UFC BJJ 8 opened at Meta APEX with Mikey Musumeci defending the UFC BJJ bantamweight title against Kevin Dantzler in the main event, while Cassia Moura put her women’s bantamweight belt on the line for the first time against Sabrina Gondim in the co-main event. The card began with Azamat Bakytov and Thomas David fighting to a majority draw in the opening match of the night.

Bakytov and David went the distance over three rounds, but the bout turned choppy in Round 2 when the official penalized both men with a point deduction. Bakytov later absorbed a second point deduction for lack of action on top, a sequence that left neither fighter able to separate himself on the scorecards.

The main card’s other centerpiece brought William Tackett back to The Bowl for a middleweight bout against Manuel Ribamar, giving the event another established name in a live setting built around title action. UFC BJJ 8 was billed as a night with two titles on the line at Meta APEX, and the schedule also included Liam Crelinsten making his UFC BJJ debut, which he marked with a submission win.

The event was set to be watched exclusively on the UFC BJJ YouTube channel, with live updates promised throughout the night starting Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, and the early results made clear this was not going to be a clean, one-sided showcase. A majority draw in the first bout and a pair of penalties in the opening rounds put pressure on the rest of the card to produce decisive finishes, while Musumeci and Moura carried the responsibility of validating the title-heavy billing. That is where the night now rests: with two championships at stake, a debut submission, and the kind of messy start that makes the later fights matter even more.