Carlos
Prates could not have envisioned a cleaner performance.
The Phuket Top Team product was one of three hopefuls to nail down
an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 4 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he punched out Mitch
Ramirez in the second round of their welterweight showcase on
Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Prates (17-6, 1-0 DWCS) slammed the door 74 seconds into Round
2.
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Ramirez (7-1, 0-1 DWCS) was simply out of his depth and enjoyed
little success outside of a first-round takedown. Prates picked
apart the Syndicate MMA export with surgical combinations,
utilizing everything from leg kicks and body kicks to close-range
knees and devastating straight-line punches. He continued to wear
out Ramirez in the middle stanza and eventually stepped into a
searing left hand that sat him down and led referee Jason Herzog to
call for the stoppage.
Lightweight Bolaji Oki
and heavyweight Thomas
Petersen joined Prates to complete the latest group of UFC
signees, bringing the season total to 16.
Oki buried French kickboxing and muay thai stylist Dylan
Salvador with a wicked left hook to the body in the first round
of their lightweight pairing.
Oki (8-1, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 2:46 into Round 1,
extending his winning streak to eight fights.
Salvador (5-2, 0-1 DWCS) tested the waters with a few counters and
heavy leg kicks but struggled to answer the heat being hurled his
way. Oki backed up the Frenchman with a pair of right hands to the
head and a left hook to the body. Salvador retreated to the cage
and did all he could to shield himself, to no avail. Oki cut loose
with punches and dropped him to his knees with a left hook to the
liver, prompting referee Gary Copeland to intervene.
The 30-year-old Salvador had never before been finished.
Meanwhile, Petersen put away “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30 alum
Chandler
Cole with a keylock in the second round of their heavyweight
tilt. A former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion,
Petersen (8-1, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 68 seconds into Round
2.
Cole (10-4, 0-1 DWCS) fired kicks at the body and legs but could
not stay upright. Petersen executed two takedowns in the first
round and fed his counterpart punches and elbows, foreshadowing
what was ahead. Cole could not adjust quickly enough. Petersen
followed a right uppercut into the clinch at the start of the
middle stanza, then secured another single-leg takedown before
shedding an attempted guillotine and moving to side control. From
there, he advanced to a mounted crucifix, isolated the left arm and
bit down on the keylock to force the tapout.
All eight of Petersen’s wins have come via knockout, technical
knockout or submission.
Elsewhere, Xtreme Couture’s Timothy
Cuamba rode lightning-quick combinations and sublime lateral
movement to a unanimous decision over Battlefield Fight League
champion Mateo
Alejandro Vogel in their three-round featherweight encounter.
All three cageside judges scored it 29-28 for the Las Vegas
native.
Cuamba (7-1, 1-0 DWCS) called upon multi-punch volleys, sneaky
counterstrikes and airtight takedown defense across the first two
rounds. Vogel (8-3, 0-1 DWCS) had issues with the speed discrepancy
between the two men but invested in heavy leg kicks and eventually
managed to close the distance. He delivered a takedown midway
through Round 3, advanced to the back and secured his position with
a body triangle. Cuamba successfully defended his neck and cut off
the Canadian’s path to a submission as time ran out.
The 24-year-old Cuamba has won four fights in a row.
Finally, Marcio
Tulio Silva Costa waded through early adversity to claim a
unanimous decision over Teixeira MMA rep Yousri
Belgaroui in a three-round middleweight battle. Operating out
of the Chute Boxe affiliate fronted by Diego Lima, the Brazilian
swept the scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the
cageside judiciary.
Belgaroui (5-3, 0-1 DWCS) kept his opponent on the end of his
punches for much of the first round and made the most of his
five-inch height and 4.5-inch reach advantages. However, he slowly
but surely relinquished momentum. Costa upped his aggression in
Round 2, where he attacked the body, legs and head with kicks,
forcing the Dutchman onto his back foot. The third round was a
runaway. Costa drove the Glover
Teixeira protégé to the fence with punches, secured a takedown
and went to work. Elbows and punches flowed as he moved from half
guard to side control before briefly shifting to a mounted
crucifix. The finish Costa pursued never materialized, but he
nevertheless got his arm raised in decisive fashion.
Costa, 28, has rattled off six straight victories.