At the end of the night, two champions retained their belts in convincing fashion, leaving many asking, “What’s next?” A whole host of ranked fighters stepped into the octagon to change the trajectory of their UFC careers. A couple of longtime UFC legends fought for the first time in 17 years.

Cage Calculus favorites went 9-4 in the 13 contests last night. You can look back and reflect on the previews for each fight here, here, and here. After all the dust has cleared, here are some of the things we learned in Vegas at UFC 266.

Alexander Volkanovski Deserves Your Respect

While many deride him as a “paper champion” due to the near universal disdain towards the judges scorecards in his first title defense against Max Holloway, Volkanovski proved he is one of the best fighters on the planet. Volkanovski gritted his way through a number of submission attempts that likely would have tapped out anyone not named Tony Ferguson. He then proceeded to put a vicious beating on Brian Ortega that nearly merited a stoppage.

With the win, Volkanovski leapfrogged both Dustin Poirier and Stipe Miocic to become the new #3 in the Cage Calculus men’s rankings. He now sits behind only Kamaru Usman and the embattled Jon Jones. The fans’ adoration for Holloway and the perception that he ought to be the featherweight champion instead have obscured the fact that Volkanovski is about as dominant as they come. The convincing beatdown of Ortega (the #2 ranked featherweight contender) shows that he is on a different level.

Valentina Shevchenko is Just That Good

Since moving down to flyweight from bantamweight, no one has come close to defeating Shevchenko in any way, shape, or form. In fact, during her run at flyweight, only Jennifer Maia and former strawweight champion Joana Jedrzejczyk have been able to win a single round against Shevchenko. This is a run of dominance paralleled only by the reigning #1 overall female fighter, Amanda Nunes.

For anyone who inexplicably doubted Shevchenko before UFC 266, they had better start believing. While we learned the Shevchenko is about as perfect as they come, we only got more questions when it comes to who the next woman to try her luck against her will be. Shevchenko says she’ll take anyone and has expressed a desire to continue fighting and stay active for a long time. Dana White might just have to start lining up flyweights regardless of resume at this point, because Shevchenko is clearing out the top of the division quickly.

The Nick Diaz of the Past Stayed in the Past

A very ill-fated spinning kick in the first seconds of Diaz vs. Lawler 2 was a harbinger of things to come. Diaz threw with high volume, but nothing appeared to be landing particularly hard. After Lawler denied an invitation by Diaz to grapple on the canvas, Diaz outright declined to get back up and referee Jason Herzog had no choice but to declare it a TKO for Lawler. As ESPN’s Brett Okamoto pointed out, Diaz did not look like someone who wanted to be there.

Robbie Lawler is Not Done Yet

Diaz’s disinterest in fighting does not change the fact that Robbie Lawler looked good in this one. He was able to keep an incredible pace through two-and-a-half rounds before the stoppage, even at age 39. Many observers will point to a 4 fight losing streak coming in. However, one of those was an erroneous stoppage against Ben Askren. The other three were against very formidable opponents Neil Magny, Colby Covington, and Rafael dos Anjos. Lawler may not contend for his former title ever again, but he belongs in the conversation in the upper end of the welterweight division.

People Forgot About Jessica Andrade

After being dominated by the aforementioned Shevchenko in her last bout, Andrade was pinned by many as a candidate to be upset by Cynthia Calvillo in this one. Andrade dominated with power that was clearly above and beyond that of Calvillo. Anyone will compare negatively to Shevchenko. But, Andrade reminded everyone why she is the #1 contender. But, if the post-fight interview is any indication, it seems she has designs on abandoning the flyweight division and re-claiming her strawweight belt. We’ll see if Dana White obliges.

People Also Forgot About Dan Hooker

Hooker, like Andrade is a victim of short memory. After losing his last two to Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler, many wrote him out of the lightweight division. With an all-around dominant performance in every facet against Nasrat Haqparast, Hooker showed he’s a step above any unranked opponent. He called out CC’s #5 lightweight contender (UFC’s #3 contender) Beneil Dariush after the fight. Hooker also got called out by Islam Makhachev and his team after Rafael dos Anjos just dropped out of their UFC 267 bout. The lightweight division remembers Hooker once again, as they should.

Merab Dvalishvili is For Real

The Cage Calculus forecast was bullish on Marlon Moraes’ chances of upsetting the up-and-coming Georgian. After the first round, it looked like the forecast would be vindicated with flying colors, as Dvalishvili was nearly out on his feet. However, Dvalishvili hung with it and delivered stunning ground-and-pound to get a stoppage in the second round. He vaults from unranked in the CC rankings to #11 (he will likely end up even higher in the official UFC rankings come tomorrow).

Taila Santos is Underrated

Santos came into the night as CC’s #3 ranked flyweight contender. A convincing win over longtime UFC veteran Roxanne Modafferi saw her jump over Katlyn Chookagian for the #2 contender spot. Yet, she is only likely be just inside the top 10 of the UFC’s official flyweight rankings. Santos has an impressive 18-1 professional record. As we noted before, it might not take much to earn a title shot against Shevchenko now. Santos submitted her case and, right now, it’s about as good as anyone’s who hasn’t already been defeated by the champion.