Ronda
Rousey did not mess around.
The onetime Olympic bronze medalist and former Ultimate Fighting
Championship titleholder dismissed Gina Carano
with an armbar in the first round of their
Most Valuable Promotions main event on Saturday at the Intuit
Dome in Los Angeles. Carano (7-2, 0-1 MVP), who had not fought
since August 2009, issued her surrender a mere 17 seconds into
Round 1.
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Rousey (13-2, 1-0 MVP) ducked into an immediate takedown, shed an
attempted guillotine and climbed to full mount. From there, the
decorated judoka unleashed punches, transitioned to her patented
armbar and slammed the door on Carano.
Meanwhile, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship King of Violence
champion Mike Perry
was awarded a cut-induced technical knockout over Nate Diaz in
the welterweight co-headliner. It was waved it off in between the
second and third rounds, with Diaz (21-14, 0-1 MVP) bleeding
profusely from multiple lacerations to his scalp and face.
Perry (15-8, 1-0 MVP) walked through the Cesar
Gracie protégé’s jabs and wore down “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 5 winner with power, pressure and persistence. He landed his
share of shots from the outside, particularly to the body, but the
Fusion X-Cel mainstay did serious damage at close range and on the
ground. Perry unleashed punches and slashing elbows, poured on the
punishment and connected with a flying knee in the closing seconds
of the second round. Diaz retreated to his corner beaten and
bloody, looking like a man who had been attacked by a pack of
rottweilers. Soon after, the stoppage was called.
Competing in mixed martial arts for the first time in more than
five years, Perry joined Josh Thomson
and Jorge
Masvidal as the only opponents to finish Diaz with strikes.
Further down the main card, ex-UFC titleholder Francis
Ngannou punched out American Top Team’s Philipe
Lins in the first round of their heavyweight showcase.
Lins (18-6, 0-1 MVP) clocked out 4:31 into Round 1, as
he lost for the first time since June 27, 2020.
The 39-year-old Ngannou (19-3, 1-0 MVP) shook off attempted
takedowns, trapped the Brazilian in the clinch, tenderized his
midsection with a series of body blows and eventually broke free
into open space. Lins plowed forward and paid the price. Ngannou
followed a right uppercut with a left hook to the side of the head
that floored the onetime Professional Fighters League champion
where he stood.
Ngannou has strung together eight consecutive wins, seven of them
finishes.
Elsewhere, former two-division KSW champion Salahdine
Parnasse swept aside Dana White’s Contender Series alum
Kenneth
Cross with punches in the first round of their lightweight
attraction.
Cross (17-5, 0-1 MVP) succumbed to blows 4:18 into Round
1, the setback closing the book on his four-fight
winning streak.
Wild back-and-forth exchanges provided Parnasse (23-2, 1-0 MVP)
with openings he could exploit. He executed a takedown,
transitioned from full mount to the back, secured a body triangle
and unloaded with ground-and-pound from various positions of
dominance. Cross somehow escaped to his feet but found no refuge
there. Parnasse pinned him to the fence with punches before folding
him with a vicious right hook to the body.
The 28-year-old Parnasse has rattled off five straight
victories.
Finally, MMA Temple rep Robelis
Despaigne returned to the mixed martial arts scene for the
first time in almost two years and wiped out former UFC champion
Junior dos
Santos with punches in the first round of their heavyweight
appetizer.
Despaigne (6-2, 1-0 MVP) brought it to an emphatic conclusion 2:59
into Round 1.
Dos Santos (23-11, 0-1 MVP) enjoyed some success with leg kicks but
had issues with the Cuban’s height, reach and unorthodox approach.
A 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo, Despaigne stepped into
a right hand, followed it with a left hook and leveled the stunned
42-year-old American Top Team-trained Brazilian with another savage
right hand over the top. No follow-up shots were required.
All six of Despaigne’s wins have resulted in first-round
finishes.
In preliminary action, Adriano
Moraes (22-6, 1-0 MVP) put Phumi Nkuta
(11-1, 0-1 MVP)
to sleep with a rear-naked choke 4:59 into the third
round of their catchweight battle at 130 pounds;
Jason
Jackson (20-6, 1-0 MVP) buried Jefferson
Creighton (12-3-1, 0-1 MVP)
with punches 22 seconds into the first round of their
welterweight pairing; Namo Fazil
(10-1, 1-0 MVP) dispatched Jake Babian
(6-2, 0-1 MVP)
with a brabo choke 58 seconds into the second round of
their welterweight encounter; David
Mgoyan (9-1, 1-0 MVP) laid claim to a unanimous decision over
Albert
Morales (19-11-1, 0-1 MVP) in their three-round featherweight
tilt, as he earned 29-28, 30-26 and 30-27 marks from the cageside
judges; Aline
Pereira (3-2, 1-0 MVP) eked out a split verdict—29-28, 27-30,
29-28—against Jade
Masson-Wong (3-3, 0-1 MVP)—in their three-round catchweight
affair at 130 pounds; and Brandon
Jenkins (18-12, 1-0 MVP) took a split decision—29-28, 28-29,
29-28—from Chris Avila
(8-10) in their three-round catchweight clash at 165 pounds.