Getty Images/UFC
Norma
Dumont is becoming impossible to ignore in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight
division.
Advertisement
In the top preliminary bout of UFC 306 on Saturday at Sphere at the
Venetian in Las Vegas, Dumont (12-2) took a hard-fought unanimous
decision over Irene
Aldana (15-8). From the outset, Aldana had difficulty finding
Dumont, as she struggled with Dumont’s speed, lateral movement and
diversity of strikes. The already competitive fight took on some
added drama in the second round when Dumont opened up a huge cut on
Aldana’s forehead. The deep, vertical gash, right between the
Mexican’s eyes, immediately began pouring blood all over both
fighters. The cageside physician allowed the fight to go to Round
3, and it ended up being Aldana’s best round, as she fought through
the distraction of the cut and landed clean punches on the
Brazilian. It was not enough to carry the day, however, and Dumont
won the decision with unanimous 302-7 scores across the board. The
win brings Dumont’s record in the UFC to 8-2 overall, 2-0 at
bantamweight, and marks her as a potential title challenger in her
new division. Aldana fell to 8-6 in the Octagon.
Bahamondes Blasts Torres
Ignacio
Bahamondes (16-5) used Manuel
Torres’ (15-3) aggression against him nicely, catching him with
clean counterpunches for an impressive first-round stoppage win. It
took a few minutes for Bahamondes to adjust to his foe’s assault,
as Torres charged forward to close the distance on his taller foe,
landing solid punches on the inside. However, Bahamondes was
getting his reads, and midway through the first round, he dropped
the onrushing Torres with a lovely short right hand. Torres
regrouped, recovered and got back to his feet, but a few moments
later,
he tried to get into range once again, and was met with another
clean step-back right. Torres went down, and this time
he covered up immediately, spurring referee Marc Goddard
into action at 4 minutes, 6 seconds. The win elevated Bahamondes’
record in the UFC to 5-2, while Torres’ first Octagon loss dropped
him to 3-1.
Souza Throttles Jauregui
Ketlen
Souza (15-4) notched a huge win, stunning Yazmin
Jauregui (11-2) with a huge left hand and choking her
unconscious in their flyweight undercard matchup. Souza, who
entered the cage as a nearly four-to-one underdog to the
once-beaten Mexican, appeared to have difficulty in the early
going, dealing with Jauregui’s speed and straight punches.
“Esquentadinha,” however, remained aggressive, worked to close the
distance, and clocked her foe with an overhand left, dropping her
in her tracks.
From there, Souza sprang onto Jauregui’s back, locked up a
rear-naked choke, and held on until referee Jason Herzog saw that
Jauregui was asleep. Herzog jumped in to save the
snoozing Brazilian at 3:02 of Round 1, bringing Souza’s Octagon
record to 2-1 since joining the UFC; Jauregui fell to 3-2 in the
promotion.
Van Edges Out Chairez in Barnburner
Stepping up on less than two weeks’ notice, Joshua Van
(11-2) made the most of the opportunity, topping Edgar
Chairez (11-6) in a wildly entertaining flyweight scrap
including a Round 2 that became an instant contender for “Round of
the Year.” Things did not look promising for Van early on, as he
struggled in Round 1 to deal with Chairez’s length, jab and
especially his calf kicks, which had Van hopping and favoring his
bruised left leg within minutes. Van came back big in the middle
frame, countering Chairez’s leg kicks with punches and opening up
with heavy body shots. Van looked as if he might close things out
midway through the round, but Chairez rallied, fired back, and
snared Van in a tight guillotine late in the round. After a final
round that was competitive, but appeared to favor Van, the
22-year-old from Myanmar picked up the win via 29-28 scores across
the board. The win ran Van’s Octagon record to 4-1 and put his
knockout loss to Charles
Johnson in the rearview; Chairez fell to 1-2 with one no
contest in the UFC.
Rosa Jr. Outgrapples Aori
Raul
Rosas Jr. (10-1) made history in the opener, becoming the first
fighter to notch a win in Sphere with a ground-heavy performance
against Qileng Aori
(25-12, 1 NC). The 19-year-old bantamweight phenom grounded “The
Mongolian Murderer” with ease in the first and third rounds, riding
effective ground-and-pound and threatening with back takes and
submission attempts to rack up near shutouts in those two frames.
The middle round was a much more competitive affair, as Aori
remained upright, managed the distance well against his taller foe,
and stung “El Nino Problema” with a big overhand right. The
cageside judges awarded the fight to Rosas Jr. by unanimous 29-28
scores, sending his record in the UFC to 4-1; Aori fell to 3-4 with
one no contest in the promotion.