UFC: Alex Perez surprises and knocks out Matheus Nicolau | combat

American Alex Perez accepted the fight against Brazilian Matheus Nicolau a few weeks in advance, after Angolan Manel Kape was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The risk taken proved to be a good one this Saturday, when the eighth-placed UFC flyweight ranked athlete knocked out the Brazilian athlete, fifth-ranked, in spectacular fashion in the main event of the card held in Las Vegas.

Robson Conceição talks about a possible fight between Esquiva Falcão and Hebert Conceição: “I hope it happens!”

Nicolau, who was looking to recover from a defeat, had an even first round, in which he had no less volume, but landed some bombs. The second round followed the same pattern, until Perez hurt the Brazilian with a right counterattack. Nicolau tried to recover, but continued exchanging blows openly with the American. Then came a well-aimed right cross to the chin, which made the Brazilian fall to his knee, beside himself. Referee Mark Smith was quick and ended the fight correctly at 2:16 of the period.

Karine “Killer” Silva from Mato Grosso do Sul beat Ariane Lipski da Silva from Paraná by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) in a duel between flyweight fighters on good terms in the organization. Ariane, who adopted her husband’s surname as part of her fight name and changed her nickname to just “Queen”, had some good moments, such as a heel hook attack, a well-aimed high kick and a combination that hurt her opponent. However, Karine dominated most of the fight with her takedowns and jiu-jitsu. She also landed a front kick and another kick to the chest that caused danger. “Killer” reached nine consecutive victories, four of them in the UFC, and ended Ariane’s series of three victories.

Heavyweight from Paraná Jhonata Diniz debuted in the UFC with a big victory over American Austen Lane. The former kickboxing world champion was knocked down in the first round and was in danger, but survived until the end and turned the tables in the second round, where he dominated on the feet. First came a left uppercut that hurt Lane. Then, a combination of a straight right and a left cross sent the American face down on the ground, at 2min12s of the period.

Strawweight Ketlen “Esquentadinha” Souza scored her first UFC victory this Saturday. She beat American Marnic Mann by unanimous decision (triple 30-27) from the judges on the preliminary card. The fighter from Manaus dominated the fight on the feet, with powerful crosses, hooks and overhands that connected cleanly to the head. She only got scared in the third round, when she decided to take it to the ground and almost got caught in a kimura. But she escaped the position and turned things around after a loss to Karine Silva in her UFC debut.

Brazilian heavyweight Caio Machado suffered his second defeat in the UFC. He was defeated by the American Don’Tale Mayes by unanimous decision (triple 29-28), a result that does not reflect how balanced the confrontation was. The fight was open in the first round, with good strikes connected on both sides, but a right cross from Mayes led to Machado being knocked down in the final stretch of the period. The Brazilian recovered well in the second round and had a very even period, which could have been scored for either side. Caio was better in the third round, especially in the last minute, when he landed good straight shots and knees. But the judges scored the second period in favor of Mayes, which made the difference to the final result.

Brazilian veteran Rani Yahya also had no luck in the last fight on the preliminary card. The bantamweight was defeated by American Victor Henry by technical knockout at 2:36 of the third round. Rani fought evenly for most of the first two rounds. In the opening round, he had good strikes connected while standing and managed to land a takedown, but was unable to impose his ground game. In the second period, however, Henry found the distance better and started to hurt the Brazilian. The American grew even more in the third round and punished Yahya with his striking. A well-aimed high kick to the face was the beginning of the end, and referee Jason Herzog ended the fight with the Brazilian knocked out on his feet.

Check out the full results of the event:

UFC Nicolau x Perez
April 27, 2024, in Las Vegas (USA)
MAIN CARD:
Alex Perez beat Matheus Nicolau by knockout at 2min16s of R2
Bogdan Guskov defeated Ryan Spann by TKO at 3:16 of R2
Karine Silva defeated Ariane Lipski by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jhonata Diniz beat Austen Lane by knockout at 2min12s of R2
David Onama beat Jonathan Pearce by unanimous decision (triple 29-28)
Uros Medic beat Tim Means by knockout at 2:09 of R1
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Victor Henry beat Rani Yahya by technical knockout at 2:36 of R3
Austin Hubbard defeated Michal Figlak via unanimous decision (triple 29-28)
Don’Tale Mayes beat Caio Machado by unanimous decision (triple 29-28)
Ketlen Souza beat Mamic Mann by unanimous decision (triple 30-27)
Chris Padilla beat James Llontop via submission at 4:33 of R1
Ivana Petrovic beat Na Liang via submission 1min29s into R3
Maheshate Hayisaer defeated Gabriel Benítez via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)