With the topic of illegal eye pokes fresh on the mind of most in mixed martial arts following last weekend's aborted heavyweight title bout between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, Saturday's co-main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas couldn't have played out in a more bizarre and unprecedented manner.

Garcia defeated veteran contender Calvin Kattar last time out, securing a rise up to No. 12 in the official rankings at 145 pounds. Although ‘Mean Machine’ will be fighting down the ladder this Saturday, it will mark an opportunity to emerge victorious from his first time in the main event spotlight.

UFC Vegas 110 was anything but a typical card for the promotion to begin a stretch of four consecutive events in November. In the co-headliner, Tom Aspinall's teammate, Ante Delija, had a would-be victory arguably stolen from him when a barrage of punches to Waldo Cortes-Acosta accidentally included an inadvertent rough eye poke that halted he fight midway through the opening round.

It was a physical mismatch. In Las Vegas, Nev., Albuquerque's Steve Garcia battered David Onama with a series of powerful left hands, stopping the Uganda native in 3 minutes, 34 seconds of the first round in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card at UFC Apex.