Raoni
Barcelos can exploit any opening, no matter how narrow.
The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Shooto Brazil titlist
re-established himself in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division, as he
rallied to submit Cristian
Quinonez with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
featured
UFC Fight Night 237 prelim on Saturday at Arena CDMX in Mexico
City.
Quinonez (18-5, 1-2 UFC) tapped 2:04 into Round 3.
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Barcelos (18-5, 7-4 UFC) bided his time, made the necessary
adjustments and leaned into his experience. Quinonez handled his
business through the first 10 minutes with clean combination
punching, steady leg kicks and expert grappling. Barcelos, however,
never went away. He caught a kick and followed a right cross into a
takedown early in the third round. From there, he climbed to the
back, snuck his arms into place and finished the choke.
The victory was Barcelos’ first in 511 days.
Meanwhile, onetime Ultimate Warrior Challenge titleholder Jesus
Santos Aguilar won for the 10th time in 11 appearances, as he
took a split verdict from fellow Dana White’s Contender Series alum
Mateus
Mendonca in a three-round flyweight clash. All three cageside
judges struck 29-28 scorecards, two of them for Aguilar (10-2, 2-1
UFC).
Mendonca (10-3, 0-3 UFC) secured takedowns in all three rounds, and
though he paired them with ample control time, he failed to truly
corral his counterpart. After a closely contested first round,
Aguilar dazed the Brazilian with a counter left hook in the second,
followed it with a takedown and ultimately achieved full mount.
Mendonca answered with a dominant Round 3, where he delivered a
takedown, progressed to the back, applied his ground-and-pound and
threatened with a reverse triangle. Those efforts fell short.
Aguilar, 27, owns a perfect 3-0 mark in fights that go the
distance.
Further down the card, former Fury Fighting Championship
titleholder Edgar
Chairez put away Daniel da
Silva with a triangle choke in the first round of their
flyweight rematch. Winless since July 24, 2021,
the reeling da Silva (11-6, 0-5 UFC) checked out 2:17 into Round
1.
Chairez (11-5, 1-1 UFC) conceded a takedown and ate some
elbow-laced ground-and-pound but managed to stay calm under duress.
He hunted the choke from the bottom, alternated between sides and
bit down on the triangle once he settled on his desired position.
Da Silva felt the Entram Gym export’s squeeze and offered no
resistance before he raised the white flag of surrender.
Both men missed weight for the bout—Chairez by a whopping five
pounds, da Silva by a pound. Their first encounter ended in a no
contest at UFC Fight Night 227 in September.
Elsewhere, Kill Cliff Fight Club export Fares Ziam
put a third straight win in the books with a split decision over
“The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 3 finalist Claudio
Puelles in a three-round lightweight tilt. Scores were 29-28
for Puelles, 30-27 and 29-28 for Ziam.
Puelles (12-4, 5-3 UFC) executed multiple takedowns but failed to
consolidate them with damage or meaningful control. Ziam (15-4, 5-2
UFC) overcame being mounted in the second round, freed himself from
a guillotine choke in the third and landed virtually all the
strikes of consequence in the 15-minute affair. Elbows and
standing-to-ground hammerfists were his weapons of choice in
numerous ground exchanges between the two men.
Ziam will ride a three-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Finally, Ronaldo
Rodriguez shined in his promotional debut, as he put away
ex-World Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Denys
Bondar with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
flyweight scrap.
Rodriguez (16-2, 1-0 UFC) brought it to a close 4:59 into Round
2.
Bondar (14-5, 0-3 UFC) stung the Prime Combat Academy product with
overhand rights and twice followed them with takedowns in the first
round, progressing to the back at one point. However, his inability
to find a finish came back to bite him. Rodriguez answered a
takedown in the middle stanza, sprang a reversal and maneuvered
behind the weary Ukrainian with a body triangle. Bondar managed to
escape and set off a scramble, only to attempt an ill-advised heel
hook. Rodriguez was wise to his advances, wheeled behind him with
ground-and-pound and flattened him out while cinching the
fight-ending choke.
Rodriguez, 24, has rattled off six consecutive victories.
In other action, Felipe
dos Santos (8-1, 1-1 UFC) eked out a contentious split
decision—27-30, 29-28, 29-28—over former Legacy Fighting Alliance
champion Victor
Altamirano (12-4, 2-3 UFC) in their three-round flyweight
affair; and an apparent knee injury suffered by former Lux Fight
League champion Erik Silva
(9-3, 0-2 UFC) resulted in a technical knockout loss to Muhammadjon
Naimov (11-2, 3-0 UFC)
just 44 seconds into the first round of their featherweight
tilt.