Pereira earned her first UFC victory in style.
The 20-year-old Brazilian prospect rendered Hailey
Cowan unconscious with a flying knee 4:24 into the second round
of their preliminary bantamweight clash at UFC Vegas 115 on
Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cowan (7-5, 0-3), who
suffered the first KO defeat of her professional tenure, has lost
three straight Octagon appearances since earning a contract on Dana
White’s Contender Series in 2022.
“Golden Girl,” the youngest fighter on the UFC roster, was
aggressive from the outset. Pereira bloodied Cowan with a variety
of power shots— overhands, hooks, superman punches — in the opening
stanza, but she didn’t truly put her stamp on the fight until Round
2. Cowan appeared to be taking control early, when she rocked
Pereira with a left-hand counter before executing a powerful
takedown. Cowan spent much of the period in top position, but when
Pereira was able to return to her feet, she found the opening she
needed to place a left knee flush on her adversary’s jaw. Cowan was
out immediately, and Pereira landed a couple follow-up strikes for
good measure before referee Keith
Peterson could halt the contest.
Petersen Finishes Strong
A strong finish propelled ex-Legacy Fighting Alliance title holder
Thomas
Petersen to a majority decision triumph over Guilherme
Pat in the evening’s featured preliminary bout. Two judges
scored the heavyweight contest 29-27 in favor of Peterson (10-5,
3-3 UFC), while a third saw it as a 28-28 draw.
The most signficant action of the fight by far occurred in Round 3,
when Petersen nearly knocked Pat (6-1, 1-1 UFC) out with a left
hook after threatening with a takedown. From there, “The Train”
assumed top position for the remainder of the bout, battering his
helpless foe with punches and elbows from top position. While a
finish did not arrive, it was a clear 10-8 stanza for Petersen. The
bout’s first 10 minutes were much more deliberate, with Pat landing
the occasional jab, leg kick or body kick while defending the
majority of Petersen’s takedown attempts against the fence.
Costa Body Shot Folds Nicoll
Alessandro
Costa’s focus on the body paid dividends in a technical
knockout victory over Stewart
Nicoll in a flyweight pairing. A left to the liver from the
Lobo Gym MMA export had Nicoll doubling over in pain, and he sealed
his victory with a couple follow-up shots at the 4:56 mark of Round
2. Costa (15-5, 3-3 UFC) has finished all three of his UFC triumphs
via technical knockout.
Nicoll (8-3, 0-3 UFC) came close to matching Costa in terms of
volume, but he couldn’t equal his opponent’s power. Costa
foreshadowed what was to come when he put Nicoll on the defensive
with a left to the body in the opening frame. In Round 2, “Nono”
went on the attack when a spinning back elbow led to an ensuing
flurry of offense on the reeling Aussie. Shortly thereafter, Costa
found the opening for what turned out to be the fight-ending
blow.
Flowers Slams, Pounds Out Vannata
Darrius
Flowers spoiled Lando
Vannata’s Octagon return, winning via technical knockout in a
lightweight tilt. “Beast Mode” brought the contest to a halt with
ground-and-pound 52 seconds into Round 2. Flowers (13-8-1, 1-3
UFC), who missed weight by 0.5 pounds, snapped a three-bout losing
streak.
Vannata (12-8-2, 4-8-2 UFC), who hadn’t fought in the UFC since
April 2023, started well, landing combinations on the feet while
mixing in a pair of takedowns. The tide turned late in the period,
however, as Flowers lifted Vannata and slammed him to the canvas,
landing on his opponent with all his weight. Grimacing in pain as
Flowers unloaded with punches from above, Vannata barely made it to
the horn.
Smelling blood in the water, Flowers landed a trip takedown early
in Round 2 — causing Vannata to yell out in pain once again.
Flowers poured it on with hammerfists, and this time Vannata had no
way to escape, dropping his third straight promotional outing.
Gore Puts Bekoev to Sleep
“The Ultimate Fighter 29” finalist Tresean
Gore snapped a two-fight skid by rallying for a submission
victory over former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Azamat
Bekoev in a middleweight matchup. Gore (6-4, 3-4 UFC) locked in
a tight guillotine choke to put Bekoev (20-5, 2-2 UFC) to sleep at
the 3:27 mark of Round 3. All three of Gore’s UFC victories have
come via guillotine.
Bekoev started well, attacking Gore’s body with hard liver kicks
and dropping his foe during an exchange in the second period. That
knockdown seemed to wake Gore up, however, as he battled back and
got stronger in the later moments of the fight. “Mr Vicious”
compromised his opponent’s movement with heavy leg kicks in Round 3
before scoring a takedown and eventually moving to mount. When
Bekoev attempted to scramble up and shoot for a takedown of his
own, Gore found his opening to lock in the fight-ending maneuver.
Once the guillotine was secured, Gore shoved Bekoev to the fence,
dropped to a knee and applied decisive squeeze.
Barbosa Earns Bizarre Majority Verdict
It wasn’t the most conventional triumph, but Dione
Barbosa will nonetheless take it, as she captured a
controversial majority decision against Melissa
Gatto (9-3-2, 3-3 UFC) in a flyweight scrap. Barbosa secured a
pair of 29-27 tallies, while a third judge saw it a 28-28 draw.
After a competitive first round, the fight took a dramatic turn
early in the second frame. After landing a takedown, Barbosa
decided to cede top control and return to standing. As Gatto
attempted to return to her feet, “The Witch’ unleashed a vicious
head kick that immediately rendered her opponent unconscious.
Following a review, Barbosa was deducted a point — though replays
appeared to show the blow landing primarily on the neck. More
bizarrely, the fight was allowed to continue once Gatto regained
consciousness.
Gatto remained competitive the rest of the way, including a third
round that featured scrambles and submissions by both flyweights.
However, Barbosa enjoyed notable advantages in total strikes landed
(73 to 37) and total control time (4:51 to 3:37) over the bout’s
final 10 minutes.
Kamaka Enjoys Successful Return
In his first Octagon appearance since 2021, Kai Kamaka
III edged newcomer Dakota Hope
via split decision in a short-notice lightweight contest. Two
judges saw it 29-28 for Kamaka (18-7-1, 2-2-1 UFC), while a third
had it 29-28 in favor of Hope (11-2, 0-1 UFC). Hope sees a
five-bout winning streak snapped in defeat.
Hope’s promotional debut was characterized by periodic bursts of
aggression in which he blitzed Kamaka with heavy hooks. During one
of those forays in the opening stanza, Kamaka was hurt by an
accidental clash of heads, allowing Hope to unload with a barrage
of hammerfists on the canvas. “The Fighting Hawaiian” survived the
onslaught and gradually took control over the second half of the
fight. The Bellator veteran blended punches with kicks to the legs,
head and body as he landed in greater volume down the stretch to
sway the scorecards in his favor.