
Athletes
After a weekend off and before the Octagon shifts to Abu Dhabi for UFC 280, action resumed at the UFC APEX, as 11 pairs of athletes made the walk into the eight-sided proving ground in hopes of kicking off the fall season with a victory.
It was an action-packed night that ended with a competitive, back-and-forth battle in the flyweight division.
Here’s a look at how things played out on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Opponents Alexa Grasso of Mexico and Viviane Araujo of Brazil face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on October 14, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
This one didn’t last long at all.
After landing on the business end of a first-round finish in his short-notice promotional debut earlier in the year, Rodriguez gave a better showing of himself in Saturday’s opener, running through Jackson in just over 90 seconds. The heavy-handed newcomer backed Jackson into the fence, and when “The Truth” dipped his head to avoid a shot, Rodriguez blasted him with a big knee, shutting out his lights.
“Dead Game” collects his first UFC victory with the first-round finish, moving his record to 5-1 in the process.
Make it a dozen straight for Tatsuro Taira.
The Japanese prospect collected his second consecutive UFC win on Saturday, showcasing his considerable grappling skills and forcing Vergara to tap to an armbar late in the second round. He controlled the action on the canvas through the majority of the opening stanza and again in the second, dragging the DWCS alum to the deck with relative ease before shifting from hunting for a choke to trapping the arm in the final minute of the middle frame.
Just 22 years old, Taira is now 12-0 overall and clearly one of the top young fighters on the UFC roster. The flyweight division continues to deepen, and he’s definitely one to keep tabs on going forward.
Well-timed takedowns and quality work in the clinch carried Piera Rodriguez to her second consecutive UFC victory on Saturday.
The Dana White’s Contender Series alum was able to out-work a game Sam Hughes over the course of their 15-minute engagement, hitting several sharp level changes and landing the more impactful blows in the majority of the striking exchanges. While Hughes never stopped coming forward and had some success of her own, it wasn’t quite enough to earn the victory.
Rodriguez, 29, moves to 2-0 in the UFC and 9-0 with the victory, while Hughes sees her two-fight winning streak snapped and falls to 7-5 overall with the loss.
For the second consecutive fight, Joanderson Brito had a quick day at the office.
Saturday afternoon, the Contender Series graduate ran through late replacement Lucas Alexander to collect his second straight first-round stoppage win. After rag-dolling his fellow Brazilian to the canvas twice early, Brito climbed on Alexander’s back and began searching for a choke, fishing the arm under the neck and drawing the tap as the two fell backwards to the canvas.
After dropping his promotional debut at the start of the year, Brito has now gone back-to-back in the opening stanza against Andre Fili and Alexander. It’s time for a significant step up in competition for the promising 27-year-old Brazilian.
It was a workmanlike effort from Jacob Malkoun towards the end of Saturday’s prelims, as the Australian out-wrestled and out-worked an injured Nick Maximov, earning a clean sweep of the scorecards.
Malkoun got staggered by a clean shot early in the contest, but recovered quickly and went on the offensive, twisting Maximov to the canvas. At some point, the Nick Diaz Academy representative suffered an injury to his right knee, and from there, it was one-way traffic.
While Maximov refused to quit, Malkoun dominated, getting himself back into the win column and advancing to 3-1 over his last four trips into the Octagon. As for Maximov, he’s now dropped two straight after starting his career with eight straight victories.
The prelims wrapped with an entertaining back-and-forth between Mana Martinez and Brandon Davis, with the former landing on the happy side of the split decision when the tens and nines were tallied.
For much of the contest, the two men ran close to level, but the deciding factor was Martinez’ power, as the Texas native landed the more impactful shots throughout and had Davis on the brink of being finished when the horn sounded to bring the second round to a close.
Still just 26 years old, Martinez advances to 2-1 in the Octagon and 10-3 for his career with the victory, while the ever-game Davis falls to 2-7 in two tours of duty with the UFC.
The way Alonzo Menifield and Misha Cirkunov came out swinging, you knew it was only a matter of time before the main card opener ended. Less than 90 seconds into the first round, Menifield made sure that was the case.
The explosive athlete came out swinging for the fences, and when he finally landed, the fight was over. A left hand to the temple put Cirkunov on shaky footing, a right hand behind it put him on the ground, and the follow-up blows were academic.
Just a punishing effort from the powerful light heavyweight to kick off Saturday’s main card.
Raphael Assuncao showed that the old dog still has plenty of fight left in him, out-hustling an unrelenting Victor Henry over three rounds to secure a unanimous decision win.
Entering on a four-fight skid and coming off back-to-back knockout losses, Assuncao was able to effectively counter the aggressive Henry throughout, mixing in grappling and clinch interactions at timely moments. While Henry never stopped coming forward and was never in real peril, Assuncao didn’t allow him to establish a rhythm at any point, doing well to get back into the win column.
A former Top 15 fixture, Assuncao picks up his first win since defeating Rob Font in the summer of 2018, advancing his record to 28-9 with the victory. As for Henry, the 35-year-old falls to 22-6 with the loss.
It was a tale of two rounds for Dusk Todorovic on Saturday, as the Serbian middleweight rallied from a rough start to collect a second-round stoppage win over Jordan Wright.
Todorovic came out looking to wrestle in the first, but Wright was able to defend well and pile up the offensive output. It was a complete reversal in the second, as Todorovic was primarily interested in throwing hands, and after getting Wright hurt, he cranked up the output and pressure.
Climbing into mount, he unleashed a string of elbows that forced referee Chris Tognoni to step in and stop the contest.
This was a hard-earned win for the Dana White’s Contender Series grad, who gets back into the win column and back to .500 inside the Octagon with the victory.
Jonathan Martinez collected the biggest win of his career on Saturday night, chopping down Cub Swanson with a series of devastating low kicks in the second round.
The underrated Martinez looked good throughout, creeping ahead through the first four minutes of the opening stanza before stinging Swanson and nearly getting the finish before the horn sounded. In the second, the Factory X man came out with the same aggressive approach, taking the fight to Swanson and hurting him multiple times, including drawing big reactions with his inside low kicks.
Late in the frame, Martinez slammed home another kick and Swanson collapsed, bringing the fight to a halt. The 28-year-old has now won four straight and six of his last seven, establishing himself as someone to keep close tabs on just outside of the Top 15 in the talent-rich 135-pound weight class.
The flyweight main event was every bit as entertaining as anticipated, with Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo going toe-to-toe for the full 25 minutes, slinging leather through to the very end. When the scores were tallied, Grasso came out ahead, earning a unanimous decision win to maintain her undefeated record in the 125-pound weight class.
Grasso’s speed and technical precision ruled the day, as the Mexican standout was able to beat Araujo to the punch throughout. Araujo stayed with her every step of the way, but more often than naught, it was Grasso landing the more telling blows and having more success.
The 29-year-old has been incredibly sharp since relocating to the flyweight division, and continues looking better each time out. This was her toughest challenge to date, and she passed with flying colors, establishing herself as a legitimate title threat in the process.
With the win, Grasso moves to 15-3 for her career and 7-3 under the UFC banner, while Araujo falls to 11-4 overall and 5-3 inside the Octagon.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs Araujo took place live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 15, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!