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The UFC returned to its Las Vegas base last night for Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira, and while the headline bout was a dull affair, the rest of the card largely delivered good action.
With eleven fights on tap and a total of six finishes overall, this UFC Fight Night was decent enough, with a number of fighters moving up the ladder following their wins.
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So who were the biggest victors last night? Thankfully, there were a number of fighters to choose from, with more than one moving into title contention.
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With this in mind, here are the five biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira.
#5. Chase Hooper – defeated Felipe Colares in a UFC featherweight bout
When he debuted in the UFC back in December 2019, Chase Hooper made a name for himself not only thanks to his win over Daniel Teymur, but for his young age, too. At the time, the featherweight was just 20 years old.
Since then, though, a couple of losses had taken the bloom off the rose of ‘The Dream’, in particular a listless defeat at the hands of Steven Peterson last June. Last night was his first bout since then, and thankfully, he looked fantastic in his win over Felipe Colares.
Did he deserve the $50k performance bonus he received for his showing? It’s debatable, as while he did stop Colares via TKO, a couple of other fighters arguably put on more explosive showings. However, Hooper was thoroughly dominant in every area, completely shutting down Colares on the feet and on the ground.
Overall, it looks like the year away from the octagon has done Hooper the world of good, and at the age of 22, he’s probably a good deal away from his prime yet. If he can continue to improve at this clip, then he may well end up as a title contender in the years to come – but for now, it’s fair to call him one of last night’s biggest winners.
#4. Jailton Almeida – defeated Parker Porter in a UFC heavyweight bout
The UFC has a ton of hot prospects right now, but based on his showing last night, Jailton Almeida might belong near the top of that list. The Brazilian thoroughly dominated Parker Porter en route to a first-round submission win in what was a flawless victory.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this win was that it came at heavyweight, when the majority of the Brazilian’s career had previously come at light-heavyweight. Essentially, ‘Malhadinho’ couldn’t find an opponent at 205lbs, so he took a fight with a bigger guy instead, and still smashed him.
This was about as one-sided a clash as you’d find in the UFC, as it took Almeida just seconds to dump Porter onto his back, and from there he punished him before choking him out.
Sure, Porter is no contender for Francis Ngannou’s heavyweight title, but he had won his last three bouts in a row – making this an impressive win for the Brazilian. The sky is clearly the limit for ‘Malhadinho’, and it’ll be exciting to see him fight again soon.
#3. Chidi Njokuani – defeated Dusko Todorovic in a UFC middleweight bout
It’s probably fair to say that very few UFC fighters in recent memory have made such an impact in their early fights with the promotion as middleweight Chidi Njokuani. Last night, ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ picked up his second $50k bonus in as many fights.
It’s probably fair to say that Dusko Todorovic tested Njokuani more than Marc-Andre Barriault did, but that was only because the Serbian fighter was able to last a little longer than the 16 seconds that Barriault managed.
Overall, Njokuani thoroughly dominated him in all areas, and when he slammed his elbow into Todorovic’s temple at the tail end of the first round, he didn’t even need to follow up, so discombobulated was his opponent.
Essentially, the last fighter to do this kind of damage in such entertaining fashion upon his arrival to the octagon was Jiri Prochazka, and he’s fighting for UFC gold in the upcoming months. Obviously that’s not likely to happen for Njokuani, who hasn’t fought a ranked opponent yet – but this win should move him up the ladder, allowing him to face a top fifteen ranked fighter in his next bout.
#2. Michel Pereira – defeated Santiago Ponzinibbio in a UFC welterweight bout
Last night’s best fight was unsurprisingly the welterweight clash between Michel Pereira and Santiago Ponzinibbio, and while it didn’t produce a finish, there was plenty of explosive action throughout the clash to pique the interest of the fans.
In the end, though, Pereira was the man who got his hand raised in what will be classed as the biggest win of his UFC career thus far. Judging by this, ‘Demolidor’ could go onto even bigger wins in the future.
Eschewing the wildman act that initially gave him his reputation, Pereira landed the heavier strikes on ‘Gente Boa’ throughout the clash, hurting him to the body with big hooks, and more to the point, he remained calm under a lot of pressure at times and largely refused to be drawn into a brawl.
If he can continue to fight like this, Pereira could well become an elite-level fighter at 170lbs. He’s got the athleticism and skills to do so, and if he can continue to play things a little safer like he did here – rather than exhausting himself with flips and tricks – then he’ll be a match for anyone.
Given that Ponzinibbio was ranked at No.14 coming into this clash, then ‘Demolidor’ should be faced with a top ten foe next.
#1. Ketlen Vieira – defeated Holly Holm in a UFC bantamweight bout
Okay, so it’s safe to say that Ketlen Vieira’s win over Holly Holm probably didn’t come in the fashion that she’d have hoped it to. Not only did she fail to finish ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’, but many fans felt like she didn’t deserve the victory, which came via split decision.
However, the truth is that ‘Fenomeno’ probably did have a case for winning the fight, purely based on the second round. That stanza saw her snatch up a standing rear naked choke, a move that forced Holm’s face to turn purple.
It looked for a second like the fight would be over, but somehow Holm was able to gut it out, escaping moments later. Essentially, it was the only high point of what was a pretty dull outing – meaning that were PRIDE rules being used to judge, Vieira probably would’ve won anyway.
Despite the controversy, then, she’s got to be considered last night’s big winner, as for all intents and purposes, the clash was a de facto No.1 contender’s bout at 135lbs, as Holm came in ranked below only champion Julianna Pena and former champ Amanda Nunes.
Given that the two women are set to rematch in the upcoming months – and Vieira should move into Holm’s slot at No.2 now – then there’s definitely a case for ‘Fenomeno’ fighting for the title next time out.
If that’s the case, then fans will only hope that she can produce a more entertaining fight than she did last night, even if she did pick up a big victory.
