Polyana
Viana will always have an
Ultimate Fighting Championship highlight to which she can
point.
The former Jungle
Fight titleholder bounced back from her May 21 loss to Tabatha
Ricci and took out Fortis
MMA’s Jinh Yu
Frey with first-round punches as part of the
UFC Fight Night 214 undercard on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Viana (13-5, 4-4 UFC) drew the curtain 47 seconds into
Round 1,
having authored the fourth-fastest finish in the history of the
women’s strawweight division.
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Frey (11-8, 2-4 UFC) switched stances while attacking the inside
and outside of the Brazilian’s lead leg. Viana answered with a knee
to the body, then unleashed with hooks and straights from both
hands. The flurry drove a semi-conscious Frey onto the canvas in a
supine position, where she was met with a pair of unabated
hammerfists before referee Herb Dean could
intervene.
Viana, 30, now has 12 first-round finishes to her credit.
Relentless Maverick Stymies Young
Repeated takedowns, prolonged positional control and heavy
ground-and-pound spurred
Elevation Fight Team’s Miranda
Maverick to a unanimous decision over ex-King of the Cage
champion Shanna
Young in their three-round women’s flyweight scrap. All three
members of the judiciary struck 30-26 scorecards for Maverick
(11-4, 4-2 UFC).
Young (8-5, 1-3 UFC) stayed composed under duress but lacked the
weaponry she needed to spring an upset. Maverick struck for
takedown in all three rounds, methodically advanced position and
progressed to full mount on multiple occasions. Young withstood
considerable punishment and denied her efforts to secure a
rear-naked choke, but the writing was on the wall for quite some
time.
Maverick has recorded back-to-back victories since her Dec. 11
decision defeat to Erin
Blanchfield.
Bautista Routs Returning Lopez
MMA Lab standout Mario
Bautista disposed of
Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Benito
Lopez with a reverse triangle armbar in the first round of
their bantamweight confrontation. In his first appearance since
July 13, 2019, Lopez (10-2, 2-2 UFC) checked out 4:54 into Round
1.
It was never competitive. Bautista (11-2, 5-2 UFC) delivered a
series of blistering kicks to the lower leg, pieced together
exquisite body-head combinations and pinned the Californian to the
fence with punches before securing a takedown. Lopez, who missed
weight for the match by 2.5 pounds, offered even less meaningful
resistance on the mat.
Bautista achieved full mount on multiple occasions, applied his
ground-and-pound and cinched the reverse triangle before isolating
the left arm and eliciting the tapout.
Bautista will carry a three-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Focused Munoz Handles Sholinian
Onetime King of
the Cage champion Johnny
Munoz Jr. outstruck “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 29
semifinalist Liudvik
Sholinian to a unanimous decision in their three-round
bantamweight encounter. All three cageside judges scored it for
Munoz (12-2, 2-2 UFC): 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
The 32-year-old Sholinian (9-3-1, 0-2 UFC) was outmatched from a
technical standpoint. Munoz chipped away with a hearty jab, leg
kicks and the occasional multi-punch burst for the better part of
15 minutes. Sholinian pressed forward but too often found himself
swinging at a moving target that was no longer there. Munoz
countered a late surge from the increasingly desperate Ukrainian
wrestler with two takedowns in the third round, climbing to full
mount in the waning seconds of the fight.
Sholinian has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in
his career.
Hadley Triangle Dismisses Candelario
Former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Jake Hadley
submitted Carlos
Candelario with a triangle choke in the second round of their
flyweight affair. Hadley (9-1, 1-1 UFC) brought it to a close 2:39
into Round 2, as he rebounded from his May 14 defeat to Allan
Nascimento.
Candelario (8-3, 0-2 UFC), who missed weight for the bout by 2.5
pounds, had no answer for his counterpart’s pace or conviction.
Hadley fired off kicks to the inside and outside of the Underdog
MMA rep’s lead leg, mixed in a punishing jab and connected in
combination throughout the first round. Candelario switched gears
in the second, executed a takedown and wandered immediately into
the triangle.
Hadley paired the maneuver with slashing elbows to the head,
tightened his squeeze and made the outcome a formality. Candelario
did all he could to free himself but eventually ran out of options
and offered up a meek tap.
The 31-year-old Candelario has lost three fights in a row.
Vidal Knee Zaps Pascual
Team Brothers prospect Tamires
Vidal put away Ramona
Pascual with a brutal knee strike to the body in the first
round of their women’s bantamweight clash. Pascual (6-5, 0-3 UFC),
who missed weight for the match by one pound, checked out 3:06 into
Round 1.
Vidal (7-1, 1-0 UFC) probed for openings with kicks to the body and
legs, made a pass at a single-leg takedown, jockeyed for position
in the clinch and floated back into open space.
The promotional newcomer took flight and buried her left knee into
Pascual’s right side, the stricken Syndicate MMA rep collapsing to
all fours upon impact. Referee Chris Tognoni arrived
on the scene soon after to call for the stoppage.
The 24-year-old Vidal has rattled off six consecutive victories.