Carlos
Prates made his one shot count.
The Fighting Nerds welterweight broke into the
Ultimate Fighting Championship win column in a successful
promotional debut, as he punched out Trevin
Giles in the second round of their featured
UFC Fight Night 236 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Prates (18-6, 1-0 UFC) sealed the deal 4:03 into Round
2.
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Giles (16-6, 7-6 UFC) was in charge for a majority of the match. He
blasted the Brazilian with jabs, cut loose with power punching
combinations and zeroed in on the legs with kicks. While Prates
answered with brutal stepping knees to the body, he appeared to be
digging a two-rounds-to-none hole when lightning struck. He
followed a jab with a clean straight left that sent Giles crashing
to the canvas. No follow-up shots were required.
Prates will carry an eight-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Meanwhile, former Atomic Fighting Championship titleholder Bolaji Oki
rode a persistent jab to a split decision over Xtreme Couture
prospect Timothy
Cuamba in a three-round lightweight battle. All three cageside
judges struck 29-28 scorecards: Chris Lee for Cuamba, Michael Bell
and Chris Leben for Oki.
A late-notice substitution for Damir
Hadzovic, Cuamba (8-2, 0-1 UFC) consolidated a second-round
takedown with some effective ground-and-pound but otherwise proved
ineffective. He had no answer for the Oki jab. “The Zulu Warrior”
often paired with second and third jabs or power punches, leaving
visible reddening on Cuamba’s face. Oki (9-1, 1-0 UFC) stepped up
his attack in the third round, where he mixed in powerful hooks to
the body and occasional close-range knee strikes.
The 28-year-old Oki has won nine fights in a row.
Further down the card, Konklak
Suphisara pressed forward in her slow but steady climb at 115
pounds, as she laid claim to a unanimous decision over Bruna
Brasil in a tepid three-round women’s strawweight
confrontation. All members of the judiciary scored it the same:
29-28 for Suphisara (9-3, 6-2 UFC).
Brasil (9-4-1, 1-2 UFC) chose not to shift gears and ultimately
failed to force the Tiger Muay Thai product out of her comfort
zone. Suphisara leaned on deft footwork, consistent lateral
movement and strikes to all levels across the 15-minute exercise.
She executed a takedown near the end of the first round, handled
Brasil in the clinch and remained content to pile up points with
accurate punches and kicks from the outside.
Suphisara, 28, has rattled off three straight wins.
Elsewhere, Gor MMA standout Bogdan
Guskov rebounded from a Sept. 2 submission defeat to Volkan
Oezdemir, as he buried “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30
finalist Zac Pauga
with punches in the first round of their light heavyweight pairing.
Guskov (15-3, 1-1 UFC) drew the curtain 3:38 into Round
1.
Pauga (6-3, 1-3 UFC) stung the hulking Uzbekistan native with
repeated kicks to the lower leg, a few thudding right hands and a
sharp elbow in the clinch, only to have his chin betray him. Guskov
froze him with a two-punch volley, then let fly with follow-up
shots as “The High Chief” hunched over and collapsed.
It was the 12th first-round finish of Guskov’s career.
Finally, undefeated promotional newcomer Hyder Amil
put away fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Fernie
Garcia with punches in the second round of their featherweight
clash. A short-notice replacement for Melsik
Baghdasaryan, Garcia (10-5, 0-4 UFC) checked out 2:12 into
Round 2.
Amil (9-0, 1-0 UFC) pressured the Fortis MMA rep backward with a
persistent jab and counter right hands before setting off a series
of reversals in the first round. Both men progressed to the back
and threatened with rear-naked chokes, though Garcia exhausted his
gas tank in a bid to turn the tide in his favor. Amil capitalized
at the start of the middle stanza.
He pinned Garcia to the fence with punches and body kicks, then cut
loose with shots from both hands until referee Mark Smith had seen
enough.
The 33-year-old Amil has finished six of his first nine
opponents.
In other action, Polish karateka Marcin
Prachnio (17-7, 4-5 UFC) outstruck ex-Resurrection Fighting
Alliance titleholder Devin Clark
(14-9, 8-9 UFC) to a unanimous verdict in their three-round light
heavyweight scrap, earning 30-27 scores from all three judges;
former Tachi Palace Fights champion Max Griffin
(20-10, 8-8 UFC) eked out a contentious split decision—29-28,
28-29, 29-28—over Jeremiah
Wells (12-4-1, 4-2 UFC) in a three-round welterweight affair;
and an accidental illegal kick to the groin from Daniel
Marcos (15-0, 2-0 UFC) resulted in a no contest 3:28 into the
second round of his bantamweight tilt with Qileng Aori
(25-11, 3-3 UFC).