Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani took the zero off Farman Hasanov’s record Saturday at UFC Vegas 123. Referee Dan Miragliotta called the cage-side physician in to look at the damage around Hasanov’s left eye, and the fight was waved off at 2:11 of Round 3.
It was the welterweight main card opener at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, on Halloween. Jed Meshew wrote on X that the eye was “worthy of a Halloween fight card,” which is about as polite as anyone got about it. MMA Junkie’s result has the stoppage at 2:11. The UFC’s own results post on X listed 3:11.
Lebosnoyani told UFC News before fight week that “I have something to lose,” and he fought like a man who’d thought about that a lot. Cageside Press described him chopping at Hasanov’s lead calf from the opening minute until the swelling showed. Hasanov got two takedowns, one in the first and one off a caught kick in the second, but Lebosnoyani was back on his feet almost immediately both times. The second round is where it turned ugly. A body shot visibly hurt Hasanov, right hands and an uppercut followed, and the cut opened late in the frame. With seconds left, Lebosnoyani quit throwing and just walked him around the cage.
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The numbers
Lebosnoyani moves to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the UFC. His first two octagon wins went to the cards: a split decision over Phil Rowe and a unanimous decision over Seok Hyeon Ko. This was his first UFC finish, and the UFC’s X account noted it.
Hasanov drops to 5-1 (1-1 UFC). He’s a master of sport in freestyle wrestling and set the UFC record for takedown attempts in his debut, a unanimous decision over Eric Nolan earlier this year. MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom flagged before the fight that Hasanov’s game was still raw on pace and position. That held up. The wrestling never got him anywhere.
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The books saw it coming. FanDuel had Lebosnoyani at -300 and Hasanov at +235. Tom picked Lebosnoyani by club-and-sub in Round 2. He got the club. The doctor handled the rest.
What’s next
Lebosnoyani skipped the soft callout and went for a name. Speaking with Daniel Cormier after the fight, he said “I can get a finish in the UFC,” then asked for “Let me get some respect. Please.” He wants Jake Matthews (22-8, 16-8 UFC) and knows Matthews already has a fight booked next month at UFC Fight Night 294 in Qatar. “Win your fight and let’s go, baby,” he said.
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My take: that’s the right ask. Three straight UFC wins, a move up to welterweight that’s clearly working, and a fighter who openly said he felt the pressure and then delivered anyway. Matthews has 24 UFC fights of experience, and a guy who just spent three rounds dismantling a decorated wrestler’s lead leg is exactly the kind of test he hasn’t seen lately. If Matthews takes care of business in Qatar, book it.
