Patience, persistence and precision worked in concert
for Victor
Henry.
The longtime Josh Barnett
protégé drove deeper into the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division, as he
disposed of Rani Yahya
with a head kick and follow-up punches in the third round of their
featured
UFC on ESPN 55 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Henry (24-6, 3-1 UFC) prompted referee Jason Herzog to intervene
2:36 into Round 1.
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Yahya (28-12-1, 13-6-1 UFC) pressured and outworked the former Deep
champion in the first round, only to slowly wilt from that point
forward. Henry decked the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission
Fighting World Championships gold medalist with a pair of right
hands late in the second round, then swarmed with elbows and
punches for a near-finish. Yahya survived, but it soon became clear
he was a spent force. Henry picked him apart from the outside in
Round 3, dropped him again with a right hand and then invited him
to stand after a brief exchange on the ground. He clipped Yahya
with a head kick, forced him into a defensive shell and cut loose
with punches until Herzog had seen enough.
Meanwhile, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31 finalist Austin
Hubbard returned to the winner’s circle with a unanimous
decision over Michal
Figlak in a back-and-forth three-round lightweight battle. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Hubbard (16-7,
4-5 UFC).
Figlak (8-2, 0-2 UFC) doubled and tripled up on his jab, stayed
technical and employed an effective clinch but lacked the variety
his counterpart called upon. Hubbard secured takedowns in the first
and third rounds, attacked the legs with kicks and mixed punches to
the body and head. Figlak made a late push in the third round,
where he snuck behind the Elevation Fight Team rep more than once
and buried knees into his legs. However, the lack of urgency in the
Pole’s approach may have proved costly.
Hubbard, 32, has won three of his last four fights.
Further down the undercard, Jackson-Wink MMA export Don’Tale
Mayes Mayes rode power punching combinations and a steady jab
to a unanimous decision over Caio
Machado in a three-round heavyweight encounter. All three
cageside judges scored it 29-28 for Mayes (11-6, 4-4 UFC), as he
bounced back from a Nov. 4 decision loss to Rodrigo
Nascimento.
A former Battlefield Fight League champion, Machado (8-3-1, 0-2
UFC) scored in spurts but failed to land anything of consequence.
Mayes floored the Brazilian with a counter right hand in the waning
seconds of the first round, touched off more than one flurry with a
thudding lead left uppercut and threw in a few kicks at various
levels. Machado barreled forward in the back half of the fight and
tired to lure the Louisville, Kentucky, native into a firefight, to
no avail.
Mayes has put up seven wins across his past 12 outings.
Elsewhere, Fight Science MMA product Chris
Padilla filled in as a short-notice replacement for Gabriel
Green and dispatched James
Llontop with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
lightweight confrontation. Llontop (14-3, 0-1 UFC)—who missed
weight for his promotional debut by half a pound—bowed out 4:33
into Round 1, his 12-fight winning streak having run its
course.
The 28-year-old Padilla (14-6, 1-0 UFC) completed multiple
takedowns, held his own in the standup exchanges and waited for an
opportunity to present itself.
He grounded Llontop late in the first round, transitioned to the
back beautifully and snaked his arms in place for the choke before
the Peruvian could activate his defenses. After a
brief struggle, Llontop tapped.
Padilla has rattled off four straight victories.
Finally, former Ares Fighting Championship titleholder Ivana
Petrovic overcame a sluggish start to put away Na Liang with
an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their women’s flyweight
clash.
Petrovic (7-1, 1-1 UFC) drew the curtain 1:29 into Round
3, as she rebounded from a July 1 decision defeat to
Luana
Carolina.
Liang (19-8, 0-4 UFC) kept the Norwegian guessing with an early
takedown, whirling punches and repeated clinches throughout the
first round but offered little else as the bout progressed.
Petrovic executed a takedown of her own midway through the middle
stanza, climbed to mount and eventually progressed to the back, at
which point she cut loose with elbow-laced ground-and-pound that
drew blood and nearly resulted in a finish. An exhausted Liang
proved powerless at the start of Round 3. There, Petrovic secured
another takedown, advanced to mount amid minimal resistance and
cinched the fight-ending choke.
The 27-year-old Liang has not registered a win since Jan. 24, 2021
and seems destined to return to the Chinese regional scene.
In other action, onetime Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder
Ketlen
Souza (14-4, 1-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Marnic Mann
(6-3, 0-2 UFC) in their three-round women’s strawweight tilt,
earning 30-27 scores across the board; and Maheshate
Hayisaer (10-3, 2-2 UFC) eked out a split decision—28-29,
29-28, 29-28—over “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 1
semifinalist Gabriel
Benitez (23-12, 7-8 UFC) in a three-round lightweight pairing.