Alex Pereira is a one-of-a-kind superstar, and if you love mixed martial arts, you better enjoy and cherish every time you get an opportunity to see him fight.
The UFC Light Heavyweight champion notched another successful title defense on his record with a spectacular second-round head-kick TKO win over Jiri Prochazka.
Take a look at the finish:
The win was Pereira’s second KO over Prochazka, as he also stopped him in the second round of their first meeting in November 2023 at UFC 295.
Saturday night’s win was more brutal. Pereira floored Prochazka with his signature left hook at the bell to close the first round. If he had more time to finish, the champion likely would have gotten the finish a round earlier.
As it was, it only took the Brazilian 18 seconds into the second frame to finish the job.
Pereira improved his record to 11-2, and Prochazka dropped to 30-5-1, though his only losses in the UFC have come to Pereira. The champion earned one of four performance bonuses for his work.
Diego Lopes Def. Dan Ige
Before looking at anything that happened in the co-main event, both men (in my Ludwig Kaiser voice) deserve all your gratitude. Both went through a ton to make the co-main event happen.
Lopes’ flurries and grappling earned him the first two rounds. He got tired in the third round, and Ige had some excellent moments in the last frame. Lopes held on and was awarded the fight, but the bigger story was the road to this unlikely fight.
The co-main event was originally supposed to be Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree. The latter tested positive for a banned substance and was removed from the card.
Anthony Smith replaced Rountree on the card, but Hill had to pull out with knee injuries. With Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler pulled from the card, Carlos Ulberg replaced Hill.
The latter fell off and was replaced by Roman Dolidze. Smith vs. Dolidze was demoted out of the co-main event and replaced by Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega at featherweight.
Earlier in the week, Ortega said he couldn’t make 145 pounds and moved to fight changed to 155 pounds. Lopes accepted. Unfortunately, about two hours before the event began, Ortega was reported as ill and was ruled medically unfit to compete.
On just four hours’ notice, Ige stepped in to fight Lopes, but the fight had to be contested at 165 pounds. Lopes again accepted the challenge.
Both men proved they are warriors, and I’m hopeful the UFC took good care of them for enduring so much to keep the main card from falling apart even more.
Bonus Winners
Payton Talbott
The electric Talbott needed just 19 seconds to destroy Yanis Ghemmouri on Saturday night. Talbott, a guy with superstar written all over him, ran his record to 9-0 and called out Adrian Yanez for his next opponent.
Let’s see if he can land on the Sphere event.
Macy Chiasson
After a rocky first round, Chiasson took down Mayra Bueno Silva and landed one of the nastiest elbows from the top position you’ll ever see. The strike opened one of the gnarliest gashes on Silva’s head.
Based on a recommendation from the Octagon-side physician, the referee stopped the fight to prevent further damage.
Chiasson and Silva have both lost to current women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington, so it is tough to see the former get a title shot anytime soon.
Still, it was a decisive win for Chiasson.
Joe Pyfer
Pyfer scored an explosive KO win over Marc-Andre Barriault in a rebound performance. Pyfer lost his last fight against Jack Hermansson in February. Pyfer fought at a more measured pace after tiring in the loss against Hermansson.
However, Pyfer’s power ultimately took over. An overhand right landed on Barriault’s left ear, and the follow-up shots put him out cold.
Pyfer had a notable chip on his shoulder during the post-fight interview, but he seems eager to get a bigger fight.
Fight of the Night: Cub Swanson vs. Andre Fili
There weren’t a ton of great fights on the card. The UFC’s team felt compelled to award a Fight of the Night bonus.
The Swanson-Fili fight was entertaining, but it was one of the weaker fights to win the award in recent memory.
Fili took the win via split decision, but neither man looked as if they have a chance to do much in the higher ranks of the featherweight division.
Here is a look at all of the results from UFC 303.
MAIN CARD
- Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO (0:18)
- Diego Lopes def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Roman Dolidze def. Anthony Smith via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
- Macy Chiasson def. Mayra Bueno Silva via TKO (R2, 1:58) (Dr. stoppage)
- Ian Machado Garry def. Michael Page via unanimous decision
PRELIM CARD
- Joe Pyfer def. Marc-Andre Barriault via first-round KO (1:25)
- Andre Fili def. Cub Swanson via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
- Jean Silva def. Charles Jourdain via second-round KO (1:20)
- Payton Talbott def. Yanis Ghemmouri via first-round KO (0:19)
- Gillian Robertson def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
- Martin Buday def. Andrei Arlovski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Vinicius Oliveira def. Ricky Simon via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)