Going down at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, the 135lb showdown saw Cavalcanti undefeated in the UFC, having won her first five fights in the promotion. Vieira however had been trading wins and losses since 2022 and entered off a loss to Norma Dumont.

Vieira and Cavalcanti traded at a brisk pace early, Cavalcanti mixing in a low kick, though little was landed by either lady. Vieira targeted the body with a jab and went upstairs to follow it, but hadn’t quite figured out her range any more than Cavalcanti had.

Cavalcanti held center as the round went on, Vieira circling, the pair still relatively in tight. Cavalcanti’s striking appeared just a little tighter, a little more varied as she mixed in low kicks, and kicks to the body. Vieira did threaten to catch one of those, but wouldn’t able to, and Cavalcanti would lead the dance right to the horn, things picking up in the final 30 seconds of the opening frame.

Vieira tied the action up along the fence early in round two, looking for a change of pace. She had a high-crotch single and would eventually land the takedown, though not without effort. From there, she worked from inside Cavalcanti’s guard, landing a left hand, then a right. Vieira was active enough on top and Cavalcanti intermittently closed her guard, leading to lots of control time for Ketlen Vieira. She’d finish out the round right there, quite clearly coming out on top in the second.

Round three found Cavalcanti looking for a way inside, throwing single strikes, feints, and the odd low kick. Yet as they circled, Cavalcanti looked hesitant to commit to her attacks, and her corner had told her between rounds, despite having almost certainly lost the second stanza, not to go crazy in the third. And so Cavalcanti targeted the body, fired the odd kick, but wasn’t doing much to put her stamp on the round. A puzzling approach, with Cavalcanti finally showing a bit more urgency as the final 90 seconds arrived.

With things close early in the frame, Viera, perhaps feeling pressure at long last, quickly circled out of harm’s way, raising her arms like a matador. Cavalcanti continued to pursue her, but couldn’t find the finish despite turning up the heat late, instead leaving her fate in the hands of the judges.

The hesitancy cost Cavalcanti in the end, with Ketlen Vieira serving up the first loss of her UFC run, via unanimous decision.

Official Result: Ketlen Vieira def. Jacqueline Cavalcanti by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post Ketlen Vieira Serves Up Jacqueline Cavalcanti’s First UFC Loss appeared first on Cageside Press.

Cavalcanti had won four straight to start her UFC career, and was ranked #11, one spot behind #10-ranked “Sheetara.”

The second and final women’s fight on the UFC Vegas 111 card opened with a feeling out process, one that saw Cavalcanti holding center. Bueno Silva didn’t seem to have much output, but she did dazzle with a pair of kicks chained together, one to the body, then a spinning kick up high. Plenty of back-and-forth from there, with more activity on Cavalcanti’s part.

The same could be said in round two, with the former LFA champ, on a seven-fight win streak overall, getting the edge with her hands. Rather shockingly, considering she was a step behind, Bueno Silva did not attempt a single takedown in the round. That changed inside of a minute into round three, however, with Bueno Silva changing levels and driving Cavalcanti into the fence. She couldn’t convert the attempt, and after some scrappiness alongside the cage, she came away bloodied. The gory visual appeared to spur Cavalcanti on; she fired a knee up the middle, forcing Bueno Silva back.

Bueno Silva refused to go away easy, eventually closing the distance and getting her boxing going for a moment. She was squinting through the blood flow however. Gutting it out to the end, MBS was still handed her fourth consecutive loss, while Cavalcanti extended her rather impressive winning streak.

Official Result: Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Mayra Bueno Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) 

The post UFC Vegas 111: Jacqueline Cavalcanti Extends Win Streak, Serves Up Another Loss for Mayra Bueno Silva appeared first on Cageside Press.

That hard work has seen the former LFA champion earn seven straight victories, with four coming inside the UFC octagon since she joined the promotion in 2023. That’s been enough to land Cavalvanti (9-1), who looked sharp on the feet and sent Avila into retirement on Saturday, the #13 spot in the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

Cavalcanti told media outlets including Cageside Press on Saturday that she was happy with her striking, but still looking to improve.

“I’m happy. I can do more,” she stated. “The next fight I come, I can come back better.”

She even has a list of names she’d like to come back against, including a former champion in her weight class.

“I told my division, ‘girls, let’s go fight.’ Let’s go put more fights in the cage, so the division is shaken a little bit more. I want to fight Miesha Tate or Yana [Santos] or Karol Rosa. Karol Rosa is a very good girl, but she stays in my division. I want fights, I have to fight everybody.”

“Cupcake” Tate hasn’t competed since a December 2023 victory, also over Julia Avila. Yet she sits in the #11 spot in the weight class, along with Santos at #10 and Rosa in the #9 slot. Regardless, it’s a top 10 ranking that Jacqueline Cavalcanti is gunning for.

“Let’s go, yeah. I want this. I work for this,” she said on that front.

Born in Brazil but residing in Portugal for well over a decade, Cavalcanti plans to head back to the South American nation following the win to visit family. After that, it’ll be back to the gym to help make that top 10 ranking a reality.

Watch the full UFC Vegas 102 post-fight appearance by Jacqueline Cavalcanti above.

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Cornolle (8-1) fought in Paris for the second time in her UFC run. She came into the fight on a two-fight win streak with victories over Joselyne Edwards and Melissa Mullins. The French bantamweight faced Cavalcanti for first time since she lost to her in her professional MMA debut in 2021.

Cavalcanti (7-1) looked to make it 2-0 against Cornolle coming into UFC Paris. Holding a two-fight win streak of her own with victories against Zarah Fairn and Josiane Nunes she hoped to stay undefeated in the UFC.

Round 1 for as hyped up as Cornolle was in the octagon she was very measured to begin the fight. Both fighters traded leg kicks for the first couple of minutes. Cavalcanti tried to time right hands as counters to the leg kicks coming her way, but Cornolle didn’t allow her to land many.

Cornolle rushed Cavalcanti with the body lock pushing her onto the fence and looking for trips to get her down. Cornolle was finally able to get her down landing in side control and she stepped over into full mount rather quickly. Cavalcanti was able to reverse the position and get back to her feet.

A few more exchanges and the round ended.

Round 2 Cavalcanti takes the center once again. She was more aggressive since she knew what Cornolle was going to bring. Cavalcanti landed a nasty shot that put Cornolle on skates and hurt. She tried to finish her, but Cornolle was able to recover quickly and got in on a takedown attempt.

Cavalcanti with a blatant fence grab stopped the takedown, and she was able to reverse the position putting Cornolle on the fence. Cavalcanti was able to get away from the clinch and back to throwing strikes.

The round ended with Cornolle landing knees and elbows in the clinch.

Round 3 Cavalcanti took the center again and she tried to land the right hand that brought her success in the fight to this point. Cornolle landed a big right of her own, but she really wanted to get back in the clinch. Cornolle forced the clinch for a moment, but wasn’t able to do much damage in it.

Cavalcanti was able to land heavy shots on Cornolle rocking her momentarily, but again not able to do much with it. Cornolle seemed to accept that this was going to get ugly and fired back big shots too.

The fight ended with flurries fired from both as they looked to find a last-second finish.

Official Result: Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Nora Cornolle via Split Decision (29-28×2, 28-29)

The post Jacqueline Cavalcanti Takes Split Decision Over Cornolle appeared first on Cageside Press.

“My prediction. It’s going to be like a huge war, but if I’m in the state that I am since a few days now…I don’t really recognize myself. I’m even more focused. I have that kind of animal feeling,” Cornolle told reporters on Wednesday.

“Because of some stuff I saw because of the socials of course. If I can apply the strategy well it won’t last after the second round.”

Cornolle (8-1) was originally scheduled to face Germaine de Randamie at UFC Paris, but a foot injury took the former UFC featherweight champion out of the fight. Cavalcanti stepped in to replace de Randamie.

“When we train we are preparing for the opponent we are given, but at the same time I’m preparing for the whole (division) you know. I have one goal it’s to go to the belt,” she said.

Cornolle said that both de Randamie and Cavalcanti are similar, but different at the same time. While both are opponents have similar reach, and both are strikers, their styles are still different.

“In terms of fighting they’re not really the same even though they are coming from striking,” said Cornolle.

“I kind of had to adapt in two weeks, but it’s going to be enough.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Nora Cornolle above. Cornolle faces Jacqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Paris on Saturday.

The post Nora Cornolle Planning For Second Round Finish appeared first on Cageside Press.

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)

The post UFC Vegas 96: Josiane Nunes Unable to Overcome Reach of Jacqueline Cavalcanti appeared first on Cageside Press.

Fairn, formerly competing as a featherweight, was faced with the spectre of women’s 145 being mothballed in the UFC, and had missed weight in her last two fights. She did make the catchweight 140lb limit for her fight with Cavalcanti, but 0-3 over her past three fights, her back was against the wall.

Santos was the aggressor early on putting Cavalcanti on her back foot. Not a lot from both was landing other than some outside leg kicks from Cavalcanti. Fairn was coming forward but wasn’t landing anything. Cavalcanti was landing but was committing on anything she was throwing. Cavalcanti did start to pick up the power with an outside leg kick and a few right hands. The best shot Santos landed in round one was an eye poke. A particularly nasty one, that had the doctor taking a close look at Cavalcanti. Luckily, she was able to continue. Not a lot of action to go off on in round one.

More leg kicks from Cavalcanti were landed into round two as Fairn was coming forward. Fairn continued to have problems finding her range with her hands. Cavalcanti did land a nice combination to the head and body. Cavalcanti wasn’t landing with any conviction but was accurate when she was throwing. Continued leg kicks from Cavalcanti was the story of the fight. She started to throw the right hand behind the kicks winning the second round clearly.

In the final round, Fairn was in need of a finish to win this fight. A hard outside leg kick was landed from Cavalcanti to start the round. Fairn landed a good leg kick of her own but ate one and a right hand from Cavalcanti in return. Cavalcanti throughout the fight was using good feints keeping Fairn from throwing much at all. Cavalcanti landed a barrage of punches in the clinch as Zarah Fairn dos Santos tried to rush in. Fairn tried for a takedown at the end of the round but Cavalcanti defended easily. Too little too late, and the scorecards were unanimously in favor of Jacqueline Cavalcanti.

Official Result: Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Zarah Fairn dos Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC Paris: Jacqueline Cavalcanti Endures Nasty Eye Poke, Wins Decision Over Zarah Fairn appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jacqueline Cavalcanti
Standing at five-foot-nine
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
25-years-old
Fighting out of Lisbon, Portugal
Training out of Reborn Fight Team
A pro record of 5-1
3 KO/TKOs

How Cavalcanti will fare in the UFC:

Cavalcanti is coming to the UFC fresh off winning the LFA bantamweight title last April. Before that, she won a regional title in Spain. Cavalcanti has fought at featherweight a few times in the past but she’s better built at 135. She even fought at lightweight once for the PFL which is crazy. That was her only loss and I thought she clearly won that decision.

Cavalcanti is a major threat, especially on the feet. She’s constantly pressing forward but isn’t over-pursuing but sitting in her range picking her opponents apart. Her jab, straight punches, and kicks to the lead leg all play a big part in her striking. Cavalcanti is dangerous when she starts to put it all together. Her right hand is money and it’s even better when she throws it off a jab. She will actively throw a lot of kicks and mix up the attack. Mainly it’s the lead leg kicks but she also stabs the knee and the midsection with the teep. Cavalcanti has the technique and also the power as she’s had a few knockdowns in her career. Cavalcanti has the technique and also the power in her striking.

Cavalcanti has good ground and pound and is heavy on top but it’s somewhere she isn’t as comfortable. Her takedowns are mainly coming from her strength. On the flip side, due to her strength, she’s hard to take down. Where she is vulnerable the most is her striking defense. It’s not a glaring hole but she’s been rocked before. Sometimes she’s just so willing to inflict damage she leaves her head on the centerline.

I view Cavalcanti as a top 15 bantamweight today. She is a bit one-dimensional but she can get away with that at bantamweight. Being just 25 I’m sure she will round out her craft as her career progresses. Her size and striking is bound be a problem for others to deal with.

How she matches up with Fairn:

Cavalcanti is getting a layup with Fairn. I’m surprised Fairn is still in the UFC after a three-year layoff and constantly pulling out of fights. Fairn is a Muay Thai striker but you couldn’t tell watching her. Both are strikers so I’d be extremely surprised if Cavalcanti lost this. I predict Cavalcanti to win by TKO in rounds two or three.

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Among the new additions is LFA women’s bantamweight champion Jacqueline Cavalcanti (5-1), a 25-year old from Portugal who won her title in April. The signing was announced by Black House MMA; no debut date for Cavalcanti has been set.

Cavalcanti’s lone loss came on the PFL Challenger Series in a lightweight fight against Martina Jindrova last year.

Also joining the UFC is another fighter with a 5-1 record, Brazilian prospect Luana Santos. The 23-year old Judo black belt announced her signing on social media, writing that she was “still in shock” after inking a deal with the biggest MMA promotion in the world.

Santos, who went undefeated as an amateur, is riding a two-fight win streak and coming off a technical submission win at LFA 154 that saw her choke out Bartira Rodrigues.

Undefeated Irish strawweight Shauna Bannon (5-0) has also signed on with the UFC, a move “Mama B” announced on Wednesday. She also revealed that she will take part in July’s UFC London card.

While Bannon did not specify who she would be fighting at the O2 Arena in London, England on July 22, Severe MMA later reported that her opponent will be Bruna Brasil.

Finally, undefeated ARES FC bantamweight Melissa Dixon (5-0) is now a UFC fighter. MMA Junkie was first to report the signing on Friday, citing Dixon’s management firm, First Round Management. Fighting out of Coventry, England and sporting the nickname “No Mess Mullins,” Dixon has three finishes among her five professional MMA wins.

In her most recent fight, at ARES FC 9, Dixon stopped the previously undefeated Darya Zheleznyakova with ground n’ pound with just one second left in the opening round.

The bantamweight division has been in the spotlight this week, as 135lb champ Amanda Nunes defends her title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 this weekend.

The post UFC Signs Four Female Talents Outright, Including LFA, Invicta FC Standouts appeared first on Cageside Press.

Taking place at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, the event was set to see Canadian bantamweight prospect Melissa Croden, born in Toronto and fighting out of Calgary, Alberta, take on Portugal’s Jacqueline Cavalcanti.

Both fighters sported 4-1 records to start the night, and were looking to become just the second women’s bantamweight champion in LFA history. The first, Sarah Alpar, had vacated the title prior to defending it in 2019, signing with the UFC.

The championship had remained vacant ever since.

LFA 157 takes place on Friday, April 21, 2023 with the main card airing live on UFC Fight Pass starting at 9PM ET. Full results can be found below.

LFA 157: Croden vs. Cavalcanti Results

Main Card

Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Melissa Croden by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-45) — for the vacant LFA women’s bantamweight championship
Arthur Estrázulas def. Bobby Lee by submission (triangle choke), Round 2, 3:15
Kegan Gennrich def. Richie Miranda by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Alden Coria def. Jesse Martinelli by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Marnic Mann def. Amber Brown by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Amari Sengsavanh def. Kibedy Gordon by knockout, Round 2, 0:43

Preliminary Card

Griffin Parriott def. Kurtis Ellis by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 4:51
Mariana Piccolo def. Rachael Lippert by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:44
Austin Judge def. Cliff Wright by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 3:57
Jackson McVey def. Tom Krenzel by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 3:47
Santos Verdinez def. Pierre Ba by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mitchell Wilson def. Brock Hamer by TKO (Punches), Round 1, 0:27
Noah Gasho def. Jeffrey Tuley by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Brandon Mills def. Dylan Kiskila by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 1:48

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