— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman)
May 2, 2021
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An illegal upkick from Randa
Markos brought an abrupt end to her strawweight encounter with
Luana
Pinheiro in the
UFC on ESPN 23 featured preliminary bout at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas on Saturday night. With Pinheiro unable to continue, Markos
was disqualified at the 4:16 mark of Round 1.
Pinheiro did well early, kicking her foe’s leg out with a low kick
while landing some stiff punching combinations to the head. The
action was paused after an eye poke from the Brazilian cut Markos
(10-11-1, 6-10-1 UFC) on her eyelid. When the fight resumed, the
combatants engaged in a slugfest in the center of the Octagon, both
swinging wildly with heavy punches until Pinheiro executed a
head-and-arm throw to get her opponent to the canvas.
Shortly thereafter, Markos connected with an upkick while Pinheiro
was on her knees, and the Brazilian fell backward to the canvas.
Pinheiro (8-1, 1-0 UFC) remained in that position for several
minutes with a dazed expression on her face, and Mark Smith had no
choice but to wave off the bout. A visibly distraught Markos has
now lost four straight fights within the Las Vegas-based
promotion.
Brown Takes Split Decision Over Kamaka
T.J.
Brown earned an entertaining — and somewhat contentious — split
decision triumph over Kai Kamaka in a preliminary showdown. Judges
Michael Bell and Sal D’Amato each scored the contest for Brown,
while Adalaide Byrd had it 30-27 in favor of Kamaka.
The action was fast and furious from the outside of the bout.
Kamaka countered effectively and landed solid low kicks in Round 1,
while Brown bloodied his opponent’s nose with a stiff jab. The
second frame saw Brown wobble Kamaka (8-4, 1-2 UFC) with a right
hand during an exchange. “The Fighting Hawaiian” was briefly in
survival mode before regaining his senses and sitting his adversary
down with a short right hand. Kamaka followed his opponent into
guard, where he was forced to defend a kimura before Brown returned
to his feet and landed a late takedown before the horn.
In the final frame, Brown (15-8, 1-2 UFC) remained active with
strikes from his back and once again threatened with a kimura,
negating the top position Kamaka held for much of the period. Brown
halted a two-bout skid in defeat.
Carolina Holds Off Botelho
Luana
Carolina relied on clinch work, grappling and positional
control to capture a split verdict against Poliana
Botelho in a battle of Brazilian flyweights. The
Dana White’s Contender Series alum received 29-28 scorecards
from judges Dave Hagen
and Junichiro Kamijo, while Sal D’Amato scored it 29-28 in favor of
Botelho. It was Carolina’s first victory since May 2019.
Botelho (8-4, 3-3 UFC) appeared to be in control early thanks to an
opening frame in which she followed a swarm of punches with a
takedown and ultimately mounted Carolina (7-2, 2-1 UFC). Carolina
neutralized Botelho in the clinch in Round 2 before reversing into
top position after being taken down in the final stanza. From
there, the Sao Paulo native took Botelho’s back and spent much of
the period threatening with a rear-naked choke. Botelho opened a
cut near her foe’s eye with an elbow in the second round but
otherwise couldn’t capitalize on a strong opening period.
Suphisara Outpoints Hughes
Muay Thai specialist Konklak
Suphisara won for the fourth time in five outings, earning a
unanimous decison over
Legacy Fighting Alliance veteran Sam Hughes
at strawweight. “Loma Lookboonme” earned a trio of 29-28 tallies
from the cageside judges. Suphisara (6-2, 3-1 UFC) has gone the
distance in each of her Octagon appearances.
Suphisara built up an early lead thanks to strong clinch work,
multiple takedowns and a variety of kicks. Hughes (5-3, 0-2 UFC)
wouldn’t go away, however, and she closed with a spirited third
round that saw her connect with several solid right hands during
exchanges and positional control against the fence. It wouldn’t be
enough to sway the scorecards in her favor.
Michailidis Gets First UFC Triumph
Andreas
Michailidis secured his first promotional triumph with a
three-round verdict over K.B. Bhullar
in a relatively uneventful middleweight clash. All three cageside
judges submitted tallies for the Greek fighter: 30-27, 30-27,
29-28.
Michailidis showed little regard for his opponent’s power, as he
marched forward and attacked with looping punching flurries.
“Spartan” did his best work in the opening frame, when he swarmed
with power punches following a head kick before taking Bhullar
(8-2, 0-2 UFC) to the canvas. Michailidis (13-4, 1-1) would end the
round attached to Bhullar’s back. The action slowed from there, but
the rangier Bhullar failed to offer much in the way of volume
outside of the occasional flashy kick, while Michailidis generally
landed with more authority.
Colares Rallies Past Sanders
Team Nogueira representative Felipe Colares withstood a strong
start from Luke
Sanders to rally for a unanimous decision triumph against the
former
Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion in a featherweight
contest. All three judges scored the bout 29-28 for the 27-year-old
Brazilian.
Sanders (13-5, 3-5 UFC) set the tone early, as he dropped Colares
(10-2, 2-2 UFC) with a left hand before landing elbows in the
clinch and ground-and-pound from top position. Colares survived
that onslaught and shifted momentum over the final two rounds. He
carried Sanders across the cage, slammed him to the mat and nearly
finished the contest with punches from back mount in Round 2. Then,
the former Jungle
Fight competitor put a final stamp on his fading foe in Round
3, when he reversed a Sanders takedown attempt and again had back
control in the bout’s waning moments. 
