Armen
Petrosyan brought UFC president Dana White out of his seat. His
next step was all but inevitable.
Petrosyan made short work of Kaloyan
Kolev in a light heavyweight affair, winning via knockout in
the 4:27 mark of the opening stanza on Week 8 of Dana White’s
Contender Series at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. All
six of the Armenian fighter’s professional triumphs have come via
knockout or technical knockout.
Petroyson was one of four fighters who received a UFC contract
after the event, joining Caio
Borralho, Jonny
Parsons and Piera
Rodriguez on the Las Vegas-based promotion’s roster.
Kolev (10-1) started quickly, as he landed a takedown within the
bout’s first 15 seconds and smothered his adversary against the
fence. When Petrosyan (6-1) was able to create space, he tagged the
Bulgarian with a hard kick to the body and a left hook before Kolev
secured another body lock. This time, however, Petrosyan was able
to separate much more quickly, and he began hurting Kolev with
punches to the head. During the finishing sequence, Petrosyan wobbled Kolev with a right hand and put
him on his seat with a left high kick. He then landed four —
mostly unnecessary — follow-up punches on his unconscious foe
before the fight was called.
Earlier, Borralho left nothing to chance in his second Contender
Series appearance in three weeks. The 28-year-old Combat Club
representative authored an emphatic first-round stoppage of
Jesse
Murray, winning via technical knockout at the 1:41 mark of
Round 1. Borralho was denied a UFC contract after a decision win
over Aaron
Jeffery on Week 5 of the Contender Series on Sept. 28.
Borralho began in his customary karate stance, throwing kicks at
different levels and angles. The tide shifted, however, when he
backed Murray (8-4) up with a pair of straight left hands. Sensing
blood in the water, Borralho (10-1, 1 NC) forced the issue and dropped
his adversary with a right hook behind the ear. A barrage of
hammerfists and punches on the canvas sealed the deal for the
Brazilian, who is unbeaten in his last nine professional
outings.
Parsons captured a somewhat contentious split-decision triumph
against Solomon
Renfro in the evening’s featured contest at welterweight. Two
judges submitted 29-28 tallies in favor of the Syndicate MMA
product, while a third saw it 29-28 for Renfro. Parsons (7-3) has
won his last five outings dating back to December 2019.
Renfro appeared to be on his way to making it a short night when he
staggered his opponent with a short right hand in Round 1 and then
followed up with an extended flurry of offense during a furious
sequence near the fence. To his credit, Parsons absorbed everything
Renfro (8-2) had to offer. From there, it was Parsons’ standup that
made the difference, as he attacked with a variety of straight
right hands, uppercuts and kicks to various levels. He also did
well denying his adversary’s attempts to take the fight to the
canvas in Round 3. While Renfro did some solid work to the body
over the final two rounds, it wasn’t enough to get the nod from the
judges.
In the evening’s penultimate bout, Rodriguez captured a unanimous
decision victory against Valesca
Machado in a competitive strawweight affair. All three cageside
judges submitted 29-28 scorecards in favor of the Legacy Fighting
Alliance queen.
Rodriguez (7-0) clipped Machado (8-3, 1 NC) with a short right hand
early in Round 1 and later tagged her Brazilian foe with a flurry
of punches near the fence. Machado responded by cutting “La Fiera”
with an elbow strike late in the period. Though Rodriguez was
consistent with tight punching combinations, Machado held her own
in exchanges down the stretch, finding the range on multiple
straight right hands. Ultimately, it was Rodriguez who left a
lasting imprint thanks to multiple takedowns and clinch work in the
final 10 minutes. The Panama-based fighter concluded the fight
landing punches from mount in the waning seconds.
Earlier, Nova Uniao product Pedro
Falcao got stronger as the fight progressed against James
Barnes, earning a third-round knockout victory in a
bantamweight affair. Falcao put his opponent away with punches and hammerfists
from mount at the 3:55 mark of Round 3. Falcao has won four
consecutive bouts — three inside the distance.
After a slow-paced opening round that was contested primarily in
the clinch, Falcao (15-3) began to impose his will. He landed
multiple takedowns against Barnes (14-5) over the final 10 minutes,
advanced to dominant positions and threatened with an arm-triangle
choke in the second stanza. Falcao made his final move in Round 3
when he stuffed a Barnes takedown and powered into top position.
From there, he advanced from half guard to mount while gradually
increasing the intensity of his ground-and-pound until referee Mike
Beltran was forced to intervene.