Carlos
Prates blew open the gate to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight elite.
The burgeoning Vale Top Team and Fighting Nerds star punched out
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny in
the first round of their
UFC Vegas 100 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Magny (29-13, 22-12 UFC) checked out 4:50 into Round 1, victimized
by one of the sport’s fastest-rising talents at 170
pounds.
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Prates (21-6, 4-0 UFC) stayed patient against an experienced, cagy
adversary. Magny made passes at a variety of takedowns, none of
them successful. He found himself nullified in the clinch, too.
Late in the first round, Prates denied a takedown, pursued the
Elevation Fight Team mainstay across the Octagon, pinned him to the
fence and cracked him with a slashing left hand to the temple.
Magny crashed face first to the canvas. No follow-up shots were
required.
The 31-year-old Prates has won 11 fights in a row, 10 of them
finishes.
Meanwhile, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder
Reinier
de Ridder shined in his promotional debut, as he disposed of
Kill Cliff Fight Club stablemate Gerald
Meerschaert with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of
their middleweight co-main event.
Meerschaert (37-18, 12-10 UFC) raised the white flag 1:44 into
Round 3, suffering his first submission defeat in almost six
years.
De Rider (18-2, 1-0 UFC) decked the onetime Resurrection Fighting
Alliance champion with a left hook at the end of a back-and-forth
first round. Meerschaert answered in the middle stanza, where he
freed himself from a three-quarter nelson, flurried with punches,
moved into top position and integrated some ground-and-pound.
However, fatigue took hold in Round 3. De Ridder delivered a
takedown, shed a guillotine choke, scrambled into top position and
climbed to full mount. From there, he framed the arm-triangle and
let his bite do the rest.
The 34-year-old de Ridder will enter his next assignment on the
strength of back-to-back victories.
Elsewhere, Combat Sports Academy export Gaston
Bolanos rebounded from his Jan. 13 technical knockout loss to
Marcus
McGhee with a unanimous decision over Cortavious
Romious in a disjointed three-round bantamweight showcase.
Bolanos (8-4, 2-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-26, 30-27 and
30-26 marks from the cageside judiciary.
Romious (9-3, 0-1 UFC) failed to build on a fast start. Bolanos
turned the tide midway through the middle stanza, as he freed
himself from back control, hammered the two-time Dana White’s
Contender Series alum with a vicious 12-to-6 elbow, escaped to a
standing position and racked up more punishment with close-range
knees and elbows from the clinch. Romious slipped while throwing a
body kick early in the third round and briefly threatened with a
calf slicer before allowing his opponent to get back to his feet.
They then traded takedowns in the latter stages of the match, but
Bolanos managed to deploy the more effective ground-and-pound.
The setback snapped a modest two-fight winning streak for
Romious.
Further down the main card, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 26
graduate Gillian
Robertson outgrappled Luana
Pinheiro to a unanimous decision in their three-round women’
strawweight feature. All three cageside judges scored it for the
resurgent Robertson (15-8, 12-6 UFC): 29-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Pinheiro (11-4, 3-3 UFC) called upon an effective get-up game,
picked off the Canadian with counters and flexed her superiority in
the standup exchanges but ultimately could not withstand her
opponent’s persistent pressure. Robertson did her best work in an
overwhelming third round, where she struck for a takedown, moved to
full mount on multiple occasions, trapped the Brazilian in a
topside crucifix, threatened with chokes and applied her
ground-and-pound. Pinheiro survived but missed out on her chance to
climb higher in the 115-pound rankings.
Robertson has rattled off three straight victories.
Finally, MMA Masters prospect Mansur
Abdul-Malik kept his perfect professional record intact with a
spectacular Octagon debut, as he put away Dusko
Todorovic with a knee strike and follow-up punches in the first
round of their middleweight appetizer. Todorovic (12-5, 3-5 UFC)
met his end 2:44 into Round 1, losing for the third time in four
outings.
Abdul-Malik (7-0, 1-0 UFC) was the aggressor from the outset. He
drove Todorovic to the canvas during one of their initial exchanges
and blasted him with a standing-to-ground right, then unloaded with
punches and hammerfists while defending a series of leg locks.
Todorovic eventually made his way back to his feet in a compromised
state, sporting visible damage across his forehead.
Abdul-Malik maintained his pressure and floored the ex-Serbian
Battle Championship titleholder with a clean knee from the clinch.
More punches and hammerfists followed, resulting in the
stoppage.
The undefeated Abdul-Malik has finished all seven of his opponents,
six of them inside one round.
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