Back at the Meta Apex on Saturday, the UFC’s latest hometown show featured Aljamain Sterling earning a clear cut decision victory in the night’s main event. It was a handful of earlier fights that cleaned up come bonus time, however.

Among them, the main card opener between Ryan Spann, a recent transplant to the heavyweight division who previously fought at 205lbs, and Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, a decorated BJJ star and former ONE Championship athlete.

Spann landed a two-punch combo in the second round of a fight that had, to that point, been more of a grappling affair to topple Buchecha, who hit the canvas like a fallen tree. It was a walk-off KO moment and one that saw Spann earn his second straight victory at heavyweight.

The night’s other Performance of the Night bonus went to Jackson McVey, who submitted troubled middleweight Sedriques Dumas to claim his first victory under the UFC banner.

Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 116 went to a thriller between Davey Grant and newcomer Adrian Luna Martinelli. At 40, Grant still had enough in the tank to turn back the 2025 Contender Series winner.

All four bonus winners pocket $100,000 for their efforts. $25,000 finishing bonuses were nary to be found as Spann and McVey had the only stoppages on the night.

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“SD” Dumas has been a magnet for controversy throughout his UFC career thanks to multiple arrests including robbery and battery charges last year. Still, despite the real life foibles and 3-4, 1NC record inside the octagon, he had another chance to fight on against McVey, who had just eight pro fights and an 0-2 record under the UFC banner.

To start the opening round McVey pressured SD Dumas up against the fence looking to gain control in the clinch. After a few moments against the cage, McVey separated and connected with a clean uppercut that floored Dumas. Shelling up into a ball, Dumas showed virtually no offense the entire fight and gave up his neck for a D’arce choke moments later.

With the sub, Jackson McVey picked up his first win in the promotion and shared post-fight that he will be getting married in the near future. After this impressive win it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the 185-pound prospect, who might be out a bit to prepare for his nuptials.

Official Result: Jackson McVey def. Sedriques Dumas by submission (D’arce choke), Round 1, 2:14

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McVey had been booked against SD Dumas for his debut, only for legal troubles on the part of Dumas to scuttle the pairing. Christopher Ewert then signed with the company on short notice as a replacement, but went on to blow his weight cut. Ferreira finally stuck, with McVey getting to make the walk on the early prelims in New Orleans on Saturday.

Ferreira, however, was a considerable upgrade. And as it turned out, too big of a step up.

The fight started with a unexpectedly measured performance from Ferreira. He was perhaps having trouble finding the range against the towering McVey. McVey was also not engaging however, maybe respecting the power of Ferreira a little too much. It wasn’t long until Ferreira found the shot and it was a hard outside leg kick that buckled McVey. McVey stormed forward and jumped on the back of Ferreira. With the hooks not all the way in Ferreira slung him off to his back. Ferreira easily moved to mount and McVey left his arm out and Ferreira locked in the belly down armbar. That was all she wrote!

Official Result: Brunno Ferreira def. Jackson McVey via submission (armbar), round 1, 3:35

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Jackson “The Moose” McVey
Standing at six-foot-four
Fighting at 185 lbs (middleweight)
26-years-old
Fighting out of St. Louis, Missouri, US
Training out of St. Charles MMA
A pro record of 6-0
3 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions

McVey steps into this fight on short notice, fresh off a dominant win last month at LFA 210. He’s a tricky prospect to fully evaluate, mainly because he hasn’t spent much time in the cage. As a pro, his longest fight has lasted just 3 minutes and 47 seconds. He’s steamrolled through every opponent so far, with minimal resistance.

His lone career loss came as an amateur, submitted by Contender Series alum Wes Schultz via armbar in under a minute. That result didn’t provide many answers either. The biggest question surrounding McVey is how he’ll perform in extended, competitive fights. But based on what we’ve seen, he’s a dangerous fighter in multiple areas.

McVey prefers to operate in the clinch, where he’s nasty. In open space, he throws a variety of kicks, particularly to the body, including a solid teep. He fights long, but his boxing still needs development. He tends to keep his hands low and wide, leaving gaps in his defense and limiting his hand speed.

The clinch is where McVey really shines. He’s aggressive and calculated, using head pressure and wrist control to land short elbows, knees, and punches. He’s excellent at manipulating his opponent’s wrists, often pulling them across the body to open up clean shots. Fighters have to be cautious when dipping their heads in the clinch, as McVey actively threatens front headlocks.

He has shown flashes of solid cage wrestling, mixing in knee taps and trips to get fights to the ground. He’s also clearly a submission grappler. Standing at 6’4″, he uses his long limbs effectively to hunt for chokes. The neck is his specialty; he’s secured guillotines and triangles in the past, and he’s shown comfort attacking off his back. With his size and awareness, McVey has the makings of a real submission threat at the UFC level.

The sample size is still small, and McVey hasn’t yet been tested deep into fights. There are layers of his game we just haven’t seen. But the tools are there, especially in a shallow middleweight division where upward mobility comes faster.

Matchup Outlook vs. Ferreira:

Jackson McVey went from getting a favorable fight in SD Dumas to a dangerous test in Bruno Ferreira. Bruno is a power puncher and submission threat. He’s going to test McVey’s durability, chin, and physicality. McVey is +425, and it’s largely because of the unknown.

Ferreira is far from a perfect fighter. Sloppy on the feet and cardio drains as the fight goes on. I think there is value in McVey at his price. He’s six inches taller, and that should come into play in space, and the clinch, where he’s best. It depends on how he handles the power of Ferreria because his chin hasn’t been tested. I also imagine that if the fight goes longer than a few minutes, Ferreira will wrestle.

It would be interesting to see how well the jiu-jitsu of McVey translates against Ferreira off his back. He’s the longer fighter so he should be able to threaten with submissions. I’m picking Ferreira because I think he’s more proven and quite the opponent for McVey.

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Dumas (10-3) is set to take on Jackson McVey (6-0) at UFC 317, in a middleweight booking first reported by Octagon Update. Dumas had recently teased that he had fight news coming soon.

While most UFC fighters booking a bout would be run of the mill news, Dumas, who has faced a slew of legal troubles over the years, was arrested in late April and hit with a mix of felony and misdemeanor charges. According to records obtained by Cageside Press, Dumas was charged with Home Invasion Robbery, Battery (Domestic Violence), Possession of Marijuana Over 20 Grams, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

The charges came after Dumas allegedly entered the home of the mother of his child without permission, grabbed her cell phone, snatched necklaces off her neck, and threw her around the room. Dumas also attempted to take a ring he had previously given the victim off her finger, stating during the alleged offense that “if I’m going to jail then I’m going to get my rings back,” according to a police report.

Dumas was later found hiding in a dog crate at a nearby residence.

Weeks prior to his latest arrest, Dumas was knocked out by Michal Oleksiejczuk. He’s 3-3 in the UFC through six fights. As for McVey, he’ll be making his promotional debut in the fight.

UFC 317 caps off this year’s International Fight Week and takes place June 28, 2025 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The following match-ups have been reported for the card.

• Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira – for the vacant UFC lightweight championship
• Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Kai Kara-France – for the UFC flyweight championship
• Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
• Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van
• Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues
• Viviane Araújo vs. Tracy Cortez
• Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima
• Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
• Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado
• Niko Price vs. Jacobe Smith
• Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines
• Sedriques Dumas vs. Jackson McVey

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