It was worth the wait for Alex
Perez.
The Team Oyama standout posted his first win in 1,421 days and did
so with some pizzaz, as he steadied himself within the
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with a
sensational one-punch knockout of Matheus
Nicolau in the
UFC on ESPN 55 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. A short-notice substitution for Manel Kape,
Perez (25-8, 7-4 UFC) folded the Brazilian 2:16 into Round 2.
Nicolau (19-4-1, 7-3 UFC) was content to circle on the outside and
unleashed an occasional lightning-quick counter. Perez preyed on
his lack of aggression, stayed busy, chipped away with leg kicks
and probed for openings with active hands.
He pressured Nicolau backward midway through the second round and
walked him into a crushing right hook. The Nova Uniao product hit
the deck where he stood, necessitating an immediate
stoppage.
The victory closed the book on Perez’s three-fight losing
streak.
Meanwhile, Bogdan
Guskov put his devastating power on display in the light
heavyweight co-main event, where he incinerated onetime Legacy
Fighting Alliance titleholder Ryan Spann
with second-round punches.
Guskov (16-3, 2-1 UFC) brought it to close 3:16 into Round
2.
Spann (21-10, 7-5 UFC) completed a takedown in the first round,
kept the Gor Azizyan protégé pinned to the canvas and eventually
worked his way to the back. He threatened with a neck crank, but
time ran out. Guskov looked like a new man in the second. He
spoiled Spann’s takedown attempts, staggered the Fortis MMA rep
with a right hand and went headhunting. An uppercut set “Superman”
on skates and left him vulnerable to Guskov’s subsequent onslaught.
He floored Spann with a right hand, assumed a dominant position
above him and sealed the deal with standing-to-ground punches.
All 16 of Guskov’s victories have resulted in finishes.
Elsewhere, Karine
Silva took another step forward in the women’s flyweight
division with a unanimous decision over former KSW champion
Ariane
Lipski in their three-round feature at 125 pounds. Silva (18-4,
4-0 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks
from the cageside judiciary.
Lipski (17-9, 6-6 UFC) performed well while upright but simply
could not stay on her feet. Silva closed the distance without fear,
then leaned into takedowns and top control. The 30-year-old Gile
Ribeiro disciple put Lipski on the canvas in all three rounds,
swamped her with pressure and intermingled submission attempts with
ground-and-pound. Silva seemed to be on auto pilot for much of the
third round but polished off her performance with a late takedown
before progressing to the back and securing her position with a
body triangle.
Silva has rattled off nine straight wins.
Not to be overshadowed, 2023 Dana White’s Contender Series graduate
Jhonata
Diniz kept his perfect professional record intact in a
successful promotional debut, as he punched out ex-NFL defensive
end Austen Lane
in the second round of their heavyweight feature.
Lane (12-5, 0-2 UFC) checked out 2:12 into Round
2.
Diniz (7-0, 1-0 UFC) weathered an inauspicious start. Lane executed
a takedown inside the first minute, bottled up the Brazilian from
half guard for a majority of the first round, climbed to full mount
and let fly with punches. However, he emerged for the middle stanza
visibly depleted. Diniz turned away the weary former Fury Fighting
Championship titleholder’s bids for takedowns, trapped him on the
feet and staggered him with a clean right hand. The decorated
kickboxer then backed Lane to the fence and followed a right cross
with a devastating left hook that flipped the switch. No follow-up
shots were required.
The 32-year-old Diniz has finished all seven of his opponents by
knockout.
Further down the main card, Factory X export David Onama
outstruck and outmaneuvered Jonathan
Pearce to a unanimous decision in a hotly contested three-round
featherweight pairing. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28
for Onama (12-2, 4-2 UFC), who missed weight for the match by 2.5
pounds.
The 15-minute battle was marked by scrambles, reversals and
position changes. Pearce (14-6, 5-3 UFC) managed to ground the Marc
Montoya protégé in all three rounds but failed to consolidate his
efforts with meaningful control or damage, even though he made
passes at cranks and chokes. His body triangle proved woefully
ineffective. Onama was superior in the standup exchanges, as he cut
angles, switched stances and lit up the Fight Ready standout with
jabs, sharp straight left hands and the occasional well-timed
uppercut.
Onama will enter his next assignment on the strength of
back-to-back victories.
Finally, Kings MMA rep Uros Medic
wrecked former King of the Cage champion Tim Means with
punches in the first round of their welterweight appetizer.
Medic (10-2, 4-2 UFC) slammed the door 2:09 into Round
1, as he rebounded from a Nov. 18 submission defeat to
Myktybek
Orolbai and won for the third time in four appearances.
Means (33-16-1, 15-13 UFC) pursued takedowns and clinches but
enjoyed only minimal success at close range. Medic separated,
landed an elbow over the top and caught the Albuquerque, New
Mexico, native in a level change. A perfectly timed left uppercut
dropped Means where he stood and rendered “The Dirty Bird”
incapable of intelligently defending himself. Medic fired one
standing-to-ground shot for good measure, prompting the
stoppage.
The 40-year-old Means has lost four of his past five bouts.
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UFC on ESPN 55 Prelims: Padilla Throttles Llontop
