Zachary Reese got the win he badly needed Saturday at UFC Vegas 123, beating Mickey Gall by unanimous decision with 29-27 on all three scorecards. He did it after referee Herb Dean took a point from him in the first round. The UFC posted the official result on X within minutes, and MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting carried the same numbers.
The foul came early. According to Cageside Press, Reese opened with a clean body kick about a minute in. Gall answered by crashing forward with a right hand and took a finger to the eye on the way in. Dean stopped the action and deducted the point right there. It was Reese’s first offense, and Dean gave no warning first. Spinnin Backfist summed up the live reaction on X: “Herb takes a point!!!!!”
The scores are the most interesting part of the fight. A 29-27 card with a one-point deduction means every judge gave Reese all three rounds 10-9. That includes the first, which Cageside read as leaning Gall after he landed a left hook that got Reese’s attention. Reese had his own moments in that round, though. He stuffed a takedown, unloaded a flurry as Gall backed out, and landed a solid knee in the clinch. Three judges looked at a coin-flip round and all called it the same way.
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Round 2 was clearer. Reese pushed Gall to the fence and landed elbows. He also used his length better than he has in past outings, with a jab and a front kick to the body that kept landing. A straight left midway through backed Gall up, and a left kick went back to the body. Gall’s best answer was a looping right that glanced off Reese’s jaw. In the third, Reese worked to the clinch, landed a hard knee to the head, and then put together roughly six punches against the cage. Gall, 37, was fading by the end. He kept throwing right hands until the horn, but Reese was the busier fighter.
The context is rough for Gall. This was his first fight since 2024, his first at middleweight after a long run at welterweight, and he came in on a four-fight losing streak. That streak is now five. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, who also scored it 29-27 for Reese, wrote on X: “I’m thinking this could be the last time that we see Mickey Gall in the UFC, but for him to have fought for as long as he has based on the level he was at when he signed is something to be proud of.”
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Reese started 2026 with two straight losses, so this result stops the slide before it became a real problem. The sources don’t mention a next opponent or date.
My quick take: DraftKings Network ran a pick on this fight Saturday morning, and I don’t need their number to tell you how I’d have played it. Gall was 37, coming off two years away, moving up a weight class and riding four straight losses. That’s four separate reasons to stay off him, and none of them is about heart, which he clearly still has. Reese wins it with a jab, a body kick and better use of his reach. Those are skills he can keep using. Eye pokes on first offense will keep costing him points if Dean is the referee.
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