Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Vegas 55: Holm vs. Vieira
The APEX Center in Las Vegas Nevada was home to a great evening of fights at UFC Vegas 55: Holm vs. Vieira. The card saw four (T)KOs, two submissions, and five decisions, including three split-decisions.
FOTN: Michel Pereira/Santiago Ponzinibbio
POTN: Chidi Njokuani/Chase Hooper
The prelims opened with a great performance from Sam Hughes, who defeated Elise Reed in the third round via TKO after a breakout performance that saw Hughes dominate the majority of the fight. That was followed by Chase Hooper’s best performance to date, a ferocious knockout of Felipe Colares in the third round. It’s clear that Hooper has made some strides towards shoring up his defensive weaknesses. Jonathan Martinez took all three judges’ scorecards, defeating Vince Morales and notching a third, straight win. It will be interesting to see who they pair him up with next. Uros Medic snagged himself a TKO win in the second stanza after a back-and-forth battle in the first round. Medic becomes the first man to score a TKO over Morales. Jailton Almeida’s last-minute dash up to heavyweight proved fruitful as he needed less than a round to submit Parker Porter with a nasty face crank. Joseph Holmes took just 64 seconds to submit Alen Amedovski, snaring the Macedonian in a rear-naked-choke to close out the undercard.
Preliminary Card (4 PM ET, ESPN+)
- Joseph Holmes def. Alen Amedovski via Sub (RNC) at 1:04 of Round 1
- Jailton Almeida def. Parker Porter by submission (face crank) at 4:35 of Round 1
- Uros Medic def. Omar Morales by TKO (punches) at 3:05 of Round 2
- Jonathan Martinez def. Vince Morales by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
- Chase Hooper def. Felipe Colares by TKO (punches) at 3:00 of Round 3
- Sam Hughes def. Elise Reed by TKO (strikes) at 3:52 of Round 3
The main card opened with Jun Yong Park defeating Eryk Anders via split-decision in a pretty entertaining battle that was punctuated by low blows from both men. I mean, the ref actually had to tell them to stop swinging low…sweet chariot. Sorry, folks, I couldn’t resist. Tabitha Ricci managed to get the unanimous decision against Polyana Viana in a close fight that she could have fared much better in but seemed a little gun-shy when they started trading. Chidi Njokuani kept his hot streak alive with another sensational knockout, this time an elbow that put Dusko Todorovich away in brutal fashion. Michel Pereira took a split-decision victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio, which was fine. What wasn’t fine was the 30-27 scorecard for Michel. You can rest assured that neither man warranted a 30-27.
The main event was a grinder. There’s no other way to put it. Both women had their moments, and heading into the fifth round, I had it scored even Steven. It would be Vieira taking the split-decision, though, and that is how the night ended.
Main Card (7 PM ET, ESPN+)
- Ketlen Vieira def. Holly Holm by split-decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)
- Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chidi Njokuani def. Dusko Todorovic by KO (elbow) at 4:48 of Round 1
- Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Jun Yong Park def. Eryk Anders by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)