UFC welterweights Franciso Prado and Nikolay Veretennikov met in the octagon at UFC 318 on Saturday night both needing a victory to snap losing streaks.
Prado (12-3) has only fought once in each of the last two years, and has lost both of those fights. In his first matchup of 2025 he needs a win over Veretennikov to hold off a three-fight skid.
Veretennikov (12-6) isn’t in a much better situation. He’s also coming into this one on a two-fight skid getting finished by Austin Vanderford in February. Something would have to give in this one.
Round 1 Prado came out with a leg kick then used a right hand to get Veretennikov down. Dropping right into side control Prado then dominated the positions going for the back before sliding off for a triangle attempt.
The height difference played a factor as he had a very hard time locking it up so he switched to an arm bar and Veretennikov slammed Prado right off his arm. Veretennikov landed some ground and pound, but Prado was able to get to his feet.
Veretennikov unleashed a flurry of strikes going from head to body then back, but Prado wanted none of that and shot in for a takedown. The round ended on the fence.
Round 2 was a completely different look as Veretennikov no longer feared Prado’s takedowns and took it to him. A right hand dropped Prado to the ground, he popped back up, and then shot in on Veretennikov.
Veretennikov got too fancy with the spinning attacks and got slammed to the ground with Prado taking top position. He seemed happy landing shots until he got a bit greedy going for the mount and got swept. Both men made it back to their feet.
Veretennikov bet on his power and almost every shot he threw after had a lot of power behind it. Prado seemed to have found his second wind and was able to avoid most of the damage.
Round 3 Prado tried another takedown, but Veretennikov was able to counter it and get his own. Both men got back to the feet and got after it until Veretennikov tried once again to throw fancy spinning stuff and got taken down again.
Veretennikov tried once again to throw a spinning attack and Prado was all over it grabbing him, but then got taken down instead. They got back to their feet with Veretennikov seemingly running out of gas.
Prado put him on the fence and Veretennikov jumped the guillotine with no legs in place on the way down. Prado was more than happy to take top position.
The fight went to the judges after Prado was unable to secure a finish with a triangle choke or the ground and pound at the end.
Official Results: Nikolay Veretennikov def. Francisco Prado via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
