While O’Neill had been on the sidelines, she had retained her #12 ranking, while Fernandes sat at #14.

The pair stuck to center early in the bout, both popping off offense, O’Neill mixing in low kicks and Fernandes firing a high kick that missed. This turned into an active feeling out process, with both women attacking in bunches with trying to find range and rhythm.

When someone did find that range, it was O’Neill, and she caught Fernandes clean on the jaw. Fernandes’s head snapped to the side, and while she didn’t go down, she beat a hasty retreat, signaling she was compromised. Casey O’Neill read that loud and clear, moving in and firing punches until the Brazilian finally slumped over.

An emotional “King” Casey O’Neill told UFC broadcaster Daniel Cormier after the bout that “If I told you what it took to get me back here- year and a half layoff, crazy injury, my own surgeon told me I night never fight again.” She later added that while she forgot for a while, “all I needed was a platform to show how good I am.”

Official Result: Casey O’Neill def. Gabriella Fernandes by knockout (punches), Round 1, 3:11

The post UFC Seattle: Casey O’Neill Makes Emphatic Statement in Return, Stops Gabriella Fernandes appeared first on Cageside Press.

Stoliarenko had undergone elbow surgery, and opened her own gym, during her time away. Fernandes had won two straight, including a victory over Wang Cong.

There was plenty of feeling out and circling early, with Stoliarenko holding center and Fernandes circling on the outside, looking to counter. Stoliarenko would look to cut off the cage and had to be warry of high kicks, while attacking with low kicks and her own right hand. With about two minutes left, Fernandes popped off a two-punch combo that connected. A moment later, Stoliarenko closed the distance, looking to tie things up against the cage – but she could not keep the action there, Fernandes quickly breaking free. Gabriella would land to the body, and fired another kick there moments later. The body work was the Brazilian’s best weapon through the opening five minutes.

Stoliarenko changed levels and shot for a single-leg takedown early in round two. Fernandes, however, would defend and push her off. Another high kick from Fernandes followed. Stolianrenko, meanwhile, had a trail of blood leaking down one side of her face. More hard kicks to the body would land for Fernandes, while the bloodied Stoliarenko would shoot for another takedown attempt. Again, Fernandes was able to fight it off. On the feet, even when she was landing, Stoliarenko didn’t have much behind her shots and was being outgunned, or just overpowered.

Julija Stoliarenko, almost certainly down two rounds, put the pressure on early in round three. A takedown attempt was bailed on early, Stoliarenko pulling back when it was clear she was too far out. Fernandes landed a counter. Stolianrenko was also landing, but was out of range and not connecting clean. Just past two minutes in, Stoliarenko was able to close the distance off a Fernandes kick, tying things up. While she landed a few punches to the bread basket, Stolianrenko could not get the fight down. They’d finish out the round with no question as to the winner.

Official Result: Gabriella Fernandes def. Julija Stoliarenko by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 109: Gabriella Fernandes Cruises to Victory Over Returning Julija Stoliarenko appeared first on Cageside Press.

Upset of the Year 2024

Eddie Law: Duben KO’s Clark at DWCS 70. Plenty of candidates in an actual official UFC bout, but the win must go to Yuneisy Duben who was a dog in her fight against Shannon Clark at DWCS 70 where Clark was a -700 favorite on the books. Add on top of that the fact that Duben showed up to Las Vegas with nearly nothing, almost didn’t make the trip for the fight, and still came out with the biggest “holy sh*t” moment on DWCS this season.

Jay Anderson: Reug Reug vs. Malykhin. Oumar Kane shouldn’t have had a chance against MMA’s first triple-champ, Anatoly Malykhin. “Reug Reug” was more of a spectacle, a hulking fighting who looked like a beast but had proven to tire in fights with all that muscle on his frame. At least, that was the general consensus. Yet he managed to claim a split decision victory over the previously undefeated Malykhin, who also held middleweight and light heavyweight gold for ONE Championship.

Gabriel Gonzalez: Gabriella Fernandes vs Wang Cong. It was very clear what was “supposed” to happen.  Wang, at home in China and coming off a pretty vicious KO victory in her UFC debut was set up to keep the ball rolling continue a potential fast track toward former foe Valentina Shevchenko not unlike Alex Pereira did to Israel Adesanya.  Instead, Fernandes wrote her own script in stunning fashion, stopping Cong for a beautiful finish that showed exactly why fights are won in the cage and not on paper.

Bryson Hester: Gabriella Fernandez vs. Wang Cong. A lot of close fights for one but one of the largest statistical upsets of the year came at UFC Macau at the end of November. Cong, a UFC newcomer with extensive kickboxing experience and even a win over UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Schevchenko, entered the fight as a heavy favorite. After some initial trouble Gabriella did the seemingly impossible not only dropping her opponent, but sinking in a submission and earning a gigantic victory and a bonus as well.

Patrick McCorry: Wang vs. Fernandes. Maybe recency bias, but who doesn’t love a massive underdog like Fernandes pulling off that kind of win. Then the post-fight interview on top of that as well. Amazing.

Cade Morehouse: Upset of the year goes to Nikolas Motta defeating top prospect Tom Nolan by knockout! That fight and performance stands out to me because of how big of an underdog Motta was; no one picked him to win that fight or thought he stood a chance. Not only that but it was a major rough stretch for Motta having a No Contest versus Trey Ogden and getting knocked out by Manuel Torres. So this bounce back against a highly touted prospect stands out the most for me!

Brett Cagle: Belal Muhammad defeats Leon Edwards to capture UFC gold. Chicago’s own Belal Muhammad was able to capture championship gold in his opponent’s backyard. At the time Leon Edwards was on a 12-fight winning streak that spanned over eight years. As a (+190) betting underdog Muhammad controlled the entire fight from the opening bell earning a Unanimous decision win. Traveling to England and completely dismantling a proven champion on his own home soil earns Muhammad upset of the year for me. 

Mathis Desjardins: Oumar Kane def. Anatoly Malykhin [ONE 169]. Anatoly Malykhin came in as an undefeated, seven-to-one betting favourite with two stoppage wins over Reinier de Ridder and was in conversations about whether or not he could defeat Francis Ngannou. While Malykhin arguably won, and the fight taking place in a ring instead of a cage might have had an effect on its outcome, ‘Reug Reug’ wasn’t even supposed to be remotely competitive with him. This was by far the most shocked I was at a result this year.

End result: It was a close one, but Gabriella Fernandes’ upset of Wang Cong stands as our 2024 Upset of the Year!

The post MMA 2024 Year in Review: Upset of the Year appeared first on Cageside Press.

Petr Yan

Petr Yan has to be in the conversation for Comeback Fighter of the Year. Despite his three consecutive losses across 2022 and 2023 all coming against champions, some thought his total loss of momentum would derail his career. Here is now in 2024 recording his second win in a row, this one over former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo who was on a tear at 135 lbs coming into this contest.

Had he won, there was a chance that Figueiredo could have leapfrogged Umar Nurmagomedov as the next title challenger, the man most expect to be next in line. We can’t make the same claim for Yan, as his loss to Merab Dvalishvili was too convincing to have them rematch already.

Though, a rematch that is in the cards is one with the now former champion ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley. Their first encounter was a surprising booking since O’Malley was ranked outside the top 10 at the time, but it was still an absolute barn burner. It was one of the very best fights of 2022 and the controversy attached the outcome is what usually fuels a good rematch. And this time, there is no excuse not to have it be five rounds. This is precisely the type of non-title fights that get five rounds as Pay-Per-View co-main events.

Yan’s next fight: Sean O’Malley

Yan Xiaonan

This was a somewhat puzzling, yet understandable booking. As the most recent title challenger at strawweight, Yan is still ranked #2, but she took on #10 ranked Tabatha Ricci. The UFC obviously wanted Yan to fight on this card and the most sensical options out of the available ones was Ricci. For someone who was recently winning narrow decisions over fighters like Angela Hill and Tecia Pennington, this fight indeed proved to be too much too soon for ‘Baby Shark’.  Yan comfortably took all three rounds to get back in the win column and defend her high ranking.

If Tatiana Suarez was a more reliable title challenger, then booking Yan against Virna Jandiroba would make sense. However, with Suarez’ health issues preventing her from being a sure thing to make it to the cage against Zhang Weili, keeping Jandiroba as an option for the Chinese champion would be wise. Amanda Lemos and Iasmin Lucindo are plausible next opponents for Yan, though I would prefer if they fought each other.

That leaves us with the winner of the Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas rematch in Tampa. If Dern wins, she’ll be just outside the top 5 on a two-fight win streak which should be enough to justify a rematch with Yan. A lot of people, including one of the judges, thought the fight should have been a draw. On the other hand, if Ribas wins, she represents a fresh opponent for Yan.

Yan’s next fight: Dern/Ribas 2 winner

Muslim Salikhov

The 40-year-old wonder became the first UFC fighter to score two spinning wheel kick knockouts in the history of the promotion. And he did it in the very first round, taking virtually zero damage in the process. That’s now back-to-back wins for the ageless Salikhov after suffering a brutal KO at the hands of Randy Brown back in February. The ‘King of Kung Fu’ called for a fight with Stephen Thompson in what would undoubtedly be a fun striking affair between two of the oldest guys at welterweight. And while that isn’t a bad idea at all, and could be fight we see one day, I doubt the UFC books it while ‘Wonderboy’ is still a relevant player in the division. As long as he’s hovering around the top 10, I can see the UFC try to squeeze as much juice out of him as they can with more Joaquin Buckley-type matchups.

Also, Salikhov took no damage in that fight and said he wants to keep fighting regularly. As for Thompson, he got knocked out badly in his last fight and hasn’t been super active in the last couple years, so I doubt their timelines are going to align right now. That means Salikhov can fight someone else in the meantime.

I think Khaos Williams makes sense. Wins over the now lessened version of Santiago Ponzinibbio and Song Kenan likely isn’t enough to get a shot another shot at the rankings. But a win over a young knockout artist like Williams would surely bring Salikhov closer to that Wonderboy fight he’s looking for.

Salikhov’s next fight: Khaos Williams

Gabriella Fernandes

Gabriella Fernandes pulled off what might go down as the upset of the year, submitting the over -1000 betting favourite Wang Cong in the second round. Fernandes was getting chewed up until she dropped Cong and immediately grabbed a rear-naked choke before Cong could recover.

Cong was coming into this fight undefeated with some hype behind her for having a win against Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing. There is a decent chance Cong would have gotten a shot at the rankings with a win, so why not give that shot to Fernandes? Being on a two-fight skid at #14 means Ariane da Silva will probably find herself needing to defend her spot against unranked opposition next. I say give that opportunity to Fernandes.

Fernandes’ next fight: Ariane da Silva

Carlos Ulberg

Ulberg has now won seven straight fights since losing his debut to Kennedy Nzechukwu. Veteran Volkan Oezdemir was the best and most experienced fighter he had faced yet, but Ulberg used his speed advantage to earn the unanimous decision victory.

There are so many options for Ulberg because he hasn’t faced anyone in the rankings aside from Oezdemir and Alonzo Menifield. The options also vary if the UFC is looking to book him on the Sydney card in February, though it is unclear whether Ulberg himself will be able to make that turnaround. There are no wrong answers, but the option I landed on is the winner of the Dominick Reyes/Anthony Smith fight at UFC 310. Ulberg was scheduled to fight Reyes on more than one occasion, so there is unfinished business there. The fight admittedly doesn’t make as much sense if Anthony Smith wins, but at 34 years of age, Ulberg is still a young light-heavyweight so there is no reason to rush him. A fight with the veteran Smith won’t launch him into the top 5 of the division, but it won’t hurt his development.

Ulberg’s next fight: Reyes/Smith winner

Zhang Mingyang

Zhang has 18 professional wins with all 18 of them coming by finish in the first round. That is an insane statistic. He’s a pure action fighter that should be a fan favourite for years to come. I mentioned how young Ulberg was for a 205er being 34 years old; at just 26, that makes Zhang a baby in this division. Being this young could mean that the UFC will be content feeding him fighters of a certain calibre for the foreseeable future so he can accrue as much experience as possible. However, he already has 24 professional fights under his belt, so I say let’s start to gradually push him up the ranks right now.

If Ulberg taking on the winner of Reyes/Smith makes sense for him, Zhang taking on the loser of that fight also makes all the sense in the world. This could set up the UFC for a changing of the guard between a veteran and a surging, unranked prospect like we recently witnessed when they booked Neil Magny versus Carlos Prates. Whoever that opponent ends up being after UFC 310, the promotion will be presented with an opportunity to inject new blood into the light-heavyweight rankings.

Zhang’s next fight: Reyes/Smith loser

The post What’s Next: UFC Macau Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

An action-packed evening saw multiple explosive finishes and a solid main event between Deiveson Figueiredo and Petr Yan. With so many stoppages, however, the promotion opted to forgo a Fight of the Night, and instead awarded four Performance of the Night bonuses when the dust had settled.

Among the winners, strawweight Shi Ming, who floored Feng Xiaocan in a preliminary card fight, a come-from-behind victory that stunned viewers. One of the scariest head kicks in recent memory, Xiaocan was removed from the cage on a stretcher, head immobilized. Luckily, Xiaocan was responsive after being unconscious for about four minutes, and her CT scan was negative per the UFC Macau broadcast, which did an excellent job providing updates.

Still, the practicing physician will be taking a good chunk of time off. Ming, who won the Road to UFC 3 tournament with the head kick KO, will now have to fess up to her parents, after telling them she had entered a traditional martial arts competition.

Also among the bonus winners on Saturday was Chinese light heavyweight Zhang Mingyang, who put away newcomer Ozzy Diaz. The knockout improved Mingyang to 2-0 under the UFC banner. Muslim Salikhov turned back the clock once again, landing a spinning wheel kick on Song Kenan for his own $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Gabriella Fernandes, meanwhile, secured both an upset victory and a come-from-behind win when she choked out Wang Cong.

The post UFC Macau Generates Four Performance Bonuses, No FOTN appeared first on Cageside Press.

In her UFC debut, Cong had knocked out Victoria Leonardo to claim the $50K Performance of the Night bonus. That improved her record to 6-0; Fernandes was 1-2 in the UFC through three fights.

Would the accredited kickboxing striker in Cong keep the streak going in front of her home crowd or would Fernandes spoil the party with an upset?

Wang started the fight looking understandably confident, taking up space and landing a well-placed body kick. Fernandes stayed on the outside, defensively sound and landed a couple of leg kicks. Seconds in, Wang began to open up throwing a sharp boxing combination that landed on Fernandes. Gabriella looked to land single strikes, but it was apparent early Cong was way more polished in the early striking exchanges.

Midway through the round and Wang threw a side kick that bounced Fernandes off the cage. Cong began to gain momentum, looking crisp with her shots and landing often, confidence rising. Fernandes successfully clinched after one exchange, but Cong shucked her off. Gabriella had success with her left-hand counter but as the exchanges continued, Cong’s body work began to pay dividends. The round ended with Gabriella eating another hard sidekick before the fighters returned to their respective corners.

Gabriella opened second round attempting to get her striking going but Wang seemed to have an answer for everything. Cong easily evaded multi punch combinations, patiently waiting to land body kicks that echoed throughout the arena. Fernandes whiffed on a couple of head kicks and mid-way thru the round looked for a takedown that was stuffed.

Then, a head kick from Fernandes landed flush to the temple of Wang dropping her to the canvas. Wang popped up and looked okay for a split second.  She started firing back but Fernadez landed a picture-perfect left hand in the pocket that melted her opponent.  Fernandes seized the moment leaping on her opponent’s back and after a couple of seconds of squeezing with a rear-naked choke, Cong was motionless, face down on the canvas. The ref stepped in to pull off Fernandes, to reveal that Cong was indeed unconscious. Gabriella had completed the improbable comeback against the hometown favorite, adding a nasty head kick and technical submission to her highlight reel in the process.

In the emotional post-fight interview, Gabriella Fernandes, brought to tears by her victory, explained thru a pair of translators that she that she lost both her father as well as her sister. She went on to say that she entered the fight with extensive injuries as the underdog and now she is leaving China as a winner.

Official Result: Gabriella Fernandes def. Wang Cong by technical submission (rear-naked Choke), Round 2, 3:49

The post UFC Macau: Gabriella Fernandes Shocks with Upset Submission of Wang Cong appeared first on Cageside Press.

That latter fact might come as a surprise to some, given the nature of the finish against Alex Perez.

In the second round, Taira scaled the back of Perez, climbing him like King Kong on the Empire State Building. Then, with a body triangle in place, Taira leaned back, toppling the former title challenger (and himself) onto the canvas.

Almost immediately, Perez clutched his knee in pain. While the rarely seen body triangle takedown was both intentional and impressive, the finish came down to a bit of bad luck on the part of Perez. And to that point, Perez had actually been winning the fight, with all three judges scoring the first round 10-9 for the former title challenger.

Despite that, UFC commentator Michael Bisping heaped hyperbolic praise on the Japanese star post-fight. “That was one of the best and cleanest performances I’ve ever seen,” Bisping exclaimed in the night’s final post-fight interview.

Regardless of how it went down, Taira comes away from his first main event with a TKO win, and the asterisk beside it, “injury,” will eventually be long forgotten. Especially given that the slick takedown resulted in said injury. Still, on a night low on finishes, perhaps the UFC simply wanted to further the push of their biggest Japanese star, who improved to 16-0 with the win, and called for a title shot against Alexandre Pantoja.

The other Performance of the Night bonus at UFC Vegas 93 went to Brady Hiestand, who submitted Garrett Armfield in the third round of a back-and-forth battle. Hiestand was rocked and nearly stopped earlier in the bout, making the finish that much more impressive.

Fight of the Night on Saturday went to Gabriella Fernandes and the debuting Carli Judice, with Fernandes coming away with a split decision win. All four bonus-winners pocket an additional $50,000 on top of their purse, outfitting pay, etc.

The post UFC Vegas 93: Taira Earns Performance Bonus After Main Event Ends in Injury appeared first on Cageside Press.

Despite having just four pro fights and losing in her last outing on the Contender Series. Judice had impressed enough to earn a UFC contract. As for Fernandes, she had lost to Jasmine Jasudavicius and Tereza Bledá, leaving the LFA vet in search of her first UFC win.

Judice started the fight with a kick to the body answered by a left cross from Fernandes. Fernandes landed some heavy shots in an exchange. Early on, she had already marked up the face of Judice. Fernandes caught a kick and put Judice against the cage and landed a big left hand. Fernandes was super aggressive early in the round. As time went on, Judice was starting to change the momentum as Fernandes started to fade quickly. It was Judice who was putting it together at the end of the round. In the final seconds, Fernandes went for a takedown. She didn’t get it but landed a heavy right hand to close the round.

In round two, Fernandes came out hot chasing Judice around the cage. She was really putting it on Judice landing clubbing blows. Judice was definitely in danger as she eventually got lucky and was poked in the eye pausing the fight. When it started back Fernandes went right back into the fire landing some bombs. Judice ended up getting a quick takedown but Fernandes got right back up. Fernandes was tired but still was pressing forward. Judice went for another takedown but she was also tired and couldn’t ground Fernandes. Fernandes controlled a little both of the round against the cage trying to work takedowns. In the final ten seconds, Judice was able to get a takedown but no damage down.

Going into round three Fernandes was most likely up two rounds but was dead tired. Like in rounds one and two Fernandes started off aggressively throwing those big hooks. Judice would throw the better technical shots but they weren’t impactful at all. Judice was the fresher fighter and was landing combinations and going to the body really well. The body language of Fernandes was looking rough as if she could fold at any second. When Fernandes was landing Judice was reacting poorly as well. She got spun around by a punch which isn’t a good look for the judges going into the decision.

Not surprisingly, it was a close one, with two judges scoring the fight for Fernandes. First UFC win achieved.

Official Result: Gabriella Fernandes def. Carli Judice by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 93: Gabriella Fernandes Spoils Debut of Carli Judice appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Gabi” Fernandes had dropped a decision in her promotional debut last time out, opposite the now-ranked Jasmine Jasudavicius. With Bleda also 0-1 in the company, barring a draw or wonky finish, someone was getting their first UFC win on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Of course, there had already been one wonky finish on the night.

Bleda vs. Fernandes opened with some feeling out and positional work; Fernandes landed a low kick, while Bleda worked her jab. Fernandes did an admirable job avoiding the striking attacks of Czech Republic’s Bleda, who had a slight size advantage. Towards the midway mark of the round, however, Bleda caught her opponent, not with a combination but with a takedown.

Fernandes wound up flat on her back, with Bleda working on top and lots of time on the clock. Even with a lack of submission attempts from Bleda, she stayed busy enough on top for the ref to let her stay there, working the body and attempting to improve position. Bleda added a few short elbows to the forehead towards the end of the round, finishing on top for a very likely 10-9.

Bleda took the fight right to the cage to open round to, pinning Fernandes and throwing knees. Fernandes fought off a takedown attempt with a whizzer, then took control of Bleda’s back, threatening to climb it at one point. Bleda freed herself and spun back around; Fernandes defended with a guillotine but didn’t have her hands clasped; she instead fired a few hammerfists before Bleda competed the attempt.

With a full three minutes on the clock, Gabriella was not where she wanted to be, once again flat on her back. This time, Bleda wound up in guard, working over the body. Fernandes eventually got her back to the cage, but couldn’t manage to wall-walk up or hip escape, and when a scramble did create space, it was Bleda who capitalized, moving to full mount and teeing off with elbows and punches.

Tereza Bleda ran out of time before the finish came in the second. To start the third, the pair traded a few wild punches, and Bleda mixed in a few high kicks, including a front kick that fell short. Fernandes pressed forward firing some very heavy shots, and Bleda moved into takedown mode only to see it stuffed. Fernandes then loaded up some left hands that hurt Bleda! With Bleda against the fence, it was left hand after left hand landing for Fernandes until Tereza finally landed a desperation takedown.

That was key. Fernandes had had nothing to offer off her back all fight long, and that didn’t change. Bleda transitioned to the back, landed plenty of punches, and screamed in sheer triumph when the horn sounded.

Casually clocking in 10+ minutes of control time! 😮‍💨

🇨🇿 Tereza Bleda gets her first win inside the Octagon, a night she'll never forget! #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/CPQwhgVvhi

— UFC (@ufc) June 18, 2023

Official Result: Tereza Bleda def. Gabriella Fernandes by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC Vegas 75: Takedowns Key As Tereza Bleda Defeats Gabriella Fernandes appeared first on Cageside Press.

While it was a short-notice fight for Fernandes, she had actually signed direct to the UFC last year. The bout was the second-to-last preliminary card bout at the Fight Night event.

At the beginning of round one, Fernandes was throwing with a lot of power. The one-two and the power kicks were being fired by Fernandes. Jasudavicius was landing some but the left hand from Fernandes was landing big. Getting tagged, Jasudavicius clinched up with Fernandes and pressed Fernandes against the cage. Jasudavicius got her knee on the outside of the leg and tripped Fernandes to her back. Nothing really happened on top but Jasudavicius ended the round there.

Into round two Fernandes was aggressive with the left hands and kicks. Jasudavicius timed a nice right hand that backed up Fernandes. She used that to press Fernandes up against the cage. Fernandes failed to fight the underhooks and that allowed Jasudavicius to get another trip takedown. Jasudavicius moved to side control over time and went into the crucifix. Jasudavicius landed some short elbows in that position. Fernandes survived that round but the ref was super close to stopping the fight at one point.

In the final round, Fernandes was in need of a finish. She was throwing kicks, the left hand, and was circling away. It didn’t take long for Jasudavicius to track her down and get an easy takedown. Fernandes had no takedown defense and had no answer off her back as well. Jasudavicius ended the fight on top raining down hammer-fist to the bell.

Official Result: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Gabriella Fernandes by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

The post UFC Vegas 70: Jasmine Jasudavicius Turns Back Newcomer, Former LFA Champ Gabriella Fernandes appeared first on Cageside Press.