Former lightweight Michel Prazeres had seen an eight-fight winning streak snapped in his last bout — and was looking to bounce back at UFC Vegas 30.
Opposite Prazeres was the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, the Kazakh fighter who started the evening with a 13-0 record. Rakhmonov had impressed in his promotional debut, submitting Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira within a round.
Both men took the center of the octagon, and Prazeres threw a calf kick. Rakhmonov hurt him with a jab, and then Prazeres countered with another calf kick. Prazeres missed with a heavy hook that almost connected. Another jab from Rakhmonov and Prazeres shot for a takedown. Prazeres put Rakhmonov against the fence. Rakhmonov landed a nice trip-takedown with three minutes left in the round. Rakhmonov was landing some ground and pound, mostly to the body. 1:30 left in the round, and Prazeres scrambled and ate a punch from Rakhmonov. Rakhmonov went for a guillotine, but Prazeres defended and got to his feet. Both men clinched, and Rakhmonov put Prazeres against the fence. Prazeres escaped as the round ended.
Both fighters took the center to start round two. Rakhmonov landed a jab and threw a spinning back kick that partially landed to Prazeres’ body. Rakhmonov landed a 1-2 and a high kick that wobbled Prazeres. Rakhmonov then landed a step-in knee and hurt Prazeres, then took the Brazilian down. Rakhmonov landed some very heavy, nasty ground and pound that hurt Prazeres. Prazeres survived and got to his side. Rakhmonov slid in a rear-naked choke and forced the tap! In doing so, he became the first man to finish Prazeres. Very, very impressive win.
🇺🇿 Shavkat Rakhmonov remains UNDEFEATED.
[ #UFCVegas30 live on @ESPNPLus] pic.twitter.com/RT4YSZcA1u
— UFC (@ufc) June 26, 2021
Official Result: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Michel Prazeres by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 2:10
