The UFC’s sixth annual International Fight Week featured two fight cards, Friday’s The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale and Saturday’s UFC 213, both of which took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Plenty of memorable moments emerged.

Over the course of the two events, 22 fights took place, including former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje’s winning UFC debut in a potential “Fight of the Year” contender, as well Robert Whittaker capturing the interim middleweight title.

Of course, they weren’t the only noteworthy occurrences. As one would expect, a good number of the key takeaways from this year’s International Fight Week took place in the cage, but not all of them – and at least one revolved around someone who didn’t even strap on a pair of four-ounce gloves.

Here are the 10 most memorable moments from International Fight Week 2017.

1. How to make a first impression

As far as remarkable UFC debuts go, Gaethje’s has to rank near the top. The former WSOF lightweight champion came to the UFC and delivered what he promised: an all offense attack, with no thought of self-preservation.

As in his previous 17 fights, Gaethje (18-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) walked away the victor, but until he finished Michael Johnson late in the second round, victory wasn’t a sure thing. After all, Johnson (17-12 MMA, 9-8 UFC), who gave his best, hurt Gaethje several times.

Those unfamiliar with Gaethje before the TUF 25 Finale card should be now. Those who had doubts about Gaethje’s UFC readiness should’ve had those questions answered. Even UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor tipped his hat in appreciation (via Twitter):

After his win, Gaethje, who earned two bonuses (“Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night”), took to the mic and asked, “Who’s next?”
Gaethje later said he wouldn’t mind facing Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC), who as Gaethje predicted, dismissed him unless the fight will be for UFC gold.

2. One more hill to climb

Since joining the UFC middleweight ranks, Whittaker has done nothing but win while looking better each time he’s done so.

Whittaker earned his seventh victory in the division and his sixth post-fight bonus, defeating Yoel Romero by decision in a masterful performance in UFC 213’s main event. More important than the money and the accolades, the victory gave the 26-year-old the interim title, setting up a fight with 38-year-old champion Michael Bisping.

Like Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC), Whittaker (19-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is a fighter with considerable will. It’s something Whittaker displayed during the Romero (12-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) fight, battling through a knee injury the Cuban exacerbated with a kick in the first round. The title fight between Bisping and Whittaker, when it does occur, will be highly anticipated and easily promotable, even if Bisping decides against playing the heel role.

3. OK to be frustrated, but…

In the aftermath of International Fight Week, social media should have been discussing the fights and futures of Gaethje and Whittaker. Instead, most of the talk surrounded UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes’ decision to withdraw from her title defense against Valentina Shevchenko, which was scheduled as UFC 213’s main event.

A lot of that talk is due to UFC President Dana White’s willingness to shame Nunes for her decision not to compete while suffering from what she revealed was “chronic sinusitis.”

Lost in many of these 140-character discussions is that if Nunes had fought and lost, she would have relinquished not only her title, but future earning potential as UFC champ.

Nunes was scheduled to make $105,000 to show and an additional $105,000 had she defended her title. Additionally, her UFC-Reebok sponsorship amount, as champion, was to be $40,000. Had she lost, Nunes would have dropped to the $5,000 tier. That’s not to mention the fact that her job is to punch and be punched in the head, something you don’t want to do when not feeling up to par.

The frustration on this matter is understandable. The condemnation though? That’s disconcerting.

4. A real redemption story

In 2008 Jesse Taylor made it to the tournament final of “The Ultimate Fighter 7.” He didn’t fight on that card due to actions that forced his removal from the show. Instead of a UFC career, Taylor toiled in the lower rungs of MMA until this year, when he got his chance to participate in the redemption season of “TUF.” He made the most of that opportunity.

Taylor (31-15 MMA, 1-1 UFC) did what was expected in his welterweight bout vs. Dhiego Lima (12-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC), relying heavily on his wrestling and submission skills to finish the fight in the second round via rear-naked choke. The win earned Taylor the $290,000 prize as the winner of “TUF 25.”

Now that he’s redeemed himself and back with the promotion, Taylor has his eye on UFC gold.

5. Return to form

Anthony Pettis needed a win at UFC 213. It didn’t have to be impressive or memorable; he just needed a victory so he could put a 1-4 stretch behind him.

Pettis earned that win, and he did so with an aggressive performance that left fans nodding their heads in appreciation and thinking the “Showtime” Pettis of yore is ready for a top-tier lightweight opponent following an ill-fated two-fight run at featherweight.

Pettis (20-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) worked through some adversity early thanks to the leg kicks of Jim Miller (28-10 MMA, 17-9 UFC), but once Pettis found his groove he dominated the well-rounded Miller in all aspects of the fight, especially in the creative striking department on his way to a decision win.

6. The door is open

Alistair Overeem defeated Fabrico Werdum by narrow majority decision at UFC 213. The victory was far from dominant and left many questioning the judges’ decision.

The matchup between these two highly ranked heavyweights should have put the winner in position to challenge heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Instead, the bout had UFC President Dana White commenting on the FOX post-fight show that the fight would not put “anybody in position for a title.”

Overeem seemed to agree.

“If we have to face somebody else first, fine,” Overeem told MMAjunkie after the event.

White’s comments seem to leave the door open for rising star Francis Ngannou (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) to claim a title shot should he get past former champion Junior Dos Santos (18-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) at UFC 215.

7. Earning his nickname

Aleksei Oleinik picked up one of the biggest wins of his lengthy career with his second-round stoppage of Travis Browne. Oleinik (52-10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who was coming off the first submission victory via Ezekiel choke in UFC history, forced Browne (18-7-1 MMA, 9-7-1 UFC) to tap to what UFC announcer Bruce Buffer simply referred to as a “submission.”

After the fight, Oleinik provided some detail on the hold that sent Browne to his fourth straight defeat.

“This choke was a unique submission but something I use a lot,” Oleinik said. “I set it up like a rear-naked choke but also use my body weight to twist my opponent. You could say it is actually a double submission from that angle. This is why I am ‘The Boa Constrictor.’”

Browne’s loss left White suggesting Browne retire.

8. On the come up

If you’re looking for an under-the-radar win that stood out during International Fight Week, Rob Font deserves consideration. Font (14-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) put on the best performance of his UFC career in earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his submission win over Douglas Silva de Andrade (24-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 213.

Font has been tagged as a fighter with a high upside for some time, but his decision loss to John Lineker in 2016 cooled that talk. With two consecutive stoppages since then, Font looks ready to wade back into the deep end of the bantamweight pool.

9. Not letting that one go

In December, Gray Maynard was involved in one of the most frustrating contests of his career. The former lightweight title challenger, now competing at featherweight, struggled to mount any offense against the jiu-jitsu based Ryan Hall and eventually lost a decision.

Maynard (13-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) bounced back at the TUF 25 Finale, using his wrestling to dominate Teruto Ishihara (9-4-2 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) and earn a unanimous-decision victory.  Instead of focusing on the future and his win, Maynard disparaged Hall.

“There was no risk in that fight (with Hall),” Maynard said. “It was a waste of time. And everybody still called me out. That’s not my fault. He’s the (expletive); he’s the coward. And I’ll never take a fight like that again.”

Maynard then called for a bout against Artem Lobov.

For his part, Hall seemed amused.

10. An emotional victory

Tecia Torres wanted to fight Michelle Waterson in August, but when Amanda Ribas was pulled from her fight against Juliana Lima for a potential USADA violation, Torres offered her services.

The UFC accepted, and the gamble paid off for Torres, (9-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), and she submitted Lima (9-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in the second round of their TUF 25 Finale fight via rear-naked choke. The stoppage was the first of Torres’ career and earned her the first post-fight bonus of her UFC run.

After the win, Torres broke down in tears. Backstage, Torres spoke about the tragedy that caused her to react with such emotion: the death of former teammate Aaron Rajman.

“This is the first time (I’ve had to go through that kind of adversity),” Torres said. “It really hit home because he was there for me at the end of my amateur career. He had his own show too. I fought my last amateur fight on his show. He was a good friend. We hadn’t talked in a while, but whenever we would connect, we would be together.”

And that Waterson fight? Torres still wants it.

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale and UFC 213, check out the UFC Events section of the site.