The second fight in at UFC Vegas 96 on Saturday found bantamweights Jacqueline Cavalcanti and Josiane Nunes throwing down.
The pair had a tough act to follow, after newcomer Wang Cong had landed a blistering KO on Victoria Leonardo just one fight earlier.
Nunes was coming off the first loss of her UFC tenure, while former LFA champ Cavalcanti had picked up the victory last time out, in her promotional debut against Zarah Fairn.
It was Nunes putting on the pressure early in the fight, looking to bully her way in on the taller, longer Cavalcanti. Barely a minute in, and the ref had warned Cavalcanti for having her fingers extended, but luckily no poke had actually transpired.
From the outside, Cavalcanti worked her 1-2, circling, and making it difficult for Nunes to find her range. Her length served Cavalcanti well, at least until Nunes finally backed her up to the fence under fire. That wouldn’t last however, with Cavalcanti circling out. Nunes would eat a right hand on her next charge forward; Cavalcanti would later land a kick to the body. At the same time, Cavalcanti was wearing a lump on her forehead, showing that Nunes had found her share of success when she did make it inside.
Nunes continued to look for a way inside as the second round got underway; Cavalcanti was able to circle out of harm’s way more often then not. Nunes looked to cut off her opponent at angles, and that allowed her to back Cavalcanti up with a punch. Nunes chopped to the inside of Cavalcanti’s lead leg, and looked to land her left hand. At least one of those caught Cavalcanti, who almost certainly felt the heat behind it.
The back half of the round found Cavalcanti again finding success with her length/reach, a long jab connecting a couple of times. Cavalcanti stayed mobile, never standing still long enough for Nunes to get off more than one or two punches. With just over a minute still on the clock in round two, however, Nunes landed a poke, with Cavalcanti immediately clutching her eye. Replays showed it may have actually been a punch, but Nunes was issued a warning regardless.
Round three found Nunes going to the body early, at the urging of her corner. Nunes was fighting with a little more urgency now, having struggled with the distance throughout the better part of the fight. Cavalcanti fired an uppercut about two minutes in that partially connected. Moments later, Cavalcanti dropped to her backside, off-balance, but she scrambled back up before Nunes could take advantage.
This one went the distance, with a bit of a surprise from one judge awarding all three rounds to Nunes. Overriding that, the remaining two scored the fight 29-28 for Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
Official Result: Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Josiane Nunes by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
