UFC Vegas 96: Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho: Full Results
UFC Vegas 96 just wrapped up. The event took place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada on Aug. 24. It featured 11 fights in six weight classes, with veterans vs. prospect matchups that could mark a change of guard in several divisions. Let's revisit the fights and check out the full results.
In the main event, No.5-ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier fought rising contender and No.12-ranked Caio Borralho in a five-round fight to defend his spot in the rankings.
Despite being the oldest fighter in the top 15, Cannonier is still evolving. He has defeated Marvin Vettori and former champion Sean Strickland since coming up short in the UFC 276 title fight against Israel Adesanya. His last fight was a fourth-round TKO loss against Nassourdine Imavov in a closely contested bout.
Meanwhile, the 'Dana White's Contender Series' standout Borralho had looked flawless in his UFC career. He boasted a 6-0 record under the promotion's umbrella coming into the fight and defeated a lethal submission artist, Paul Craig, via second-round KO in his last outing.
The fight against Cannonier marked a big step up in competition for Borralho. However, the Brazilian proved that he belonged in the higher echelons of the division.
Borralho seemed to have won the initial rounds, albeit by a thin margin. Cannonier, who had more experience of competing in championship rounds, made a strong comeback in Round 4.
In Round 5, Borralho put his best foot forward and dropped Cannonier with a jab and straight combo. While he tried to finish the fight by raining down punches and elbows on the ground, Cannonier proved too tough to be put away. Borralho transitioned to an arm triangle choke in the closing minutes but Cannonier toughed his way out and stood back up as the fight ended. Borralho was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, No.9-ranked strawweight Angela Hill defended her top 10 spot against No.11-ranked Tabatha Ricci. Having overcome a tumultuous phase that saw her go 3-6 in the UFC, Hill had amassed a two-fight win streak heading into the fight while Ricci was coming off a split-decision win over Tecia Pennington. Loopy Godinez had snapped her four-fight win streak and derailed her momentum at UFC 295.
Being the younger and stronger fighter, Ricci controlled the contest for the most part and walked away with a unanimous decision win to score her second straight win.
UFC Vegas 96 main card: Michael Morales and Gerald Meerschaert win
In the TUF 32 middleweight finale, Ryan Loder finished Robert Valentin by a second-round TKO to win the tournament. Meanwhile, Mairan Santos knocked Kaan Ofli out with a vicious left hook to win the TUF 32 featherweight finale.
Perennial welterweight contender Neil Magny fought undefeated prospect Michael Morales in an attempt to score his second straight win. Magny is no stranger to fending off hungry, young lions. At UFC 297, the 37-year-old used his veteran experience to weather the early storm and handed Mike Mallott his first defeat in almost a decade.
Morales, who was the biggest betting favorite on the main card, seemingly learned from Malott's mistakes and never allowed Magny to recover. He got the veteran fighter out of the way with a first-round TKO.
In the main card opening bout, Edmen Shahbazyan took on the experienced Gerald Meerschaert. One of the youngest fighters to earn a UFC contract, Shahbazyan has been trying to build momentum after a series of difficult losses against top-10 caliber fighters delivered a severe blow to his middleweight title aspirations.
He was coming off a first-round KO of A.J. Dobson in his last outing while Meerschaert had defeated Bryan Barbarena by technical submission in his most recent bout. A veteran of 53 professional MMA fights, Meerschaert proved to be the perfect dance partner for Shahbazyan to showcase the improvements in his game.
Shahbazyan started aggressively and had Meerschaert in trouble on the ground as he pummeled the veteran fighter with relentless strikes. However, Meerschaert sneakily exploited the overzealous fighter's vulnerability and trapped him in an arm-triangle choke, forcing a tap a few seconds later.
UFC Vegas 96 preliminary card results: Wang Cong makes impressive debut
The preliminary card headlining bout was a clash of lightweight contenders Denniz Buzukja and Francis Marshall.
In the only middleweight bout on the preliminary card, Zachary Reese convincingly defeated Jose Medina by unanimous decision. Statistically, Reese outlanded his opponent 101 to 53 in terms of total strikes and secured five takedowns.
Elsewhere, Viacheslav Borshchev and Jaqueline Cavalcanti defeated James Llontop and Josiane Nunes, respectively, by split decision.
China's Wang Cong was the biggest betting favorite of the event as she made her UFC debut against Victoria Leonardo in the first fight of the night. The 'Road to UFC' Season 3 winner justified the odds with a walk-off KO at the 0:62 mark of Round 1, courtesy of a sleek jab and straight right combination.
Check out the full event results below:
Main card
Middleweight - Caio Borralho def. Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (49-45 X 2, 48-46)
Women's strawweight - Tabatha Ricci def. Angela Hill by unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)
Middleweight - Ryan Loder def. Robert Valentin by TKO (R2, 1:49)
Featherweight - Mairon Santos def. Kaan Ofli by KO (R2, 1:30)
Welterweight - Michael Morales def. Neil Magny by TKO (R1, 4:39)
Middleweight - Gerald Meerschaert def. Edmen Shahbazyan by submission (Arm triangle choke) (R2, 4:12)
Preliminary card
Lightweight - Francis Marshall def. Dennis Buzukja by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Middleweight - Zachary Reese def. Jose Medina by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Lightweight - Viacheslav Borshchev def. James Llontop by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Women's bantamweight - Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Josiane Nunes by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 27-30)
Women's flyweight - Wang Cong def. Victoria Leonardo by KO (R1, 1:02)