Jose
Delgado sent a loud-and-clear message to the rest of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division: He intends
to stick around awhile.
The MMA Lab prospect made quite the impression in his
organizational debut, as he wiped out Connor
Matthews with elbows and punches in the first round of their
featured
UFC Fight Night 251 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Matthews (7-3, 0-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 2:58 into Round
2.
Delgado (9-1, 1-0 UFC) took his time, probed for openings and
unleashed his hands. He floored Matthews with an overhand right and
immediately powered into full mount, prompting the New England
Cartel product to surrender his back. A few elbow strikes and
punches from Delgado were enough for referee Dan Miragliotta to
wave it off.
Meanwhile, Alliance MMA standout Angela Hill
rebounded from an Aug. 24 loss to Tabatha
Ricci and did just enough to skate past fellow former Invicta
Fighting Championships titleholder Ketlen
Souza by split decision in their three-round women’s
strawweight affair. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards:
Michael Bell and Sal D’Amato for Hill, Derek Cleary for Souza.
Hill (18-14, 13-14 UFC) benefitted from a fast start, as she forced
the Brazilian onto the back foot, cut loose with punches and
trapped her in the clinch, at which point she attacked the body
with knees. She later mixed in a takedown, pairing it with top
control and mild ground-and-pound. Souza (15-5, 2-2 UFC) turned the
tide in the middle stanza, where she increased the ferocity of her
attacks, connected with a brutal spinning back kick to the body and
forced her adversary into more of a defensive posture. It all
boiled down to Round 3, and both women had their moments. Hill
surprised the Carioca Academy representative with another takedown,
then managed to hold serve in the standup exchanges. It was enough
to curry the necessary favor from Bell and D’Amato.
The 40-year-old Hill has won five of her past seven bouts.
Further down the undercard, Nova Uniao’s Rafael
Estevam kept his perfect professional record intact with a
unanimous decision over Jesus
Santos Aguilar in their three-round flyweight scrap. All three
members of the cageside judiciary scored it the same: 29-28 for
Estevam (13-0, 2-0 UFC), who returned to the Octagon for the first
time since Nov. 18, 2023.
Aguilar (11-3, 3-2 UFC) was ineffective through two rounds. Estevam
executed repeated takedowns, consolidated them with suffocating
control and piled up points with his ground-and-pound. The Andre
Pederneiras protégé also made a pass at an arm-triangle choke.
Aguilar found another gear in Round 3, where he took advantage of a
visibly fatigued opponent. He pieced together two- and three-punch
combinations and sprawled on attempted takedowns but eventually ran
out of time when the finish he needed failed to materialize.
The setback snapped Aguilar’s three-fight winning streak.
Elsewhere, onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Gabriel
Bonfim put Kalinn
Williams to sleep with a brabo choke in the second round of
their welterweight encounter. A late replacement for Rinat
Fakhretdinov, Williams (15-4, 6-3 UFC) lost consciousness 4:58
into Round 2.
Bonfim (17-1, 4-1 UFC) kept the Murcielago MMA mainstay off-balance
with a persistent jab, stinging leg kicks and multiple takedowns in
the first round. Williams upped the aggression to start the middle
stanza but unknowingly wandered into danger.
Bonfim ducked into another takedown, progressed to full mount and
caught the choke in a transition. He then tightened his squeeze and
waited for his counterpart to go limp.
It was the first stoppage loss for Williams in 19 professional
appearances.
Not to be overshadowed, Team Victory prospect Elijah
Smith called upon fast hands, well-timed takedowns and
failproof submission defense to claim a unanimous decision over
Vince
Morales in a three-round bantamweight tilt. All three cageside
judges struck 29-28 scorecards for Smith (8-1, 1-0 UFC).
Morales (16-9, 3-7 UFC) made his move in the second round, where he
threatened the promotional newcomer with a brabo choke and a
Peruvian necktie. Those efforts were unsuccessful. Smith hammered
away with clean combination punching and opened a serious cut
across the bridge of the Syndicate MMA export’s nose with a
short-range uppercut in the third round. Battered and bleeding,
Morales positioned himself for a Hail Mary standing bulldog choke
in the waning seconds, only to have time run out.
The 22-year-old Smith has rattled off six consecutive
victories.
Finally, former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Valter
Walker dispatched Don’Tale
Mayes with a heel hook in the first round of their heavyweight
confrontation.
Mayes (11-8, 4-6 UFC) raised the white flag 1:17 into Round 1,
suffering his first submission defeat in almost five
years.
Walker (13-1, 2-1 UFC) pressed the monstrous Jackson-Wink MMA rep
into the cage, ducked into a takedown, advanced to half guard and
activated his ground-and-pound. From there, he sat back on the heel
hook, readjusted his grip and prompted the tapout.
It was the fifth first-round finish of Walker’s career.
In other action, Jacqueline
Cavalcanti (9-1, 4-0 UFC) outstruck Julia Avila
(9-4, 3-3 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their three-round women’s
bantamweight pairing, earning 30-27 marks across the board.