Norma Dumont is becoming impossible to ignore in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division.
In the top preliminary bout of UFC 306 on Saturday at Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Dumont (12-2) took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Irene Aldana (15-8). From the outset, Aldana had difficulty finding Dumont, as she struggled with Dumont’s speed, lateral movement and diversity of strikes. The already competitive fight took on some added drama in the second round when Dumont opened up a huge cut on Aldana’s forehead. The deep, vertical gash, right between the Mexican’s eyes, immediately began pouring blood all over both fighters. The cageside physician allowed the fight to go to Round 3, and it ended up being Aldana’s best round, as she fought through the distraction of the cut and landed clean punches on the Brazilian. It was not enough to carry the day, however, and Dumont won the decision with unanimous 302-7 scores across the board. The win brings Dumont’s record in the UFC to 8-2 overall, 2-0 at bantamweight, and marks her as a potential title challenger in her new division. Aldana fell to 8-6 in the Octagon.
Related » Noche UFC 306 Round-by-Round Scoring
Bahamondes Blasts Torres
Ignacio Bahamondes (16-5) used Manuel Torres’ (15-3) aggression against him nicely, catching him with clean counterpunches for an impressive first-round stoppage win. It took a few minutes for Bahamondes to adjust to his foe’s assault, as Torres charged forward to close the distance on his taller foe, landing solid punches on the inside. However, Bahamondes was getting his reads, and midway through the first round, he dropped the onrushing Torres with a lovely short right hand. Torres regrouped, recovered and got back to his feet, but a few moments later, he tried to get into range once again, and was met with another clean step-back right. Torres went down, and this time he covered up immediately, spurring referee Marc Goddard into action at 4 minutes, 6 seconds. The win elevated Bahamondes’ record in the UFC to 5-2, while Torres’ first Octagon loss dropped him to 3-1.
Souza Throttles Jauregui
Ketlen Souza (15-4) notched a huge win, stunning Yazmin Jauregui (11-2) with a huge left hand and choking her unconscious in their flyweight undercard matchup. Souza, who entered the cage as a nearly four-to-one underdog to the once-beaten Mexican, appeared to have difficulty in the early going, dealing with Jauregui’s speed and straight punches. “Esquentadinha,” however, remained aggressive, worked to close the distance, and clocked her foe with an overhand left, dropping her in her tracks. From there, Souza sprang onto Jauregui’s back, locked up a rear-naked choke, and held on until referee Jason Herzog saw that Jauregui was asleep. Herzog jumped in to save the snoozing Brazilian at 3:02 of Round 1, bringing Souza’s Octagon record to 2-1 since joining the UFC; Jauregui fell to 3-2 in the promotion.
Van Edges Out Chairez in Barnburner
Stepping up on less than two weeks’ notice, Joshua Van (11-2) made the most of the opportunity, topping Edgar Chairez (11-6) in a wildly entertaining flyweight scrap including a Round 2 that became an instant contender for “Round of the Year.” Things did not look promising for Van early on, as he struggled in Round 1 to deal with Chairez’s length, jab and especially his calf kicks, which had Van hopping and favoring his bruised left leg within minutes. Van came back big in the middle frame, countering Chairez’s leg kicks with punches and opening up with heavy body shots. Van looked as if he might close things out midway through the round, but Chairez rallied, fired back, and snared Van in a tight guillotine late in the round. After a final round that was competitive, but appeared to favor Van, the 22-year-old from Myanmar picked up the win via 29-28 scores across the board. The win ran Van’s Octagon record to 4-1 and put his knockout loss to Charles Johnson in the rearview; Chairez fell to 1-2 with one no contest in the UFC.
Rosa Jr. Outgrapples Aori
Raul Rosas Jr. (10-1) made history in the opener, becoming the first fighter to notch a win in Sphere with a ground-heavy performance against Qileng Aori (25-12, 1 NC). The 19-year-old bantamweight phenom grounded “The Mongolian Murderer” with ease in the first and third rounds, riding effective ground-and-pound and threatening with back takes and submission attempts to rack up near shutouts in those two frames. The middle round was a much more competitive affair, as Aori remained upright, managed the distance well against his taller foe, and stung “El Nino Problema” with a big overhand right. The cageside judges awarded the fight to Rosas Jr. by unanimous 29-28 scores, sending his record in the UFC to 4-1; Aori fell to 3-4 with one no contest in the promotion.
