UFC middleweight Chidi Njokuani earned his second straight post-fight bonus with an elbow strike knockout over Dusko Todorovic at UFC Vegas 55. Njokuani fought off a series of Todorovic takedown attempts to get the fight back to the feet. A well-renowned kickboxer, he was able to move Todorovic to the clinch before landing a right…
UFC middleweight Chidi Njokuani earned his second straight post-fight bonus with an elbow strike knockout over Dusko Todorovic at UFC Vegas 55.
Njokuani fought off a series of Todorovic takedown attempts to get the fight back to the feet. A well-renowned kickboxer, he was able to move Todorovic to the clinch before landing a right elbow strike that sent Todorovic unconscious.
Earlier this year, Njokuani earned another performance bonus for his TKO over Marc-Andre Barriault in his UFC debut. He earned a shot in the UFC following an up-and-down tenure in Bellator, followed by a win on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Njokuani wasn’t the only one who cashed in after scoring a big finish. Featherweight prospect Chase Hooper got back on track in his UFC career with a third-round TKO win over Felipe Colares on the prelims.
Hooper had been away from the Octagon for nearly a year since his loss to Steven Peterson at UFC 263. The 22-year-old showed massive improvements with his striking after being well-known for years as a grappling-first athlete.
In the UFC Vegas 55 co-main event, welterweights Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michel Pereira put on a three-round war at the UFC Apex. After 15 minutes of action, Pereira earned a split decision to win his fifth straight fight.
Heading into his fight with Felipe Corales at UFC Vegas 55, featherweight Chase Hooper knew that a submission victory was likely off the table. Following his third round TKO win against Corales, Hooper was asked during his UFC Vegas 55 post-fight scrum if there had been any submissions attempts where he felt close to finishing…
Heading into his fight with Felipe Corales at UFC Vegas 55, featherweight Chase Hooper knew that a submission victory was likely off the table.
Following his third round TKO win against Corales, Hooper was asked during his UFC Vegas 55 post-fight scrum if there had been any submissions attempts where he felt close to finishing the fight.
“That one D’arce a little bit, for a second,” Hooper responded. “Then I was like ‘Ahh, it’s not quite where I want it to be; it’s towards the end of the round.’ You can hear him gargling a little bit, but then that angle changed. And I was like ‘it’s not quite there.’”
The 22-year-old has been working hard to improve his striking but is most comfortable on the mat. Of his ten pro wins coming into this fight, five were by submission. Despite his skills as a grappler, Hooper’s coach made sure to let “The Dream” know that he shouldn’t expect to snatch a submission win against Corales.
(Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“My coach actually told me between rounds and he was telling me before the fight. But it’s so hard to break of like, ‘Stop going for submissions.’
“With this guy, he’s Brazilian. He’s not gonna want you to sub him out. He’s not gonna want some little American white kid to take his sport, his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He’s not gonna let me sub him, which was an excellent adjustment for my coach to have me do and I shifted to going for more of the TKO.”
While Hooper did grapple effectively throughout the fight and looked for several submissions, his coach must have been satisfied when “The Dream” finally earned the TKO victory in the third round.
This matchup with Corales was Hooper’s first fight in close to a year following a unanimous decision loss to Steven Peterson at UFC 263. The 22-year-old featherweight is now 11-2-1 overall and 3-2 in the UFC, with all three of those wins coming via stoppage.
What do you think of Hooper’s comments about why he couldn’t submit Felipe Corales?
Despite landing a close, argued split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) victory over the #2 ranked former bantamweight champion, Holly Holm during last night’s UFC Vegas 55 main event, surging Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira claims she felt a “light tap” from the Albuquerque native during a standing rear-naked choke attempt. Ketlen Vieira, who landed her seventh […]
Despite landing a close, argued split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) victory over the #2 ranked former bantamweight champion, Holly Holm during last night’s UFC Vegas 55 main event, surging Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira claims she felt a “light tap” from the Albuquerque native during a standing rear-naked choke attempt.
Ketlen Vieira, who landed her seventh Octagon victory in last night’s main event victory, managed to just about scrape by with a close split decision win against Holm – adding the former undisputed bantamweight titleholder to a prior unanimous judging win against another former gold holder, common-foe, Miesha Tate in November of last year.
The Brazilian received some criticizm from her head coach, Andre Pederneiras ahead of the fifth and final frame at the UFC Apex facility, with the Octagon veteran insisting that his student was likely three rounds down to former titleholder, Holm, however, two of three judges sitting Octagon side handed Vieira the victory in the form of a split decision win.
Ketlen Vieira questions if Holly Holm actually tapped during their UFC Vegas 55 main event
Reflecting on her performance and win during her media availability backstage following UFC Vegas 55, Vieira claimed that during a notable standing rear-naked choke attempt, Holm, who managed to survive and grit through – that she had felt a “light tap”.
“I felt pretty good about that and I thought that she (Holly Holm) actually was doing a light tap,” Ketlen Vieira told assembled media. “I saw the ref come in close and when I looked over to see him coming close that’s when I think she took the opportunity because I looked away from what was going on and she escaped me.”
Vieira claimed that throughout the main event clash, Holm had attempted to stall and turn the fight into something of an “antigame”. “I think she was doing more of an “antigame”, we use that term for soccer,” Kelten Vieira said. “That’s what she was doing, she was basically trying to neutralize me. She was just pressing me against the cage but nothing was happening, she just wanted me to stop fighting and I think that the judges actually saw that.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
On Saturday night, MMA’s premier promotion returned to action and held its latest Fight Night card in the form of UFC Vegas 55. The ongoing rivalry between champion Julianna Peña and the recently dethroned Amanda Nunes has dominated the 135-pound discussion so far in 2022, but there are still some in-form contenders looking to remind…
With the always-entertaining Michel Pereira in action against Santiago Ponzinibbio, as well as the likes of Eryk Anders, Uroš Medi?, Jonathan Martinez, Chidi Njokuani, and Chase Hooper also entering the Octagon, this UFC Fight Night looked set to be another under-the-radar card likely to produce some fireworks.
So, did it deliver in that way? Let’s find out with the positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 55.
There’s not much better in MMA than watching a once-struggling fighter begin to flourish. If Charles Oliveira’s reign on the lightweight throne (*has) taught us anything, it’s that. While it’s nowhere near the same level, both in terms of skill and context, Sam Hughes was still able to continue her evolution in impressive fashion at UFC Vegas 55.
After a unanimous decision loss to Luana Pinheiro last November, Hughes entered 2022 with an 0-3 UFC record and with just one fight left on her contract. It’s safe to say that her fourth walk to the Octagon was make or break.
But having swapped Catalyst MMA for Fortis MMA, where she’s trained under the tutelage of renowned coach Sayif Saud, “Sampage” has not only rescued her career on MMA’s biggest stage, but began to make it her home. After outpointing Istela Nunes in April, Hughes made it two for two on Saturday, dominating Elise Reed en route to a third-round TKO, which came via some pretty brutal ground-and-pound.
Post-fight, Hughes said that her time at Fortis MMA has made her “unstoppable” and “unbreakable.” We’ll be seeing that claim tested in the coming months and years, but her latest triumph certainly did no harm to it.
Negative – Don’t Grab The Cage Or… You’ll Get A Free Submission Escape?
We’ve seen some questionable refereeing decisions in recent times, but standing a fight up after one fighter prevented a submission attempt by grabbing the fence takes the cake.
Mark Smith is great ref, but I’m sure even he’ll watch that back and say, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ During the first round of Chase Hooper’s featherweight clash with Felipe Colares, “The Dream” latched onto a leg from bottom position, potentially with an opportunity to lock in a calf slicer or another leg-based submission.
To try and prevent the move, the Brazilian blatantly grabbed the fence, and also prolonged it beyond Smith’s initial warning. The veteran ref responded by pausing the contest (all good so far). He then stood the pair up (taking a point? Great, love that Mark). “Fight…” (Hello?)
Essentially, Colares committed a foul in order to avoid a compromising position. As a reward, he was given a free escape and Hooper was punished by losing the position.
A strange one, to say the least.
Image Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Positive – Chase Hooper 2.0
If you were after another dose of evolved performances following Hughes’ card-opening win, how about that from Chase Hooper in the night’s second fight?
Hooper arrived in MMA’s premier promotion as a highly touted and unbeaten young prospect. While a quick debut win against Daniel Teymur and a come-from-behind submission victory over Peter Barrett aided that reputation, unanimous decision setbacks to Alex Caceres and Steven Peterson exposed some heavy flaws in Hooper’s game, namely his striking.
But while his standup game had previously been a display of flailing limbs and technique-less offense, a near-year layoff clearly helped “The Dream” work on his skillset. While ‘good’ would perhaps be generous, somewhat sufficient and polished would be an accurate description for Hooper’s improved striking.
That, coupled with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu talent and relentless pace, helped the 22-year-old to largely outclass the tough Colares, becoming the first to ever finish the Brazilian in the third round with some ground-and-pound.
While it’s clear that his game is far from complete and not without its issues, Hooper’s rebound performance at UFC Vegas 55 was certainly a start, and seemingly the arrival of Chase Hooper 2.0.
At just 22 years old, there’s still plenty of time for the up-and-comer to evolve even more.
You’ll have to mispronounce Uroš Medi?’s name for that pun to work, but (visually) close enough…
We knew “The Doctor” hit hard but holy smokes. The finishing combination that led to the end of Omar Morales’ night at UFC Vegas 55 was truly vicious.
Medi? made his name in the UFC as one of the standout performers in season four of Dana White’s Contender Series. After earning a contract with a first-round TKO win against Mikey Gonzalez, the 29-year-old maintained his 100% finishing rate on debut, recording a memorable and fast TKO victory over Aalon Cruz.
With his stock high, Medi? experienced his first setback in his sophomore Octagon outing, falling to a submission loss to Jalin Turner, who’s now won four straight and earned a fight with ranked lightweight Brad Riddell next.
But while Turner is going on to big things, his former opponent won’t be far behind him after his latest outing.
At UFC Vegas 55, Medi? appeared much more patient, awaiting the opening for his renowned power. After dropping Morales towards the end of the first frame, “The Doctor” brought things to a close in the second in emphatic fashion, flooring the Venezuelan with some clean and forceful shots.
Having gotten back on track with yet another impressive finish, Medi? will be looking to continue his rise next time out. Given his performance on Saturday night, it stands to reason that a lot more eyeballs will be on him moving forward.
If there was one takeaway from the UFC Vegas 55 prelims, and perhaps the event as a whole, it was keep an eye on Jailton Almeida.
There’s something immensely casual and impressive about winning 10 consecutive fights at light heavyweight before nonchalantly moving up for a heavyweight debut on short notice and snapping the three-fight win streak of a man 40 pounds heavier.
While the victim of that was the previously in-form Parker Porter, the man behind the notable feat was rising prospect Almeida. Having entered the year as new addition to the UFC roster following a second-round submission win against Nasrudin Nasrudinov on DWCS, the Brazilian has certainly made an impact inside the Octagon in 2022.
With two wins in two divisions, 11 consecutive victories, a 100% finishing rate, and a frankly scary physical presence in the cage, this man looks to be a real problem, first for the light heavyweights, and perhaps even for the heavyweights should he make a permanent switch down the line.
Who made the decision to drop Almeida vs. Porter to the prelims to make way for Polyana Viana and Tabatha Ricci on the main card? If that decision wasn’t questionable anyway, the way both fights went hammered it home.
The fight was as unentertaining as it was bizarre. It saw Ricci chase takedowns, only to stand up and throw kicks with little impact to Viana on the ground. The response from “Dama de Ferro” wasn’t much better, as she seemed content relaxing on her back and appeared to think she’d walked into a submission grappling event.
In the end, the scorecards all read 28-27 for Ricci. Despite her top position, Ricci did little in the opening round, and her compatriot was much more effective with submission attempts from the bottom. Although less active in the second frame, it certainly wouldn’t have been absurd to score that for Viana, too, as Ricci’s offense wasn’t much better.
In her post-fight interview, “Baby Shark” branded the Octagon as a “shark tank” and said that she is “hungry.” I’m not sure that the other fish at 125 pounds will be too concerned or afraid off the back of that performance.
How do you light up an underwhelming start to a main card? Give Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani a call. After two tough watches to open the top slate at UFC Vegas 55, Njokuani brought the Apex crowd to its feet with another highlight-reel knockout.
Having seemingly prepared extensively for the clinch given Duško Todorovi?’s close-range style, “Bang Bang” lived up to his moniker in style, executing the perfect elbow as the pair separated towards the end of the first round.
After speaking earlier about Jailton Almeida’s fiery 2-0 start inside the Octagon, Njokuani has certainly earned the same level of acclaim. Having followed his 16-second debut win against Marc-André Barriault with another memorable stoppage at UFC Vegas 55, the Dallas native has sent a warning to the middleweight class.
Something about elbows just makes every knockout that extra bit vicious…
Fight of the Night was pretty much a lock before the card even began. When entertainers Michel Pereira and Santiago Ponzinibbio were matched up, I think we all knew what to expect.
In the first round of the night’s co-main event, the Brazilian looked fantastic. While Ponzinibbio struggled to find the mark and landed at just over a 20% rate, Pereira was hitting more than 60% of his shots, and looked technical and fantastic.
In the second round, proceedings remained the same for a period, but the “Argentine Dagger” hit back towards the end, seemingly turning the tide and gaining the momentum heading into the final frame.
After a second wind saw Pereira land some hard blows to open round three, Ponzinibbio once again clawed his way back into the clash, playing his part in an incredible and wild final stanza.
In the end, “Demolidor” fell on the right side of a split decision, extending his win streak to four and securing his ascension into the welterweight rankings upon the next update.
A side-note, you have to feel for Ponzinibbio. The 35-year-old leaves everything inside the cage, and has now left the Octagon in back-to-back fights having lost razor-close decisions. In a parallel universe, the Argentinian could easily have two split decision victories over Geoff Neal and Pereira on his record, and be within the divisional top 10.
While Pereira will be celebrating another memorable win, Ponzinibbio’s stock certainly didn’t dip at UFC Vegas 55.
What were your positives and negatives from UFC Vegas 55?
Ketlen Vieira doesn’t think that the judges were fooled by Holly Holm’s game plan during their fight at UFC Vegas 55. Following Vieira’s split-decision win over the former bantamweight champion, fans and fighters alike were quick to weigh-in with opinions on the scoring of the evening’s main event. On a fight card where the judges…
Ketlen Vieira doesn’t think that the judges were fooled by Holly Holm’s game plan during their fight at UFC Vegas 55.
Following Vieira’s split-decision win over the former bantamweight champion, fans and fighters alike were quick to weigh-in with opinions on the scoring of the evening’s main event. On a fight card where the judges had already been divided on the scoring of two other bouts, Vieira thinks the judges made the correct decision by giving her the win.
When asked at the post-fight press conference if she felt Holm had lost the fight due to the time she spent “stalling” against the fence, Vieira didn’t hold back.
“Yes, I do think so. I think she was doing more of an (anti)-game. We use that term for soccer. So you basically (anti)-game. So that’s what she was doing, she was basically trying to neutralize me. She was just pressing me against the cage, but nothing was happening. She just wanted me to stop fighting, and I think that the judges actually saw that.”
(Getty Images)
Known for her striking credentials that include boxing world titles as well as one of the most famous knockouts in UFC history, Holm was able to win the first round of their matchup by controlling Vieira against the cage and briefly landing a takedown. Although she returned to this approach throughout the fight, its effectiveness seemed to largely wane as the bout went on.
“The Preacher’s Daughter” did manage to knock Vieira to the mat in the fourth round with a kick to the Brazilian’s midsection, but it was largely Vieira who was landing the more impactful blows during striking exchanges. “Fenômeno” also very nearly submitted Holm in the second round.
Holm took rounds one and five on all three judge’s scorecards, but she only got the nod for round three from one of them. Vieira unanimously took rounds two and four according to the judges, and she also won round three on two of the scorecards to get the split-decision win.
Ranked as the UFC’s #5 bantamweight headed into this fight, Ketlen Vieira is now on a two-fight win streak with main event victories against former champions Holm and Miesha Tate.
What do you make of Vieira’s comments that Holm was attempting to stall during their fight?
UFC welterweight Michel Pereira called out Jorge Masvidal in his post-fight octagon interview at UFC Vegas 55. This past weekend, Michel Pereira returned to action for the second time this year to take on Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 206: Holm vs. Vieira. In a close-fought contest that went the distance, Pereira managed to […]
UFC welterweight Michel Pereira called out Jorge Masvidal in his post-fight octagon interview at UFC Vegas 55.
This past weekend, Michel Pereira returned to action for the second time this year to take on Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 206: Holm vs. Vieira. In a close-fought contest that went the distance, Pereira managed to come out on top by a split decision. As good of a performance as he had delivered, the real talks surrounded his words on the mic.
Michel Pereira said Jorge Masvidal DM’d his wife
In the post-fight interview inside the octagon, ‘Demolidor’ took his shot to call out Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. Both welterweights are well past their prime and have the star power to make big money fights. A potential fight against either of the two will likely translate to a significantly bigger paycheck for the other fighter.
While many believed their ability to generate cash to be the main source of Pereira’s call out, the 28-year-old Brazilian revealed a more personal reason behind his actions. During the post-fight press conference at UFC Vegas 55, Michel Pereira was asked about his claims of having a problem with Jorge Masvidal, and why he really wanted to fight him.
“So, he sent an emoji to my wife,” Pereira said. “The emoji with the two hands together (like this, Amen). He sent it to my wife and didn’t send it to me. I never actually cross paths with him, never had the chance to ask him. So I figured, I really won’t understand but might as well stay inside the octagon. So just, settle over there.”
Considering how Jorge Masvidal has spent the last three months embroiled in the controversy surrounding his alleged physical altercation with Colby Covington, a return to fighting may look far-fetched anytime soon. Pereira has only been in the UFC for three years and scoring a big draw in his next fight may not fit the promotion’s plans well.
#UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/vtpOZ0Ee8Q
Despite landing a close, argued split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) victory over the #2 ranked former bantamweight champion, Holly Holm during last night’s UFC Vegas 55 main event, surging Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira claims she felt a “light tap” from the Albuquerque native during a standing rear-naked choke attempt. Ketlen Vieira, who landed her seventh […]
BY SPLIT DECISION!
UFC welterweight Michel Pereira called out Jorge Masvidal in his post-fight octagon interview at UFC Vegas 55. This past weekend, Michel Pereira returned to action for the second time this year to take on Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 206: Holm vs. Vieira. In a close-fought contest that went the distance, Pereira managed to […]