Carlos Prates blew open the gate to the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight elite.
The burgeoning Vale Top Team and Fighting Nerds star punched out “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny in the first round of their UFC Vegas 100 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Magny (29-13, 22-12 UFC) checked out 4:50 into Round 1, victimized by one of the sport’s fastest-rising talents at 170 pounds.
Prates (21-6, 4-0 UFC) stayed patient against an experienced, cagy adversary. Magny made passes at a variety of takedowns, none of them successful. He found himself nullified in the clinch, too. Late in the first round, Prates denied a takedown, pursued the Elevation Fight Team mainstay across the Octagon, pinned him to the fence and cracked him with a slashing left hand to the temple. Magny crashed face first to the canvas. No follow-up shots were required.
The 31-year-old Prates has won 11 fights in a row, 10 of them finishes.
Meanwhile, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder shined in his promotional debut, as he disposed of Kill Cliff Fight Club stablemate Gerald Meerschaert with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their middleweight co-main event. Meerschaert (37-18, 12-10 UFC) raised the white flag 1:44 into Round 3, suffering his first submission defeat in almost six years.
Related » UFC Vegas 100 Round-by-Round Scoring
De Rider (18-2, 1-0 UFC) decked the onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion with a left hook at the end of a back-and-forth first round. Meerschaert answered in the middle stanza, where he freed himself from a three-quarter nelson, flurried with punches, moved into top position and integrated some ground-and-pound. However, fatigue took hold in Round 3. De Ridder delivered a takedown, shed a guillotine choke, scrambled into top position and climbed to full mount. From there, he framed the arm-triangle and let his bite do the rest.
The 34-year-old de Ridder will enter his next assignment on the strength of back-to-back victories.
Elsewhere, Combat Sports Academy export Gaston Bolanos rebounded from his Jan. 13 technical knockout loss to Marcus McGhee with a unanimous decision over Cortavious Romious in a disjointed three-round bantamweight showcase. Bolanos (8-4, 2-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-26, 30-27 and 30-26 marks from the cageside judiciary.
Romious (9-3, 0-1 UFC) failed to build on a fast start. Bolanos turned the tide midway through the middle stanza, as he freed himself from back control, hammered the two-time Dana White’s Contender Series alum with a vicious 12-to-6 elbow, escaped to a standing position and racked up more punishment with close-range knees and elbows from the clinch. Romious slipped while throwing a body kick early in the third round and briefly threatened with a calf slicer before allowing his opponent to get back to his feet. They then traded takedowns in the latter stages of the match, but Bolanos managed to deploy the more effective ground-and-pound.
The setback snapped a modest two-fight winning streak for Romious.
Further down the main card, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 26 graduate Gillian Robertson outgrappled Luana Pinheiro to a unanimous decision in their three-round women’ strawweight feature. All three cageside judges scored it for the resurgent Robertson (15-8, 12-6 UFC): 29-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Related » UFC Vegas 100 Prelims: ‘Capoeira’ Blasts Newcomer Scroggin
Pinheiro (11-4, 3-3 UFC) called upon an effective get-up game, picked off the Canadian with counters and flexed her superiority in the standup exchanges but ultimately could not withstand her opponent’s persistent pressure. Robertson did her best work in an overwhelming third round, where she struck for a takedown, moved to full mount on multiple occasions, trapped the Brazilian in a topside crucifix, threatened with chokes and applied her ground-and-pound. Pinheiro survived but missed out on her chance to climb higher in the 115-pound rankings.
Robertson has rattled off three straight victories.
Finally, MMA Masters prospect Mansur Abdul-Malik kept his perfect professional record intact with a spectacular Octagon debut, as he put away Dusko Todorovic with a knee strike and follow-up punches in the first round of their middleweight appetizer. Todorovic (12-5, 3-5 UFC) met his end 2:44 into Round 1, losing for the third time in four outings.
Abdul-Malik (7-0, 1-0 UFC) was the aggressor from the outset. He drove Todorovic to the canvas during one of their initial exchanges and blasted him with a standing-to-ground right, then unloaded with punches and hammerfists while defending a series of leg locks. Todorovic eventually made his way back to his feet in a compromised state, sporting visible damage across his forehead. Abdul-Malik maintained his pressure and floored the ex-Serbian Battle Championship titleholder with a clean knee from the clinch. More punches and hammerfists followed, resulting in the stoppage.
The undefeated Abdul-Malik has finished all seven of his opponents, six of them inside one round.
Continue Reading » UFC Vegas 100 Prelims: Radtke Wipes Out Semelsberger
