Raoni
Barcelos reminded any and all upstarts in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division that
experience still matters.
The onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil
titleholder cruised to a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision
over the previously unbeaten Payton
Talbott in the featured
UFC 311 prelim on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood,
California. Barcelos (19-5, 8-4 UFC) carried all three scorecards:
30-27, 30-27 and 30-26.
Talbott (9-1, 3-1 UFC) was undone by shoddy takedown defense.
Barcelos grounded him repeatedly, floated from one dominant
position to the next and even achieved full mount on multiple
occasions. Any momentum Talbott tried to build in standup exchanges
was quickly snuffed out by the Brazilian. Barcelos tied a bow on
his performance late in the third round, where he advanced to the
back, flattened out the Reno Academy of Combat representative an
uncorked punches from both hands.
Meanwhile, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Azamat
Bekoev filled in for Sedriques
Dumas on late notice, made a sensational Octagon debut and
disposed of Zachary
Reese with punches in the first round of their middleweight
tiff.
Reese (8-2, 2-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 3:04 into Round
1.
Bekoev (19-3, 1-0 UFC) completed a takedown inside the first
minute, lulled the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate into a
false sense of security and dropped the proverbial hammer. A series
of high-impact punches from the American Top Team product separated
Reese from his senses and prompted the stoppage.
The 29-year-old Bekoev now finds himself on a seven-fight winning
streak.
Elsewhere, Bogdan
Guskov put away promotional newcomer Billy
Elekana with a guillotine choke in the second round of their
light heavyweight encounter. A short-notice replacement for
Johnny
Walker, Elekana (7-2, 0-1 UFC) conceded defeat 3:33 into Round
2.
Guskov (17-3, 3-1 UFC) had to overcome a shaky start. Elekana
surprised him with a takedown, advanced to the back, strengthened
his position with a body triangle and threatened the neck between
intermittent bursts of ground-and-pound. Guskov escaped out the
backdoor near the end of the first round, moved behind the Uprising
MMA export and nearly finished it with a rear-naked choke. Only the
horn saved Elekana. Guskov turned up the heat in the middle stanza,
pinned his counterpart to the fence and unleashed his hands, first
to the head and then to the body.
Elekana retreated to a squatting position, left his neck exposed
and bowed to the guillotine without offering much
resistance.
It was Guskov’s first submission win in more than six years.
Further down the undercard, American Top Team’s Grant
Dawson rode repeated takedowns and a suffocating top game to a
one-sided unanimous decision over Diego
Ferreira in their three-round lightweight scrap. All three
judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Dawson (23-2-1, 11-1-1
UFC).
Ferreira (19-6, 10-6 UFC) had no answers for the tactics his
opponent brought to bear. Dawson kept the Fortis MMA rep honest
with punches and kicks, then swooped into range for takedowns. Once
on top, he racked up points with steady ground-and-pound and cut
off potential avenues of escape for Ferreira. Dawson closed it out
with a strong third round, where he dropped the ex-Legacy Fighting
Championship titleholder to a knee with a right hand at close
range, secured another takedown and progressed to the back. He
fished for a rear-naked choke, but neither Ferreira nor the clock
would cooperate with his efforts.
Dawson, 30, has won three fights in a row since his October 2023
knockout loss to Bobby
Green.
Finally, former Samurai Fight House champion Ailin Perez
likely punched her ticket to the Top 10 at 135 pounds, as she laid
claim to a unanimous decision over Karol Rosa
in their three-round women’s bantamweight pairing. Scores were
29-28, 29-29 and 30-27—all for Perez (12-2, 5-1 UFC).
Rosa (18-7, 7-4 UFC) never found an offensive rhythm. Perez
executed takedowns in the first and second rounds, paired them with
positional control and incorporated some ground-and-pound to avoid
restarts. Rosa did her best work in Round 3, where she upped her
aggression and peppered the Argentinian upstart with powerful kicks
to the legs and sweeping left hooks to the head. However, the
finish she needed failed to materialize.
The 30-year-old Perez has rattled off five straight victories.
In other action, Muin
Gafurov (20-6, 2-2 UFC) outstruck Rinya
Nakamura (9-1, 3-1 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their
three-round bantamweight tilt, as he swept the scorecards with
30-27 nods across the board; Tagir
Ulanbekov (16-2, 5-1 UFC) took a unanimous verdict—30-27,
30-27, 29-28—from Clayton
Carpenter (8-1, 2-1) in their three-round lightweight affair;
and Bernardo
Sopai (12-3, 1-1 UFC) outlasted Ricky
Turcios (12-5, 2-3 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their
three-round bantamweight clash, earning 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
scores from the cageside judiciary.