UFC Fight Night ends in explosive fashion as Perez collects knockout win over Nicolau

Saturday’s action at the UFC APEX ended in explosive fashion.

Former flyweight title challenger Alex Perez collected an emphatic second-round knockout win over Matheus Nicolau, taking advantage of his short-notice opportunity to get back into the win column.

The 32-year-old, who stepped in for Manel Kape, came out the gates sharp, pressing the action and peppering Nicolau with combinations, mixing up his targets and looking exceedingly sharp. The Brazilian dealt with everything coming his way and offered a few return shots of his own, but Perez was unbothered.

Early in the second, the Team Oyama representative continued to pressure Nicolau, and when the Top 10 staple tried to circle away to safety along the fence, Perez tracked him down and connected with a right hook that brought the bout to a sudden halt.

Perez has dealt with numerous injuries, medical issues, and opponent withdrawals in the time since his championship bout with Deiveson Figueiredo in November 2020, making just a single appearance between that contest and his loss to Muhammad Mokaev at the start of March, entering Saturday’s contest on a three-fight slide.

But losses to Figueiredo, current champ Alexandre Pantoja, and the unbeaten Mokaev are not the type of losses that count you out of contention, and Perez showed on Saturday that he is still very much a factor in the 125-pound weight class by dispatching Nicolau with style points.

The flyweight title is up from grabs next week in the main event of UFC 301, with Pantoja defending against streaking Australian Stephen Erceg. The title picture is murky beyond that, and an emphatic effort like the one he turned in on Saturday should put Perez back in the conversation heading into the second half of the year.

As for Nicolau, the talented Brazilian has now suffered consecutive knockout losses after getting sparked by Brandon Royval last April in Kansas City. He’s been a fixture in the rankings since returning to the promotion, but has never been able to get over the final hurdle needed to fully establish himself as a title threat.

In the penultimate fight of the night, Bogdan Guskov collected his second stoppage win of the year, dispatching rankings fixture Ryan Spann in the second round.

The 31-year-old debuted on short notice last year, suffering a submission loss to former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. He bounced back with a first-round finish of Zac Pauga in February, and took it up a notch on Saturday by finishing Spann.

Guskov was out-grappled throughout the first, but was clearly the fresher man to start the second. He ate a couple big shots from Spann, but never stopped coming forward, rattling the Fortis MMA man with serious blows of his own. Once he had Spann on shaky footing, Guskov swarmed and secured the finish, punching his way into the Top 15 when the rankings update next week in the process.

Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) alum Karine Silva emerged victorious in the highly anticipated all-Brazilian battle with Ariane da Silva on Saturday.

The 30-year-old was unable to finish for the first time in her career, but still extended her overall winning streak to nine with a unanimous decision win over her compatriot. Throughout the contest, Silva was able to drag da Silva to the canvas, advancing positions and hunting for submissions every time, putting herself in a position to take another step forward in the divisional ranks and potentially face a Top 10 opponent next time out.

Debuting heavyweight Jhonata Diniz and fellow DWCS grad Uros Medic turned in impressive finishes on the main card.

After spending his first UFC round pinned to the canvas, Diniz kept things standing in the second and knocked out former NFL defensive lineman Austen Lane. The former standout kickboxer is now 7-0 since transitioning to MMA two years ago, and profiles as a fun addition to the heavyweight ranks.

In the main card opener, Medic timed a level change from Tim Means perfectly, connecting flush with a left uppercut as “The Dirty Bird” dipped his head, bringing their fight to a halt in an instant. The victory not only got Medic back into the win column after a frustrating submission loss last time out, but it also helped the 31-year-old maintain his 100 per cent finishing rate inside the cage.

Victor Henry closed out the prelims with a third-round stoppage win over veteran grappler Rani Yahya, shutting down the Brazilian’s hopes of getting things to the canvas in the first before teeing off from there. It was an excellent bounce-back effort for the 36-year-old bantamweight after a no contest result last time against Javid Basharat.

The early slate also delivered the first UFC victories for a trio of talents, as both Ketlen Souza and Ivana Petrovic picked up wins in their sophomore outings, while Chris Padilla made the most of his short-notice debut, submitting DWCS alum James Lllontop in the final minute of the first round.

Things didn’t go favourably for the lone Canadian on Saturday’s card in Las Vegas, as heavyweight Caio Machado dropped a unanimous decision to Don’Tale Mayes on the prelims. The former Battlefield Fight League champ turned up the pressure in the final frame, but it was too little, too late as “Bigfoot” landed on the wrong side of the cards and dropped to 0-2 in the UFC as a result.

Next up for the UFC is a return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for UFC 301, headlined by a flyweight championship bout between hometown titleholder Alexandre Pantoja and Australian challenger Stephen Erceg next weekend.

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