Mikey Musumeci defended his UFC BJJ bantamweight title against Kevin Dantzler on Thursday night at UFC BJJ 8 inside the UFC’s Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show streamed live and free on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET and was presented as an eight-bout, submission-focused card.
The card’s two title fights set the tone. Musumeci retained the 135lb bantamweight crown in the main event, while Cassia Moura successfully defended her women’s bantamweight title in the co-main event against Sabrina Gondim. Both champions left the Apex still described as the reigning titleholders, and the night produced a string of early finishes and one contest that went the distance to controversy.
Finishers populated the results page: William Tackett, the middleweight challenger, opened his part of the night by submitting Manuel Ribamar with a heel hook in round 1. Ethan Crelinsten followed with a round-1 rear naked choke submission of Danilo Moreira. Liam Crelinsten tapped Max Livingston with a rear naked choke in round 2. Jett Thompson closed his match with Derek Rayfield by submitting Rayfield with an Aoki lock in round 3. Keith Krikorian picked up a unanimous decision over Landon Elmore. The list of eight scheduled bouts thus showcased a series of decisive grappling endings around the two title fights.
Those title fights were anchored by pedigrees: Musumeci entered as the reigning UFC BJJ bantamweight champion and faced Kevin Dantzler, who was described as a CFFC BJJ standout. Moura, the reigning women’s bantamweight champion, made her first title defense against Sabrina Gondim, who was described as a submission specialist. The event was framed and sold as a night of submission-only grappling action at the UFC APEX, with the main card and preliminary sequences delivering multiple early stoppages to that brief.
The closest thing the card had to a contested scoreline came in the opening bout between Azamat Bakytov and Thomas David, which ended in a majority draw after three rounds. Referee Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro issued point deductions to both Bakytov and David in round 2, and David attempted a flying guillotine in the closing moments. Those deductions and the late scramble left the bout without a winner and introduced the night’s clearest friction point: two competitors penalized in the same frame, a dramatic late attack, and judges left to split the card into a majority draw.
The pattern across the night was unmistakable — seasoned finishers and rising names carving routes to victory. William Tackett’s heel hook on Manuel Ribamar underlined the submission danger the middleweight challenger posed; Ribamar arrived described in advance as a dangerous Brazilian prospect and did not recover from the early entanglement. The Crelinsten brothers both recorded rear naked choke victories, reinforcing the card’s bent toward choke finishes and positional pressure.
For event organizers and fans, the immediate takeaway is simple and consequential: two champions left the cage intact and a slate of potential challengers and contenders left questions to be answered. Musumeci and Moura remain the reigning figures atop their bantamweight divisions at UFC BJJ 8, and the majority draw in the opening fight — complete with point deductions and a dramatic late attempt — provided the card’s most unresolved moment.
The single most consequential unanswered question after a night built on submissions is straightforward: which challenger will next be elevated to test those reigning titles? The night at the Meta Apex made clear that the division is active, finishes are plentiful, and the champions stand, for now, unseated.
