It’s sometime late in the main card during Tuff-N-Uff 158. I’m sitting at the press table, taking notes and observing the action around me, when Cutman Tate turns to me.
“Hey, tell me something: if your breath stank, would you rather have someone tell you or not?”
I smirk. Cutman Tate’s buddy is standing next to him, a defiant look on his face.
“I’d rather someone told me,” I say.
“See?” Tate turns to his friend. “What did I tell you?”
The conversation erupts as the two continue their verbal sparring amid bouts of laughter. I shake my head, a grin still on my face. The co-main event is about to start, and all I can think about is what a strange exchange that was, and one I never would have experienced if I were watching from home or sitting in the elevated seating behind me.
That’s something I consistently come back to, and it’s the reason I choose to do my journalism live. It’s the small, absurd, and frankly interesting exchanges like these that capture the essence of live combat sports and the people who surround and support them.
Tuff-N-Uff 158 took place on Saturday, October 24th, 2026, at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had never been to either place before, so both were new to me. My spacious hotel room was decorated with a wall-to-wall panorama of a woman’s smoky, kohl-lined eyes, and a mirror hung from the ceiling, facing the bed. I suddenly understood why the hotel was located on Hugh Hefner Drive. On the lower levels, patrons roamed the casino floor in Halloween costumes while security teams chased after rowdy groups.
I arrived early to grab my media badge and found lines already crowding in front of the closed theater doors. By the time I made my way inside and grabbed a water from the concessions area, I could already hear the announcement over the main speaker for the first amateur bout of the preliminary undercard. I knew from writing the preview that the theater was steeper than it was wide, and as I made my way down, I found out it also stretched downward from floor level rather than upward. Once I got all the way down the three tiers, I saw the cage set up on the floor right in front of the stage. I quickly made my way to the media area to settle in for the show.
The first matchup between Lightweights Atley Anderson (0-1) and Jordan Palomino (0-0) was contentious throughout, and when the scores were tallied, Anderson won by unanimous decision.
Next up were Featherweights Jacob Yancey (3-3) and Xahn Rapoza (0-0). Rapoza came out swinging and got an early takedown. Yancey came up bloody but ended the round on top.
That’s when I noticed the Swiffer mop. Between rounds, the ring crew came in to mop up the blood, something I had never seen before! Later that night, the sight of a black-clad crewman running around with two Swiffers in hand had me grinning like a fool. One of the production crew seated off to my left explained how good Swiffers were at getting the blood up before it could seep into the canvas. Personally, I prefer blood in the canvas, but that’s just me.
Rapoza got another takedown early in the 2nd, but Yancey secured a triangle choke from the bottom, dropping the newcomer to (0-1). Yancey got up and screamed in victory, blood streaming from his nose.
When Lightweight Gabe Moreno (0-0) came out, he got a huge reaction from the crowd, likely owing to his Las Vegas ties. His opponent was Sawyer Lee Smith (0-1). The fight started with great back-and-forth, and Moreno tried for a takedown but didn’t get it. In the 2nd, Moreno attempted another takedown amid the intense action. The crowd was coaching from the stands, likely people who knew the Las Vegas local.
In the 3rd, Smith defended every takedown attempt. From behind me in the crowd, someone shouted, “Knees, Gabe! Knees!” More spectators started chanting, “Gabe! Gabe! Gabe! Gabe!” Then the final bell rang. Smith shook his head, looking defeated, while Moreno raised his arms triumphantly. Moreno got the split decision win, and the same person who’d been calling for knees told the judge who scored it for Smith to “get some glasses.”
Middleweight Daqwon Hopper (2-0) faced off against Austin Peters (0-1). Hopper landed a great takedown and ground-and-pounded his opponent for a TKO at 2:19 of the 1st round.
After that came the Amateur Women’s Flyweight Championship between rising prospect Carol Massot (3-1) and amateur veteran Hannah Silva (7-6). Silva’s corner came out wearing black-and-pink shirts with their fighter’s nickname, “the Hyena.” Las Vegas-affiliated Massot got a huge reaction when she came out, and she showed why she had so much support by delivering slick strikes and securing a takedown, leading to ground-and-pound that earned her a TKO victory and the belt.
Sometime between the amateur fights, Tuff-N-Uff hosted an on-air tribute for Carth Jacobs-Rodgers, the 15-year-old victim of the October 2nd shooting at First Friday Las Vegas. According to the city’s webpage, “First Friday Las Vegas is a free monthly arts, music, and food festival held in the 18b Las Vegas Arts District in downtown Las Vegas on the first Friday of every month.” Jacobs-Rodgers had just taken up boxing, adding a combat sports connection to this story. Tuff-N-Uff on UFC Fight Pass and ICU Law, Sports & Entertainment announced they would donate a portion of the event’s profits, and that the UFC would match the donation amid cheers from the crowd.
Between the prelims and the main card, the referees switched out once again, and this time UFC veterans Chris Tognoni and Herb Dean came in. I asked one of the earlier referees, the same one I’d spoken to at Tuff-N-Uff 157, whether they always switched between the prelims and the main card, and he confirmed they did, even though they were qualified to referee both amateur and professional bouts.
During the break, I stood and made my way into the cageside area. There, I chatted with a photographer with a flash diffuser on his camera. He told me he gets to stand on the little ledges that jut out from each cage stanchion, and that they’re often wobbly.
“I’ve seen them strap some guys in up there at some promotions,” I said.
“Not me.” He laughed.
Earlier in the day, I had run into another photographer as we were both coming out of our hotel rooms and awkwardly met in the hallway. I saw him shooting cageside through the bars throughout the night. He shot for Cali Fights Magazine and had driven all the way from Fresno to be here.
“How far of a drive is that?” I asked, eyes wide.
“Only five and a half hours,” he said.
“Oh. I drive from San Diego, and it’s five,” I said. We found common ground in our shared love of the drive. For some reason, I thought Fresno was much, much farther away.
A roaming, tattooed videographer rounded out the trifecta of camera operators I interacted with that night. I had spotted this guy, Cash, at each of the Tuff-N-Uff events I’d been to before and assumed he worked for the promotion. He turned out to be a freelancer who founded Bad Company, a VetTix-like operation. As a veteran myself, I always appreciate it when someone raises awareness of veterans’ struggles and supports them.
Then the main card kicked off, pitting Bantamweights Brittney Victoria (4-3) against Katharina Lehner (9-9). “Professional, Brittney! Professional!” someone shouted. “I’ve got $20 on you!” another person yelled, drawing laughs from the crowd. Lehner came out sporting the logo of her sponsor: OnlyFans.
Victoria got a takedown in the 1st, but Lehner got back up and followed with a quick jab. In the 2nd, both women threw good jabs before Victoria got another takedown and moved into full mount. Victoria rained down elbows while a man seated on the stage screamed for her. By the 3rd, both women came out slower and more hesitant, but Victoria got another takedown before the end of the round and landed some ground-and-pound. That earned her the unanimous decision.
One of the funniest moments of the night came before the next fight between Welterweights Tyler Brennan (1-0) and Chadrik Box (5-1). When Box did his walkout with his crew, they stopped mid-path and started dancing perfectly to *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye.” He and his corner were perfectly in sync in their stylish hot pink shirts, and if flair were anything to go by, you would have put money on Box. However, the newcomer Brennan quickly made a name for himself by landing a takedown and ground-and-pound for the TKO in the 1st. I couldn’t help but look at Box and his corner in their pink shirts and feel sorry for all the effort they put into their performance, only to come up empty.
At some point during the main card, the UFC’s Sean Shelby came out with his entourage in tow and, strangely, one man wearing a full balaclava. It became clear why shortly afterward, when the announcer told the crowd to “spot Chiwiwi and win $100.” Someone did, and sure enough, Raul Rosas Jr. was under that balaclava. When he pulled it off, his full mane of curls unfurled with a springy poof as they popped back into shape.
I also spotted UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin nearby. I wondered why a couple of people called him the “PI guy” when he entered, only to find out that he serves as Vice President of Athlete Development at the UFC Performance Institute. I’ve been wanting a tour of the PI for some time now. Perhaps I should have asked?
Bella Mir, daughter of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, stepped into the cage and announced that she had signed with Tuff-N-Uff for their January card, which should be Tuff-N-Uff 160. I’m excited to see what she can do in the promotion and the legacy she can build for herself. I wish her a long and fruitful fight career.
One of the more interesting ads shown on-screen that night featured Dana White announcing his support for the re-election of Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican.
Welterweight Spartak Mikayelyan (1-0) was someone I had seen win impressively at Tuff-N-Uff 156. Up against Montrel James (8-12), he showed that his first outing wasn’t a fluke, landing an early takedown, taking the back, and ground-and-pounding his opponent into oblivion for the TKO. I seriously think he’s a future contender in the UFC. With Sean Shelby watching, that may turn out to be true.
The next matchup between Lightweights Noah Kiszka (3-0) and Owen Robinett (6-7) started off with a laugh when someone shouted “Kurwa!” as Kiszka’s name was called. I won’t translate. You can go look it up.
Kiszka got an early takedown in the 1st and went for a head-and-arm choke. It was too high, as the announcer sitting next to me muttered under his breath, so Kiszka abandoned the attempt in favor of elbows and ground-and-pound, dominating the round. Robinett got dominated again in the 2nd as Kiszka went for another head-and-arm choke and then moved into full mount before Robinett reversed it. That success was fleeting, though, as Kiszka got back on top and landed some brutal elbows. In the 3rd, I heard someone yelling, “Damage! Elbows!” at Kiszka, and Forrest Griffin shouted, “Teach this kid how to box here!” It was no surprise, then, when Kiszka took the unanimous decision, 30-27.
Lightweight David Goldenberg (4-0) was another fighter I saw win impressively at Tuff-N-Uff 156 and someone I also expect to see in the UFC someday. He faced Jonell Kimbrough (2-0) and secured an early takedown before the fight was stopped by the doctor. When we could all finally see why on the main screen, everyone in that theater cringed. Kimbrough’s left eye was swollen completely shut. Then, to cap off an impressive win, Goldenberg got on the mic and said he was battling an addiction before revealing that his addiction was “punching motherfuckers!”
Bantamweights Vince Morales (16-11) and Daniel Lacerda (14-7) had a lot to follow, but it was all over quickly when Morales absolutely dropped Lacerda early in the 1st round. His body tensed, Morales marched over to the padded stanchion and punched it hard in victory. I had picked Morales to win in my preview after watching his body of work and comparing it to Lacerda’s. Even though I thought he’d get it done by submission, it was nice to see a prediction play out. Even nicer for Morales to get back into the win column after his four-fight losing streak in the UFC. At 35, it might be difficult for him to earn his way back, but only time will tell where he goes from here.
(Thanks to Tuff-N-Uff, I was provided a hotel room and a media pass in exchange for an honest preview/review.)