Cuamba, after losing his first two contests under the UFC banner, had picked up a victory over Roberto Romero by flying knee last time out.

Lee started the first round very aggressively, backing Cuamba up against the fence and shooting in for a well-timed takedown. Lee was able to transition to the back as Cuamba turned away, putting in a bodylock to stay in control. Cuamba carried Lee on his back for an excess of two minutes, eating punches to the side of his head. Lee would periodically threaten choke attempts but seemed content in the position. Lee would remain in back control while Cuamba was standing until the end of the round.

To start the second, Lee fired a left hook that landed clean before shooting in on another takedown attempt. Lee forced Cuamba to the fence, but Timothy was able to threaten a submission of his own locking in a D’arce before giving it up. Lee would continue to press forward as blood was now pouring out of Cuamba’s nose. Lee dove in on the legs moments after and secured a takedown along the fence. After a few moments Cuamba returned to his feet, trying to find a big shot to turn the tide in this fight. Lee pressed forward, running into a spinning elbow from Cuamba, who seemed to be getting his second wind. With a minute left in the round Cuamba landed a takedown of his own, transitioning to back control in the center of the cage. Lee would survive this dangerous position until the end of the round.

In the third Cuamba shot in for a takedown but was unsuccessful and pushed the fight up to the fence. Lee reversed his opponent in the clinch and tripped him to the ground landing a takedown. Threatening an armbar, Cuamba had to be very careful but ended up on top. Cuamba was able to get back control throwing damaging blows on top. Lee desperately tried to scramble to his feet, but the top pressure of Cuamba kept the fight down. Battering Lee until the end of the round in back control, Cuamba likely won this fight 2-1 after overcoming adversity in the first.

The judges scored this fight for Timothy Cuamba unanimously, earning his second victory in a row.

Official Result: Timothy Cuamba def. Chang Ho Lee by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Lerone Murphy

While “The Miracle” kept his win streak going with this unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett, it wasn’t a performance that will have people raving about it for weeks. Despite being undefeated and on an eight-fight heater, Murphy still doesn’t have what you would call a signature win. His last finish came in October of 2021… He’s on a Belal Muhammad and Leon Edwards type of run where if he keeps winning, he will eventually become undeniable, but the UFC is in no hurry to push him to the front of that line. Beneil Dariush had also won 8 fights in a row when the promotion had him fight Charles Oliveira. I feel like Murphy is in a very similar position.

He called out Brian Ortega, but it’s still unclear whether “T-City” will opt to move up to lightweight or stay at featherweight. For that reason, I don’t feel comfortable matchmaking for Ortega until we get more clarity on his status. I think Murphy will end up fighting Arnold Allen. His fellow Englishman is ranked #7 and is coming off a win over Giga Chikadze. The fight makes sense and can headline a UK show or fit nicely on a Pay-Per-View main card.

Murphy’s next fight: Arnold Allen

Pat Sabatini

Sabatini came in and thoroughly dominated the 2-to-1 betting favourite Joanderson Brito over all three rounds. This is his first time winning consecutive fights in the UFC since his 4-0 run when he initially entered the promotion. Yes, he has fallen to Damon Jackson and Diego Lopes, but the Philadelphia fighter is now quietly 7-2 in the UFC.

Before we book him against a ranked fighter, he needs to distance himself from other fighters in his current tier who also have solid UFC records. Names like Gabriel Santos, Hyder Amil and Muhammad Naimov could all make sense, but I ultimately went with Melquizael Costa who was victorious last week and is on a nice run of his own.

Sabatini’s next fight: Melquizael Costa

Chang Ho Lee

After winning Road to the UFC last June in a hard-fought split decision, Lee earned a second-round finish and a performance bonus, this time around. It was an impressive and entertaining outing for the 30-year-old.

Even though Gaston Bolaños and Serhiy Sidey are both currently booked, they would produce sure-fire action fights with the Korean prospect. Either of them is a great option, but I slightly prefer the Sidey matchup. And should Cam Smotherman get his hand raised in Des Moines, then he can fight Lee as well.

Lee’s next fight: Smotherman/Sidey winner

Brad Tavares

It’s wild that Brad Tavares and Gerald Meerschaert had never faced off before UFC Vegas 105 on Saturday. Two veterans of similar calibre who have been around forever, you would think they’d have at least been booked in the past.

The Hawaiian earned a unanimous decision win after stuffing all eight of Meerschaert’s takedown attempts. Despite the win, this doesn’t necessarily move Tavares up the ladder. He instead gets to keep playing the role of gatekeeper at middleweight and serve as a litmus test for up-and-comers. One of the fighters who have been making noise in this weight class is former professional kickboxer Cesar Almeida. The Brazilian is 3-1 in the UFC and has bounced back nicely from his split decision loss to Roman Kopylov last June. This seems like an appropriate test for him.

Tavares’ next fight: Cesar Almeida

Ode’ Osbourne

Osbourne was probably at risk of being handed his walking papers had he lost on Saturday. Instead, with his back against the wall, the Jamaican knocked out the undefeated Luis Gurule in the second round, earning a performance bonus in the process.

Not unlike Tavares, this win is nice for Osbourne, but it doesn’t exactly change his role within his division. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to having him fight a Lone’er Kavanagh, a Rafael Estevam or an Andre Lima next, how about we give Osbourne a break from fighting prospects? There is a fun scrap going down later this month in Kansas City between Matt Schnell and Jimmy Flick. These are two fighters that bring it every time and should make for a fun matchup with Osbourne.

Osbourne’s next fight: Schnell/Flick winner

Torrez Finney

Judging by social media engagement, it wouldn’t be outlandish to say that Finney might have been the biggest story on the UFC Vegas 105 card. He came in as the only fighter to win three times on the Contender Series and his fight had the most talked-about scorecards of the night.

Finney set the middleweight record for least number of significant strikes landed in a decision victory with four. Despite getting eight takedowns, Finney was out struck by Robert Valentin nearly 8-to-1. It was this disparity in damage inflicted that had judge Tony Weeks score the fight 30-27 in favour of the Swiss. For someone nicknamed “The Punisher”, calling this performance flat or uninspired would be an understatement.

However, we must keep in mind that Finney is 26 and doesn’t even turn 27 until late October. He has all the time in the world, especially in this division, to learn from this and put on more refined performances in the future. This is why we should be looking for give him nothing but layups, for now. Fighters like José Medina and Antonio Trocoli shouldn’t offer too much resistance, and that is why I’d look to them as potential opponents for Finney.

Finney’s next fight: José Medina

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The last time the UFC deemed any fight worthy of Fight of the Night honors was UFC 313, when Justin Gaethje defeated Rafael Fiziev for the second time. That lightweight war was no doubt a hard act to follow, but it’s rare to see the promotion forgo a Fight of the Night bonus for this long.

In the ensuing weeks, UFC Vegas 104, UFC London, UFC Mexico City, and now UFC Vegas 105 instead saw only Performance of the Night bonuses handed out. On each occasion, four Performance bonuses were awarded instead, and that’s the case again this week.

Collecting $50,000 in bonus money at UFC Vegas 105 were Ode Osbourne, Rhys McKee, Dione Barbosa, and Chang-Ho Lee. They happen to be the only fighters on the Fight Night card, an underwhelming one to say the least, who actually had finishes. In other words, the pickings were a bit slim.

Barbosa submitted Diana Belbita in the opening round of their featured prelim, contested at flyweight. Osbourne, meanwhile, knocked out newcomer Luis Gurule in violent fashion (is there any other way to knock someone out?) on the main card. Chang Ho-Lee got it done against Cortavious Romious with a TKO in the second round, while Rhys McKee laid a beatdown on Contender Series alum Daniel Frunza that was so bad, the doctor stopped the fight prior to round two commencing.

For what it’s worth, Frunza weathered a category five storm and managed to finish the round in somewhat competitive fashion, but the damage to his eye was so bad, the doctor really had no choice.

The post UFC Vegas 105: No Fight of the Night for Fourth Consecutive Event appeared first on Cageside Press.

Romious (9-3) came into the fight still looking for his first promotional victory coming off a tough decision loss in his debut last November. He got a shot against Lee, but came in heavy on the scale 3.5 pounds overweight. Fortunately for him Lee agreed to go ahead with the bout.

Lee (10-1) won his UFC debut via split-decision last June after a successful run on Road To UFC. He looked to begin a win streak at the UFC APEX against Romious.

Round 1 Romious worked the jab early, but Lee went after him with flurries of strikes not letting him breathe. Romious landed a nice uppercut, but found himself defending a takedown from Lee.

Lee got the takedown after it seemed Romious would get away. Lee began working the handcuffs and legs laced, but Romious found his way back to his feet. Instead of looking to get back to striking he used his strength to get Lee to the ground. Not what fighters usually want to do with Lee.

Romious started working on the back take, transitioned to an arm bar attempt, but Lee got loose and landed some damage on him. Then he went in and took the back with a body triangle.

Lee landed a shot that busted Romious open, forced him belly down, and then went off landing shots on him. Romious used all of his strength to top position and helped him survive the round.

Round 2 Lee flew in close on Romious and landed an incidental knee to the groin forcing a time out from the ref. Romious got time to rest.

After just a couple minutes the action began again and the two got right after it landing on each other. Romious got the back position again after a quick takedown. Lee went belly down, but Romious seemed a bit too high on the back.

Lee slammed him down, but Romious went arm bar. Lee defended it and took top position. Romious once again was able to power out of the position and put Lee on the fence before going for the arm bar once again. Lee was able to get his arm out of danger and took the position.

Lee landed plenty of damage in back position with the body triangle forcing the referee to call the fight.

Another win for South Korea’s Chang Ho Lee.

Official Result: Chang Ho Lee def. Cortavious Romious via R2 TKO, 3:48

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Road to UFC 2 had launched in May of 2023, and had featured some of the best fighters throughout Asia competing for a UFC contract. But while the other three finals had played out in February, Long and Lee had been forced to wait a little longer, after Xiao Long had been forced out of their original date.

Xiao Long stated the RTU2 bantamweight final hot, coming out firing and putting the pressure on Lee. For his part, Lee weathered that storm, landed a couple of shots of his own, and then clinched up, though he was turned on the fence by Long. The pair would spend several minutes in this spot, battling it out, trading knees, elbows, short punches, and working for head position.

Coming off the fence, there was all of 45 seconds left, leading to Lee taking a few swings, then looking for another takedown. Long fought that off; Lee fired knees in the clinch, and Xiao Long landed a left.

The clinch game continued in round two, with Long pressing Lee into the fence. Lee ripped the body and fired knees as they spun around; Long hit an elbow off the break, and they immediately re-engaged. The pace to this point had been grueling. Lee looked for an elbow, but the pair clashed heads accidentally, which went undetected by the ref. Another clinch, Long hit a knee, and Lee ripped the body.

When the pair did go to the ground, it was towards the final minute, and both scrambled back up quickly, still in a clinch. It an odd scene, an object fell from the top of the octagon, which turned out to be a mouth guard case that had been left perched atop the cage. Luckily, the ref took notice, sweeping it away with his foot before either fighter was tripped up by it.

Round three saw the pair finally spend a bit of time on the canvas, though they wouldn’t stay grounded long, at least initially. Coming up, however, Long was able to take the back of Lee, getting hooks in and putting him back down. Riding Lee like a backpack, Long looked for the choke, but slipped off the side as Lee fought the wrists and turned in. That allowed to the South Korean to free himself, getting back to his feet, where he clinched up and hit the body. Long, however, was able to land a smashing elbow up top.

With one minute still on the clock, the fight still felt up in the air. The pair would go to the scorecards in the end, with Lee taking a close split decision, winning Road to UFC 2 in the process.

Official Result: Chang-Ho Lee def. Xiao Long by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

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Who will make the final round? Read on! Road to UFC 2 Episode 6 takes place Sunday, August 27, 2023 airing at 6PM ET on UFC Fight Pass.

Lightweight, Bahatebole Batebolati Vs. Haraguchi Shin

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Prediction: Batebolati is only in this fight because he won by DQ. I will say he did look better than I was expecting. Saying that, he’s still a low-level fighter with not much to offer.

Shin got a layup in the first round and is getting another one here. Batebolati has poor takedown defense and that’s a nightmare to have again Shin. I would be surprised if Batebolati lasted a full five minutes.

The post Road to UFC 2: Episode 6 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.

Episode 4 of the opening round goes down Saturday, May 28 starting at 8AM ET on UFC Fight Pass, and we’ve got a look at what to expect!

Lightweight, Bahatebole Batebolati Vs. Ki Won Bin

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Prediction: Bin was on the inaugural season of Road to UFC and lost in the second round. Batebolati was unknown until last year, which saw him fighting twice for LFA. He’s coming off a win but it’s a fight I thought he clearly lost. So he should be on a two-fight skid.

Batebolati doesn’t show anything to write home about. He has a decent gas tank but that’s fine when you are barely throwing anything. Bin is better in every area and I would be surprised if he lost this fight.

The post Road to UFC 2: Episode 4 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.