McConico followed a tried-and-true recipe to the winner’s
circle in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division.
Crisp combination punching, superior cardio and outstanding
defensive grappling carried the John Crouch disciple to a unanimous
decision over five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Rodolfo
Vieira in the featured
UFC Fight Night 274 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. McConico (11-4-1, 2-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with
matching 29-28 marks from the cageside judges.
Vieira (11-5, 6-5 UFC) missed his chance. He rattled McConico with
a sweeping right hook in the first round, jumped to his back and
transitioned from an attempted rear-naked choke to an armbar.
McConico kept his cool, freed himself from danger and withstood a
pair of takedowns from the Brazilian. Vieira appeared to have
little fuel left in the tank for the second and third rounds.
McConico picked him apart with clean two- and three-punch volleys,
short-circuited his takedowns and held his own in the clinch.
Meanwhile, MMA Lab export Jackson
McVey rebounded from back-to-back losses to Brunno
Ferreira and Zachary
Reese, as he put away Sedriques
Dumas with a brabo choke in the first round of their
middleweight clash.
Dumas (10-5, 3-5 UFC) waved the white flag of surrender 2:14 into
Round 1.
McVey (7-2, 1-2 UFC) bullied his way into the clinch, softened his
counterpart with a variety of close-range strikes and elected to
separate. He reset in open space and followed a left hook with a
mean right uppercut that had Dumas ducking for cover. McVey then
powered into top position, let fly with a series of unanswered left
hands, framed the choke and let his squeeze do the rest.
All seven of McVey’s pro victories have resulted in first-round
finishes.
Further down the undercard, American Top Team’s Michelle
Montague kept her perfect professional record intact with a
unanimous decision over Mayra
Bueno Silva in their three-round women’s bantamweight tiff. All
three members of the judiciary sided with Montague (8-0, 2-0 UFC):
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Bueno Silva (10-7-1, 5-7-1 UFC) was physically and technically
overmatched for much of the bout. Montague set the tone with a slam
takedown in the first round and paired it with sustained
elbow-laced ground-and-pound that bordered on cruel-and-usual
punishment. Bueno Silva managed to survive and stayed upright in
the middle stanza, where she exposed the New Zealand native’s lack
of experience and even made a pass at a ninja choke. It was not
enough to throw Montague off the scent. The Carlo Meister protégé
secured another takedown inside the first minute of Round 3, piled
up control time and unleashed her ground-and-pound, most notably
with slashing elbows.
The 34-year-old Buenos Silva has suffered five consecutive
defeats.
Finally, Cody Durden
filled in as a short-notice replacement for Lucas Rocha
and laid claim to a unanimous decision over the heavily favored
Jafel
Filho in their three-round bantamweight confrontation. Scores
were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28—all for Durden (18-10-1, 7-8-1 UFC),
who entered the cage on a four-fight losing streak.
Filho (17-5, 3-3 UFC) never seemed comfortable, even when the
action spilled onto the mat. Durden controlled a majority of the
standup exchanges with inside leg kicks and counter right hands,
withstood a second-round takedown from the former Shooto Brazil
champion and saved his best work for the final five minutes. There,
he executed a trip takedown on a fading Filho, advanced to the
back, threatened with a face crank and racked up points with
ground-and-pound.
The victory was Durden’s first since Sept. 7, 2024.
In other action, Francis
Marshall (10-3, 4-3 UFC) cruised to a unanimous decision—30-27,
30-27, 30-27—over Lucas
Brennan (11-3, 0-1 UFC) in their three-round lightweight
affair; Victor
Valenzuela (14-4, 1-0 UFC) outpointed Max Griffin
(20-13, 8-11 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their three-round
welterweight tilt, as he earned 29-28 marks from all three cageside
judges; and Talita
Alencar (8-1-1, 4-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision—29-28,
29-28, 29-28—from Julia
Polastri (14-6, 2-3 UFC) in their three-round women’s
strawweight pairing.