UFC Vegas 41: Vettori DEF. Costa | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, October 23rd, ‘UFC Vegas 41: Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori’ event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are BACK tonight – Saturday, October 23rd., 2021, to breakdown the UFC Vegas 41: ‘Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori’ Fight Night event!

June M. Williams

The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any of our BE Presents Podcast Network Platforms. (SPOILERS…)

This afternoon/early evening the UFC brought us yet another (the 9th in a row actually) Fight Night card from the smaller octagon at the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, airing LIVE on ESPN+,

This UFC Vegas 41 MMA event showcased top-ranked Middleweight Championship foes, Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa, ranked #2, taking on ‘The Italian Dream’ Marvin Vettori, ranked #5 in the division. Neither combatant had fought since their defeats at the hands of Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 & UFC 253, respectively. The main event became a 205lbs catchweight/Light Heavyweight bout just a few days ago, when “The Eraser” failed to make weight; resulting in a forfeit of 20% of his fight purse to Vettori.

This brawl became an instant classic. Costa was warned about his hands more than once and had a point removed for an early eye-poke in the second round. We got a solid five rounds of action, pressure, blows, strikes and aggression from both men. After all of that, the judges decided Vettori was the unanimous victor, it was close, but this felt like the right call. Personally, I am no fight expert, but for whatever it’s worth, I had it Rd 1: 10-9 Vettori, Rd 2: 9-9 with the point deduction, Rd 3: 10-9 Vettori, Rd 4: 10-9 Vettori-but close call, Rd 5: 10-9 Costa. Anyway, if you missed this one, regardless it’s lack of relevance, be sure to catch it, definitely a must-see match!

via ESPN+

Going at it in the co-main event today at Lightweight during the UFC Fight Night 196, aka: UFC on ESPN+ 54 event, the UFC featured midwestern USA combatants, Grant ‘KGD’ Dawson, entering the Octagon on an 8-fight win streak, going up against Rick/y ‘The Gladiator’ Glenn.

In a solid back-and-forth effort from both men, this midwestern gal had it hesitantly scored at (10-9 Dawson Rd1 & Rd2, 10-9 Glenn Rd3) but the judges out there in Vegas decided it was a Majority Draw, which I can see, but I imagine that’s always a major bummer for everyone involved. We will have to see what the guys have to say about this on the show.

Also on the main card, we saw a scrappy Alex Caceres submit Seung Woo Choi, despite getting nailed with an illegal knee. He shut it all down in the second round, when he wrapped up a body lock and jumped on Choi’s back. He followed up with a standing body triangle, slipping into a slick rear naked choke for the tap.

Our main card opener was definitely a brief but fun exchange when the virtually unknown Romanian wrestler, Nick ‘Nicu’ Negumereanu (Nehg-you-merry-ah-new) made a name for himself in his second UFC bout, with a one-minute and eighteen-second first round knockout, via right hook to ground punches, including several hammerfists to the back of the head before the referee put a stop to things; gaining him the ‘W’ over his opponent, Ike ‘Hurricane’ Villanueva.

Earlier this afternoon, on the heavy eight-fight preliminary card, our featured prelim won FOTN for the overall event — Gregory Rodrigues proved victorious with a standing TKO, via punches in the second round over Jun Yong Park, despite Rodrigues looking gassed after an even and aggressive exchange from the git-go from both opponents. Gregory recovered to hit Park with a gigantic right hand, rocking him and sending him stumbling, took advantage of his foes weakness and followed it all up with a massive uppercut that put him to sleep standing. Missed this one? Go back and check it out, at the very least hit up the highlights/gifs on twitter, folks.

Also, in our fourth bout of the night, we had somewhat of an upset when Jai ‘The Black Country Banger’ Herbert struck the crap out of Khama ‘The Death Star’ Worthy over the course of about two-and-a-half minutes or so, ending in an inevitable first round stoppage.

We had five decision wins on the Prelims Card, and three on the Main Card, plus a draw, most of which are all worth watching; so for a full fight break down of each of those battles that went the distance… be sure to check out our play-by-play post right here on Bloody Elbow. Out of those decision bouts, be sure to check out the Mason Jones vs. David Onama fight…

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Overall, this massive 14-bout card saw two exhilarating first round finishes, four impressive KO/TKO’s, one sweet submission, and eight hard-fought decisions (including our Main Event), and one split. Plus, one majority draw (our co-main event). Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Alex Caceres and Marvin Vettori; FOTN honors went to Gregory Rodrigues vs Jun Yong Park. What a great night of fights we have to share with you, join us to discuss all the action…

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Here’s a look at the fight card, updated fight records & results —

UFC Vegas 41: ‘PAULO COSTA VS MARVIN VETTORI’

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. OCT 23rd.

14. 185 lbs – Marvin Vettori (18-4) DEF. Paulo Costa (13-2) — Unanimous Decision (48-46 x3) — *POTN BONUS: Vettori

13. 155 lbs – Grant Dawson (17-1-1) vs. Ricky Glenn (22-6-2) — MAJORITY DRAW (29-28, 28-28)

12. 135 lbs – Jessica-Rose Clark (11-6) DEF. Joselyne Edwards (10-4) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27 x2, 29-28)

11. 145 lbs – Alex Caceres (19-12) DEF. Seung Woo Choi (10-4) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 3:31 of Rd 2, Total 8:31 — *POTN BONUS: Caceres

10. 170 lbs – Francisco Trinaldo (27-8) DEF. Dwight Grant (11-4) — DEC, SPLIT (27-29, 29-27 x2)

9. 205 lbs – Nick Negumereanu (11-1) vs. Ike Villanueva (18-13) — KO/TKO, Right Hook to Ground Strikes at 1:18 of Rd 1

ESPN+ PRELIMS
8. 185 lbs – Gregory Rodrigues (11-3) DEF. Jun Yong Park (13-5) — KO/TKO, Punches (Standing TKO) at 3:13 of Rd 2, Total 8:13 — *FOTN BONUS

7. 155 lbs – Mason Jones (11-1) DEF. David Onama (8-1) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28 x3)

6. 115 lbs – Tabatha Ricci (6-1) vs. Maria Oliveira (12-5) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27 x3)

5. 185 lbs – Jamie Pickett (12-6) DEF. Laureano Staropoli (9-5) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27 x2, 29-28)

4. 155 lbs – Jai Herbert (11-3) DEF. Khama Worthy (16-9) — KO/TKO, Hooks to Ground Strikes at 2:47 of Rd 1

3. 125 lbs – Jeff Molina (10-2) DEF. Daniel da Silva (11-2) — KO/TKO, Counter Right to Ground Strikes at 0:46 of Rd 2, Total 5:46

2. 115 lbs – Randa Markos (11-11) DEF. Livinha Souza (14-4) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27 x2, 29-28)

1. 135 lbs – Jonathan Martinez (14-4) DEF. Zviad Lazishvili (13-1) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27, 29-28 x2)

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Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings. ‘Bloody Elbow Presents’ is a mixed martial arts podcast network presented to you by Bloody Elbow:

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Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ on Saturday, October 30th, for UFC 267: Blachowicz vs. Texeira & Yan vs. Sandhagen … TWO TITLE FIGHTS! (Don’t forget, this is NOT a pay-per-view).

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CHECK OUT OUR BELLATOR 269 COVERAGE FROM EARLIER TODAY: