter blue corner and an unranked red corner? I only remember this happened twice before. #UFCVegas112,” Popular social media account, Marcel Dorff, posted on X. 

While the UFC typically awards the red corner to the higher-ranked fighter, there are rare exceptions to the rule. For instance, Ilia Topuria also fought Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 from the red corner. This was because ‘El Matador’ moved up, leaving his championship belt behind, and battled for a vacant title. Similarly, Jon Jones also fought Ciryl Gane from the red corner at UFC 285, because he didn’t face a champion.

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Alternatively, when Islam Makhachev moved up and faced Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, the Dagestani was in the blue corner because he faced a defending champion. Another exception to this rule might get exercised during non-title fights.

If a fighter has a greater name and presence, the red corner might get assigned, despite that fighter having a ranking or not. We saw that in the fight between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt, where the ‘Beast’ fought from the red corner against an active heavyweight, even though he returned after 5 years.

In the UFC Vegas 112’s bantamweight clash, it’s not clear why the Canadian fighter was assigned the red corner. But it’s suspected that Luana Santos pulling out of her fight against Corden last time might have pushed the promotion toward this decision, even though the Brazilian was ranked.     

Now, as the last ESPN-UFC event saw a long-time tradition getting altered in a non-title fight, other records have been broken on the same night as well. Enter Manel Kape, whose knockout has made him sit with the champions.  

Manel Kape joins Ilia Topuria after Royval knockout  

‘Starboy’ shocked the entire MMA world when he shattered Brandon Royval’s chin with a vicious blow at UFC Vegas 112. With that stellar knockout, the Portuguese would find himself in the flyweight title contention. However, his win against ‘Raw Dawg’ became even more impressive when Kape had his name etched in the record books, tying the knockout records with Joseph Benavidez and lightweight champ Ilia Topuria.

“Manel Kape ties Joseph Benavidez for the most knockouts in UFC flyweight history with five at #UFCVegas112. Kape also ties Gautier, Morales, Murzakanov, and Topuria for the longest active UFC knockout streak with three consecutive KO/TKOs,” UFC News posted on X.

‘Starboy’s presence among these juggernauts proves his improved knockout power. Now, as the UFC moves to start their Paramount era next year, he has already set his sights on a title fight against Joshua Van, while also eyeing Tatsuro Taira in Japan.

As UFC Vegas 112 has definitely become a special event in terms of stats and violence, do you think the same intensity will continue next year? Let us know in the comments section below.