Brazilian welterweight Carlos Prates is all set to gatecrash the UFC’s 170-pound rankings after a devastating one-shot knockout of longtime contender Neil Magny in the main event of UFC Vegas 100.
Prates and Magny faced off in the headline bout at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, with Prates notching his 11th consecutive victory, and his 10th straight knockout, to all but guarantee that he’ll be listed in the UFC welterweight rankings when they’re updated early this week.
Magny looked to nullify Prates’ striking from the very start as he immediately shot in for a takedown. But Prates managed to reverse it on the way down to end up on top. Prates avoided any issues on the ground and eventually gained separation to get the fight back to the feet.
Prates then successfully defended more takedown attempts from “The Haitian Sensation,” then, after rocking Magny with a short right hand, the Brazilian moved in on his unsteady opponent and knocked him out with a shot that grazed Magny’s temple, but sent him face-first into the canvas.
After four wins, and four knockouts, under the UFC banner, the man known as “The Nightmare” looks set to be a major problem to the rest of the UFC welterweight division.
Former ONE Champ Reinier de Ridder gets off to a winning start
The co-main event saw the UFC debut of former two-division ONE Championship champion Reinier de Ridder, and “The Dutch Knight” was forced to work hard for his maiden UFC win by a gritty Gerald Meerschaert before eventually claiming the submission finish in the third round.
In a fight between seasoned submission specialists, Meerschaert looked to use his striking advantage against de Ridder early on. But, after “GM3” dominated much of the opening round, de Ridder stunned, then dropped the American in the closing seconds to steal the round.
Round 2 saw much of the action play out on the mat, with de Ridder calling the tune and Meerschaert forced to defend off his back. And, as the bout headed into the final round, de Ridder dragged the action to the mat once again before locking up an arm-triangle choke to claim a debut victory and secure the 13th submission win of his career.
Best of the rest…
The main card also saw a dominant performance from Peru’s Gaston Bolanos, who used a combination of crisp striking and solid defensive wrestling to defeat Cortavious Romious via shutout decision. And women’s strawweight submission ace Gillian Robertson had to content herself with a unanimous decision victory after Luana Pinheiro managed to avoid submission trouble in their 115-pound matchup.
There was also a first-round TKO finish for undefeated middleweight prospect Mansur Abdul-Malik, who needed two minutes, 44 seconds to pick up the victory over Dusko Todorovic on his UFC debut.
UFC Vegas 100: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Carlos Prates def. Neil Magny via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:50
- Reinier de Ridder def. Gerald Meerschaert via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 1:44
- Gaston Bolanos def. Cortavious Romious via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gillian Robertson def. Luana Pinheiro via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Dusko Todorovic via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 2:44
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Denise Gomes def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Zach Scroggin via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:15
- Charles Radtke def. Matthew Semelsberger via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:51
- Da’Mon Blackshear def. Cody Stamann via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:19
- Tresean Gore def. Antonio Trocoli via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:23
- Melissa Mullins def. Klaudia Sygula via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:20
