3 of the best moments of UFC Vegas 96

In its return to the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV, UFC Vegas 96 took place and featured many fighters on the rise in action. The main event saw No. 5 ranked Jared Cannonier answer No. 12 ranked Caio Borralho's call out. The co-main event saw a women's strawweight matchup between No. 9 ranked Angela Hill, and No. 11 ranked Tabitha Ricci. We also saw two new Ultimate Fighters crowned, and so much more. While this wasn't one of the UFC's bigger cards of the year, there were some fun moments on this card you have to see if you didn't tune in live.

1. Wang Cong dominated in her UFC debut

In the opening bout on the prelims, Wang Cong met Victoria Leonardo in a flyweight matchup. This fight marked Cong's UFC debut. Before coming to the UFC, Cong obtained a very respectable record of five wins and zero losses. On the other side of things, Leonardo has been in the UFC for the past few years, obtaining a record of nine wins and six losses.

This fight was all Cong. At just 62 seconds, Cong knocked out Leonardo and picked up the decisive win in her first-ever trip inside the UFC Octagon. Cong, who's a former kickboxing champion with a notable victory over Valentina Shevchenko, had very high expectations coming into this fight. To say that the 27-year-old lived up to the hype would be an understatement. This was a downright incredible debut.

This knockout put Cong's name in the history books, becoming the second-fastest knockout in women's flyweight history and the fastest debut win in flyweight history. Cong is already in elite company right out of the gate in her UFC career. In her post-fight interview, the newcomer called out another rising star, Casey O'Neill. This will be a very interesting matchup since both competitors possess aggressive striking styles, and the ability to finish their opponents. One thing we know for sure is Cong dominated in her UFC debut.

2. Gerald Meerschaert has a record-breaking performance

In the main card opener, we saw a middleweight bout between Gerald Meerschaert and Edmen Shahbazyan. This was a thrilling fight to kick off what would go on to be a fun night. Ultimately, Meerschaert finished Shahbazyan via submission with 48 seconds remaining in the second round. In doing so, Meerschaert broke a record that stood for quite some time.

Securing his 12th finish, Meerschaert broke Anderson Silva's middleweight finishing record. Out of his 12 stoppages, 11 were via submission. Whether on his feet or the ground, Meerschaert has shown that he possesses the ability to finish fights, which is a great testament to his skillset. When Michael Bisping asked him about his record-breaking performance, Meerschaert's answer was short and sweet, "It felt pretty damn good."

In the post-match interview, Meerschaert made his intentions very clear. With the microphone in his hand, Meerschaert called out Paul Craig for UFC Tampa on Dec. 14. This is a very interesting matchup, between two fighters who are very similar in many ways. Despite losing his last two fights, Craig is not one to be taken lightly. On the flip side of things, Meerschaert has won his previous two fights, so this is likely to be a must-see bout.

3. Two new The Ultimate Fighter winners were crowned

In the first The Ultimate Fighter final of the night, we saw a featherweight bout where Kaan Ofli met Mairon Santos to crown the featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 32. Ofli came into this fight having won his previous eight fights. On the other hand, Santos earned his spot in the finals with a win over both Edwin Cooper Jr. and Guillermo Torres.

Santos improved his record to a fantastic 14-1, with his only loss coming nearly two-and-a-half years ago. After a solid first round for Santos, he took this momentum into the second where he finished Ofli with a huge knockout. This knockout had many on Twitter calling it a "Knockout of the Year Contender," and it's very easy to see why.

The second of the two The Ultimate Fighter 32 finals, took place immediately after the first. Robert Valentin met Ryan Loder in the finals for the middleweight division. This fight showed the world exactly how good Loder is. With an amazing display of his grappling prowess, and his ground-and-pound abilities, Loder finished Valentin via referee stoppage in the second round.

While making a name for yourself in the middleweight division is going to be no easy feat, Loder has all of the potential to be one of the next middleweight greats. In a division, ruled by Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis, Loder will fit right in. Loder's wrestling ability, and ground-and-pound style, could see him in some very interesting fights with some of the top talent in the UFC middleweight division today.