Procopio tied up the action early, firing a knee to the body and bullying O’Neill up against the cage. O’Neill landed a half-hearted knee in the clinch, but followed that up with a solid punch off the break. At range, she followed that up with a crisp left hand, motivating Procopio to tie things up again, and fire off more knees. As the round went on, Procopio did get her own jab working, but she’d rely on her grappling more, shooting for a takedown in the final minute, driving O’Neill against the fence.

Round two saw O’Neill opening with a jab, following up with a right hand, then firing a kick. But while she couldn’t seem to get the fight down in the first, Procopio easily took O’Neill down early in the second. But before long it was O’Neill scrambling and freeing herself, after staying active with submission attempts from her back. After landing a number of shots upstairs, O’Neill landed a takedown of her own. More accurately, Procopio basically fell to her back while coming in, accepting bottom position. That allowed O’Neill to do plenty of damage, but later, she was forced to contend with a heel hook attempt.

They’d end up back on the ground early in the third, with O’Neill on the back, trapping O’Neill in what amounted to a rear crucifix. That allowed her to batter Procopio with strikes before threatening with a choke then transitioning to mount. Procopio gave up her back escaping that, and while O’Neill was too high, she held on to a body triangle. That allowed her to set up the rear-naked choke as Procopio stood up — though not for long. Back down she went, and off to sleep as well, with O’Neill scoring the technical submission.

Still UNDEFEATED! 🇦🇺#UFCVegas29 Live on ESPN2 & @ESPNPlus! pic.twitter.com/z5dLgMmO51

— UFC (@ufc) June 19, 2021

An impressive sophomore outing from “King” Casey O’Neill, who beats a black belt at her own game.

Official Result: Casey O’Neill def. Lara Procopio by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 2:54

The post UFC Vegas 29 Results: Casey O’Neill Puts Lara Procopio to Sleep appeared first on Cageside Press.

MMA Fighting was first to report that fresh off both of their wins, “King” Casey O’Neill and Lara Procópio will fight at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event on June 19. Both fighters would later confirm the bout via social media.

O’Neill (6-0) had a very impressive showing in her UFC debut. In February, at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis, she would defeat Shana Dobson via TKO, which in turn ended Dobson’s tenure in the promotion. O’Neill is undefeated and is currently on a two-fight finish streak.

Procópio (7-1) picked up her first UFC win in February as well. Procópio would drop down from bantamweight to flyweight and absolutely dominate Molly McCann and win a unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov. Before her most recent win, the Brazilian would lose her UFC debut against Karol Rosa back in 2019.

A win for either fighter will have them a fight away from a top 15 ranking.

The UFC’s June 19 event does not have an official location, venue, or broadcast plans announced.

The only other fights reported so far for the UFC’s June 19 card are the following:

• Virna Jandiroba vs. Kanako Murata
• Matt Brown vs. Dhiego Lima
• Josh Parisian vs. Roque Martinez

The post Casey O’Neill vs. Lara Procópio Set For June 19 UFC Event appeared first on Cageside Press.

McCann closed the distance to her opponent immediately off the opening bell, leading to an exchange. An active opening minute saw the pair tied up by the fence, and they would battle for position there for another minute or so. Procopio would finally plant McCann on her back, with the Brazilian moving to side control after they landed. McCann tried to scramble free, but Procopio stayed on her. By the end of the round, Procopio made it to mount, took the back, and finished with some ground ‘n pound.

Round two saw Molly McCann turn the tables on the ground, and come very, very close to an arm-bar finish. Procopio escaped the initial attempt, but McCann adjusted. Procopio managed to stack McCann up by the fence, but the Brazilian fighter finally broke free. That left “Meatball” spent and on her back with Procopio in half-guard. McCann would make her way up, but in the final minute was swept back down. She would throw up some elbows from bottom but wound eating a heavy punch from Procopio anyway.

Early in the third, it was McCann looking for the takedown. But Procopio reversed her against the fence. From that point onward, Procopio was in the driver’s seat. Takedowns and control were the name of the game. McCann could do just enough not to spend the whole round on her back. Instead, she spent most of it on her knees, with Procopio on her back. When the results came, there were no real surprises, other than a possible retirement by McCann, who left her gloves in the cage.

Official Result: Lara Procopio def. Molly McCann by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 39-27)

The post UFC Vegas 18 Results: Lara Procopio’s Grappling Too Much for Molly McCann appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Monday, USADA (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency), which oversees drug testing for UFC athletes, announced via press release that Prcopio (6-1), had accepted the sanction. That’s after testing positive for Ostarine, a substance that has been a frequent culprit in tainted supplement cases.

Per Monday’s press release, “Following notification of her positive test, Fritzen Procopio provided an open container of a dietary supplement she obtained from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy that she was using prior to her positive test, and which she declared on her doping control form, for analysis at a WADA-accredited laboratory. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, the analysis revealed the presence of ostarine in the product. Delays in supplement testing were caused by laboratory closures due to COVID-19.”

While proving that it was tainted, the particular supplement Procopio used was not on the listed of certified supplements approved under the UFC ADP. As a result, the fighter, who last competed in August 2019 when she lost her octagon debut against Karol Rosa, was sill eligible to be sanctioned.

Her six month ban, however, is retroactive to February 17, 2020, the date of her positive out-of-competition test. Meaning that Lara Procopio is already eligible to return to action.

The post UFC: Lara Procopio Suspended Six Months by USADA, Already Eligible to Return appeared first on Cageside Press.

Karol Rosa and Lara Procopio kick off UFC Shenzhen in the bantamweight division, each making their UFC debut.

Karol Rosa comes in with an 11-3 record with four knockouts and two submissions, and has finished her last two opponents. She is a training partner of champion Jessica Andrade and has shared the cage with UFC veteran Larissa Pacheco and recent signee Melissa Gatto in her career.

Lara Procopio has yet to lose in her career, coming into her promotional debut with a 6-0 record. Half of the Nova Uniao product’s wins have come by stoppage. In her last two fights, the Brazilian has won both the bantamweight and flyweight titles in Shooto Brasil.

Procopio immediately went to a couple of low leg kicks, while Rosa was landing crisp one-twos with consistency. It was an aggressive start for both fighters, but it was Procopio who was getting caught more often. Rosa was snapping the head of Procopio back with straight right hands. Defense was not on the menu in this fight, as both fighters were landing at a high percentage. A straight right temporarily wobbled Procopio, but nothing came of it and they kept throwing. Procopio was the one leading exchanges, but Rosa’s counter-punching was on point. Each fighter was doing their fair share of damage in the first round. Procopio landed a nice combination into a clinch to end the round in what was a fiery start to the fight night.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Rosa

The Brazilians picked up where they left off, throwing constantly. Procopio began to mix in clinch attempts like she did at the end of the final round, perhaps to give Rosa a different look. Rosa was able to establish a Muay Thai clinch and land a pair of knees to the body. Procopio shot for a takedown for the first time in the fight, but Rosa defended easily. A stiff jab snapped the head of Rosa back, then a leg kick caused Procopio to fall to her back. Being a jiu-jitsu specialist, Procopio invited Rosa to take top position, but Rosa simply kicked the legs a few times and stepped back. Hard punches landed each way, with Procopio landing some solid shots on a resilient Rosa.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Rosa

Rosa landed aggressively to start the final round, but Procopio kept coming forward. A huge right hand dropped Procopio, but Rosa did not follow her to the mat. When Procopio returned to her feet, she was met with a solid knee to the body. The fight started to become all Karol Rosa in the final round after plenty of back-and-forth exchanges. Procopio was desperately shooting for takedowns, but Rosa defended cleanly. A strong fight to start UFC Shenzhen.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Rosa (30-27 Rosa)

HUGE right from Rosa puts Procopio on the canvas! #UFCShenzhen pic.twitter.com/PNYt9eBeKQ

— UFC (@ufc) August 31, 2019

Karol Rosa def. Lara Procopio by Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Check out all the results from UFC Shenzhen here!

The post UFC Shenzhen Results: Karol Rosa Takes Back-and-Forth Fight by Split Decision appeared first on Cageside Press.