Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Fight Island 8: Chiesa vs. Magny
The 14-fight UFC FIGHT ISLAND 8 card was not loaded with “name” fighters, but it was a worthwhile event. Two fighters with familiar surnames, Umar Nurmagomedov and Francisco Figueiredo won in their UFC debuts and the women’s 125-pound division got an impressive debut from Manon Fiorot in the opening fight. The main card saw memorable knockout wins from Ike Villanueva and Warlley Alves before Michael Chiesa put on a masterful performance against Neil Magny.
The prelims began with Manon Fiorot showing out in her UFC debut. Fiorot used her superior striking to end her bout opposite Victoria Leonardo in the second round via a head kick followed by an onslaught of punches. The second prelim bout featured another stoppage victory by another debuting fighter. Umar Nurmagomedov, who is the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, showed off his kicking attack before wrapping up a rear-naked choke submission win over Sergey Morozov. The victory pushed Nurmagomedov to 13-0 in his career and he got a performance bonus to make that win even sweeter.
Mike Davis and Mason Jones then engaged in a striking battle that left commentator Paul Felder impressed. At the end of the lightweight scrap, Felder proclaimed, “this is going to be fight of the night.” Davis won that conflict via unanimous decision, and Felder was indeed correct that this earned FOTN honors.
Francisco Figueiredo, the brother of UFC flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo, also made his UFC debut on Saturday with a decision victory over Jerome Rivera. A middleweight bout between Dalcha Lungiambula and Markus Perez also went the distance. Lungiambula walked away from that contest with a decision victory. Following that clash, Su Mudaerji earned a decision win over Zarrukh Adashev in a 125-pound battle. The prelims closed as they opened, with a stoppage. The bantamweight feature bout saw Ricky Simon earn a second straight win when he used an arm triangle choke to tap Gaetano Pirrello.
The main card of UFC Fight Island 8 began with Omari Akhmedov submitting Tom Breese in the second stanza following a first round that saw Akhmedov put a beating on Breese on the ground. The stoppage put Akhmedov back in the win column following a loss to former middleweight champ Chris Weidman in August. Lerone Murphy kept his unbeaten record intact with a decision win over veteran scrapper Douglas Silva de Andrade in a featherweight contest. Matt Schnell ended the two-fight winning streak of Tyson Nam with a decision victory. Viviane Araujo faced Roxanne Modafferi in the second women’s flyweight bout on the card. Araujo picked up her fourth win in five UFC fights with a one-sided decision triumph. Ike Villanueva ended a run of three consecutive decisions with a stunningly powerful knockout of Vinicius Moreira in the second stanza of their light heavyweight confrontation.
Warlley Alves was incredibly aggressive in the early going of his co-main event battle with Mounir Lazzez. Alves, who had not fought since he lost to Randy Brown in November 2019 fought like he was late for his flight home. After he and Lazzez fought in close for a bit before Alves threw three quick body kicks in a row that left his opponent crumpled on the mat. Alves was extremely impressive in his return to the Octagon, and he took home $50k.
One of the takes on the main event was if Magny kept the fight standing he would have an advantage and if it went to the ground, Chiesa’s chances would be better. That turned out to be true.
Over the course of 25 minutes Magny did his best to keep Chiesa off of him. He had little success in that department. Chiesa went four-for-six in takedowns and racked up more than 15 minutes of control time over the course of the five-round bout. Once on the mat, Chiesa was a wet bag of concrete. Magny was unable to get anything done with the former lightweight in top position. The win moved Chiesa’s welterweight record to 4-0 and it should set him up to face a top-five opponent in his next outing. If Chiesa gets his wish, he’ll face Colby Covington as his next opponent.
If Chiesa’s performance on Saturday wasn’t his best effort in the UFC, it was close. This was a great win for Chiesa and it should build his confidence as he nears the top of the 170-pound division.
Performance of the Night: Umar Nurmagomedov/Warlley Alves
Stoppage Winners:
Manon Fiorot (TKO (punches) 4:08 of round 2)
Umar Nurmagomedov (submission (rear-naked choke) 3:39 of round 2),
Ricky Simon (submission (arm-triangle choke) 4:00 of round 2)
Omari Akhmedov (submission (arm-triangle choke) 1:41 of round 2)
Ike Villanueva (KO (punch) 0:39 of round 2)
Warlley Alves (TKO (kicks) 2:35 of round 1)
Fight of the Night: Mike Davis vs. Mason Jones
Decision Winners:
Mike Davis (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Francisco Figueiredo (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dalcha Lungiambula (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Su Madaerji (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Lerone Murphy (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Matt Schnell (19-28, 28-29, 29, 28)
Viviane Araujo (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Michael Chiesa (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)