Montana De La Rosa vs. Luana Carolina had been scheduled to open up the preliminary portion of the event. However, promotion officials confirmed the fight was nixed due to weight management issues on the part of Carolina, following an initial report by Ag.Fight.

In a brief statement provided via their official website, promotion reps stated that “Due to weight management issues, Luana Carolina has been removed from her flyweight bout with Montana De La Rosa. As a result, this bout has been cancelled from this weekend’s event.”

Luana Carolina has missed weight twice during her UFC tenure, first in 2021 ahead of a fight with Poliana Botelho, then again last year, prior to her bout against Julija Stoliarenko. In both cases, the fights moved forward, with Carolina, a.k.a. “Dread,” earning victories in both.

She won’t get that chance this time. Luana Carolina had won her last three fights, while Montana De La Rosa was coming off a win over Andrea “KGB” Lee.

Saturday, March 1’s UFC Vegas 103 card takes place at the Apex in Las Vegas, with flyweights Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev headlining.

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“KGB” Lee had won that fight via unanimous decision, but dropped her last four under the UFC banner. Montana, having lost her last three, found herself in similar circumstances, with the booking feeling very much like a loser-leaves-town match.

Early on, a noticeably aggressive Montana De La Rosa went right to work, throwing hands then landing a takedown. But Lee likewise wasted no time, reversing and getting on top. That, however, allowed De La Rosa to pursue a triangle, then an arm-bar, but Lee popped out, with the pair winding up back on the feet along the fence.

Coming off the fence, De La Rosa would catch a kick, then later take the back standing and wrap up a choke that she held onto probably longer than she should have. As impressive as it looked, Lee slipped out, and in dominant position that allowed her to fire a knee while Montana climbed to her feet. Well timed, and legal. De La Rosa flashed a spinning back kick, and had a bit more success with her hands, showing that despite expectations things were closer on the feet than they seemed.

Between rounds, “KGB” Lee corners Tony Kelley and Andy Nguyen both gave their fighter a kiss, encouraging her to get after it. She pressed forward early in the second, firing her jab, and fighting off a weak takedown attempt from De La Rosa. Montana did split the guard with an uppercut, but didn’t follow it up with anything. The pace had slowed noticeably by the midway mark of the round, with Lee leading, and De La Rosa countering with a fair amount of success.

Again, Lee was encouraged by her corner between rounds, this time to show De La Rosa’s striking no respect, and to hit her with a head kick if possible. In practice, however, Lee had to contend with De La Rosa fighting smart, catching her kicks, and in the third, landing a key takedown that saw her transition to the back. De La Rosa didn’t have her hooks in, but still wound up on top as Lee scrambled to the fence. Lee used wrist control to keep De La Rosa from advancing, but soon enough Montana had a hook in. More concerning, time was ticking away off the clock. A moment later and Lee was flattened out, eating punches. With under two minutes remaining, the fight was slipping away. Lee then managed to get to her feet and shake De La Rosa over the top, keeping herself in the fight! One minute, to decide a career. De La Rosa caught another body kick, but Lee was able to pull the leg free. Thirty seconds, and Lee likely needed a finish. Lee would try a jump knee, but it was Montana De La Rosa finishing with a takedown to secure the win.

Official Result: Montana De La Rosa def. Andrea Lee by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

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Aldrich had jumped into the fight on short notice after defeating Na Liang at UFC Singapore back in August. De La Rosa, meanwhile, had dropped her last two bouts.

In an opening minute low on action and high on testing range, De La Rosa at least fired a couple of kicks. Aldrich slowly stepped forward, but De La Rosa opened up and fired back.

Aldrich, however, would remain persistent, working her jab, and near the midway mark, she ducked a right hand and grabbed a body lock. She could not land the takedown, however. Back at center, Aldrich continued to walk forward, while De La Rosa picked her spots, exploding at times and going high with a kick. In the final minute, De La Rosa grabbed a Thai clinch, landed a knee, and followed it up with a head kick that, even if partially blocked, made an impact.

Round two saw more jabs flowing from Aldrich, who also started getting her own kicks going. She had a slight edge in speed; De La Rosa continued to play the counter game, but was showing some redness around the face. Through two rounds, no a takedown had been landed, nor had De La Rosa even attempted one.

De La Rosa shot from the outside early in round three, but was too far out, with Aldrich easily pulling free. They’d end up clinching briefly, with De La Rosa firing an elbow off the break. But Aldrich’s workmanlike, steady pressure had been serving her well; De La Rosa had been showing redness in the second, by the third, a few lumps and bumps were forming. A left hand hit home for Aldrich, who found success with her 1-2 as well. The action picked up a little towards the end of the third, with De La Rosa hitting the body and firing some elbows over the top. But Aldrich’s consistency had been key, she’d set the pace, led the dance, and secured the win.

Make that two in a row for @JJAldrich1!

She takes the decision over Montana De La Rosa to kick off #UFCVegas80 👏 pic.twitter.com/t4tYu8p9ZS

— UFC (@ufc) October 7, 2023

Official Result: JJ Aldrich def. Montana De La Rosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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That fight will see Montana De La Rosa (12-8-1) take on Stephanie Egger (8-4), with both fighters looking to return to the win column.

News of the booking was first reported by MMA Junkie, and confirmed by Knock Out Representation, De La Rosa’s management agency.

Egger has fought at both bantamweight and featherweight in recent years, and most recently suffered a submission loss in a 140lb catchweight bout with Irina Alekseeva, after Alekseeva missed weight for the fight. Prior to that setback, Switzerland’s Egger had secured her own submission victory against Ailin Perez.

Overall, Egger is 3-3 in six fights under the UFC banner.

De La Rosa is an Ultimate Fighter 26 alum who has a 5-4-1 record inside the octagon for her part. She’s posted back-to-back losses, however, against Maycee Barber and Tatiana Suarez. While there’s no shaming in losing to those names, De La Rosa will no doubt be highly motivated to correct course this October.

The UFC’s October 7, 2023 Fight Night card does not yet have a main event announced. The following match-ups have been reported for the show:

• Joe Pyfer vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
• Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Bill Algeo
• Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Aori Qileng
• Kanako Murata vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
• Chris Gutiérrez vs. Montel Jackson
• Daniel Pineda vs. Khusein Askhabov
• Nate Maness vs. Mateus Mendonça
• Ion Cuțelaba vs. Philipe Lins
• Montana De La Rosa vs. Stephanie Egger

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Such is the danger of some of these thinner Apex-based cards. To see a main event fall through last minute is a rarity, but this is the second time in recent months (following Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac last November) that such a setback has occurred. Luckily, Allen made the most of his opportunity, as did a handful of others on the night, resulting in every finishing fighter picking up a bonus. Others weren’t so lucky, of course, and will have to rebuild.

Here’s what could be next for those.

Andre Muniz

The man who sent Jacare Souza into retirement with a broken arm found himself choked into submission by Brendan Allen in what turned out to be the UFC Vegas 70 main event.

The loss snapped a nine-fight win streak for Muniz, and though Allen essentially beat him at his own game, it shouldn’t push him back too far. Muniz, after all, had been undefeated in the UFC prior to Saturday, and was ranked #11. That will fall, Allen will jump up, but Muniz will probably still be hanging around the #15 spot or thereabouts when the rankings update. He just fought down against the unranked Allen, and may have to do so again.

Nassourdine Imavov would have been a great option, given he also hit a road block against Sean Strickland last month, but Imavov just hand ankle surgery. Instead, we’ll go a different route: Makhmud Muradov has lost two straight but was on a huge roll prior to that. He was the first MMA fighter signed to Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team, and got some extra eyeballs because of that. He doesn’t currently have a fight booked.

Muniz’s next fight: Makhmud Muradov

Don’Tale Mayes

Augusto Sakai was a step up in competition for Don’Tale Mayes, one that did not go his way. Were his loss to Hamdy Abdelwahab not overturned to a No Contest, Mayes would be sitting on two straight losses at the moment. Instead, he’s coming off one loss, and had two wins prior to that No Contest.

Mayes hasn’t taken the easy road in the UFC, mind you: he asked for tough fights and has got them against Ciryl Gane, Rodrigo Nascimento, and the formerly ranked Sakai. If he wants to keep taking tough fights, Blagoy Ivanov is also coming off a recent loss.

Mayes’ next fight: Blagoy Ivanov

Montana De La Rosa

With no disrespect to Montana De La Rosa, her fight at UFC Vegas 70 was a setup fight for opponent Tatiana Suarez. Despite her injury struggles many still see the TUF 23 winner as a future champ. Suarez didn’t look quite that Saturday, but she still looked good in her first fight in over three years, submitting De La Rosa with a guillotine.

For De La Rosa, who has now lost two straight, it’s time to regroup. She’s batting .500 in the UFC, with a 4-4-1 record. Coming up, Gillian Robertson fights Piera Rodriguez. That fight goes down in April, giving De La Rosa some extra time in the gym. Book her against the loser.

De La Rosa’s next fight: Robertson vs. Rodriguez loser

Yohan Lainesse

With the UFC absent in Canada since 2019 and the country undergoing an MMA lull, it was almost cruel to pit Quebec’s Lainesse against Ontario’s Mike Malott at UFC Vegas 70. There just aren’t that many Canadian fighters on the roster these days, after all.

Lainesse fell to 1-2 care of a submission loss, and a win is essential in his next fight. Anyone but another fellow Canadian will do, and in this case, a match-up with Mounir Lazzez, coming off a loss with a 2-2 record in the UFC, sounds like a fun fight.

Lainesse’s next fight: Mounir Lazzez

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Welcoming her back to action — up a weight class at flyweight, though Suarez had a strawweight return planned — was Montana De La Rosa.

Right off the opening bell, Suarez and De La Rosa came together in a clinch. From there, they moved to the fence, Suarez driving De La Rosa up against it. When they went to the ground, De La Rosa nearly had control, but had to defend with a guillotine, and when Suarez popped free, she was right where she wanted to be.

De La Rosa kept her guard closed, and scooted back to the fence. Suarez had a body lock on for a bit, and hooked her leg through De La Rosa’s to control her. But De La Rosa managed to wall-walk up, though Suarez stayed right on her. When Suarez got her hands locked, it looked like a big double leg takedown or slam might be pending. But she couldn’t keep her hands clasped, and had to settle for landing punches to the thigh.

It was about 90 seconds into round two when Montana De La Rosa was once again on her back. Suarez was able to transition to the back, but De La Rosa found just enough space to scramble up, driving Suarez into the cage. Suarez then locked up a guillotine and pulled guard! The choke was in tight, and while De La Rosa fought it as long as she could, it wasn’t long before the tap came!

SHE MAKES GOOD ON THE RETURN!!!!

Submission finish for @TatianaUFC 😤 #UFCVegas70 pic.twitter.com/VWRMKcyZvs

— UFC (@ufc) February 26, 2023

It will likely be back to strawweight from here, but the important thing for Tatiana Suarez was just getting back, getting time in the cage, and getting the win. That first step behind her, things are looking up for the TUF champ.

Official Result: Tatiana Suarez def. Montana De La Rosa by submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 2:51

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De La Rosa (12-7-1) has been out of action since her loss to Maycee Barber in April 2022.

“I just had like some injuries, some medical stuff, I had to just take some time off for that,” De La Rosa told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’m back. Healthy.”

Being out for nearly a year was something De La Rosa recognized her body needed in order to get back to 100%.

“Yeah I definitely needed my body to heal, and then I was trying to get a fight for a little bit, and they just kept saying oh wait for this one. So 12 weeks ago they threw out Tatiana and I was like yeah, let’s go,” she said.

Suarez (8-0) was on the rise before a neck and knee injuries took her out of the octagon for nearly four years. The pressure to welcome back one of the rising stars on the roster isn’t something De La Rosa is worried about.

“There’s not any pressure for me. If anything she’s the one with the pressure. I mean everyone says she’s like the next Khabib or the woman Khabib. I think she has a lot of expectations to live up to in this fight,” De La Rosa said.

“Just that she’s a big name you know, she’s undefeated, she kind of is one dimensional. Obviously the best at what she does, but I just feel like there’s a lot of things that I can do in there that she hasn’t seen before,” said De La Rosa.

“Specially when she’s moving up to the flyweight division when she’s just been facing smaller opponents.”

De La Rosa has a point with Suarez moving up from strawweight where she had a considerable size advantage.

“I mean I think she’s physically going to be very strong because she was dominating at 115, but I’m used to very strong opponents. She’s obviously faced Carla (Esparza) who’s a really great wrestler, but she’s so small,” she said.

“I think it’s going to be different when she faces someone who has wrestling background like me as well as good striking, and good Jiu Jitsu as well.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Montana De La Rosa above. De La Rosa faces Tatiana Suarez at UFC Vegas 70 at the UFC APEX on Saturday night.

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Suarez (8-0) is set to face Montana De La Rosa (12-7-1) at the February 25, 2023 event at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will take place at 125lbs.

De La Rosa revealed the news on OnlyFans (shout out to MMA Mania, who first reported the announcement), after Suarez had previously stated she was ready to return.

Now 32-years old, Suarez last competed in June of 2019, when she defeated Nina Nunes in Chicago via a unanimous decision. The Ultimate Fighter 23 winner has five wins inside the octagon dating back to the show’s finale in 2016, but has struggled with injuries.

2018 marked the only year during her UFC tenure where Suarez managed to fight more than once. Ahead of an expected return at UFC 266 in 2021, she severely injured her knee, resulting in surgery and extensive rehab.

Montana De La Rosa enters the fight off a loss to Maycee Barber last year. Prior to that, she had won a TKO against Brazil’s Ariane Lipski the previous year.

The UFC’s Feb. 25, 2023 Fight Night card currently features the following bouts:

• Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann
• Mike Malott vs. Yohan Lainesse
• Cortney Casey vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Victor Martinez vs. Jordan Leavitt
• Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez
• Ode’ Osbourne vs. Denys Bondar
• Erick Gonzalez vs. Darrius Flowers
• Andre Fili vs. Lucas Almeida
• André Muniz vs. Brendan Allen
• Augusto Sakai vs. Don’Tale Mayes
• Garrett Armfield vs. Jose Johnson
• Alex Reyes vs. Trevor Peek
• Tatiana Suarez vs. Montana De La Rosa

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Big wins on one side, unfortunate setbacks on the other. Let’s take a look at four fighters who wound up submitted and one who lost a decision at UFC Vegas 52, and puzzle out what comes next.

Amanda Lemos

The only option here is to slow the roll of Amanda Lemos. Jessica Andrade was a big jump. A Khamzat Chimaev jumping up to Gilbert Burns level jump. And being blunt, Lemos isn’t “Borz.” This was always a big ask, and says more about the current need for fresh blood at 115lbs than anything else.

As it stands, Rose Namajunas is expected to defend her title in a rematch against Carla Esparza. The winner of Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk will have a case for a title shot. Andrade herself already has one. None of those names are new to the division, and the closest thing to fresh blood at strawweight is Marina Rodriguez, coming off a win in March. For Lemos, Tecia Torres is tempting; we suggested booking Torres against Virna Jandiroba after UFC 273 earlier this month, but the former Invicta champ has a fight booked. She’s only recently turned things around, and coming off a loss to Mackenzie Dern.

Lemos’ next fight: Tecia Torres

Clay Guida

At age 40, Clay Guida is in the twilight of his career, but he hasn’t really been getting completely outclassed in fights. He’s 2-2 in his last four, and got caught in a kneebar by the man who has the most kneebars in UFC history, Claudio Puelles, at UFC Vegas 52.

So, what’s next for Guida? He fought out his contract on Saturday. The UFC may opt to bring him back, even off a loss — he’s still got name value as a popular veteran, and 2-2 isn’t a terrible record by any stretch. But let’s keep him away from 20-somethings when he returns, shall we? Joe Lauzon fights Cowboy Cerrone next month. Guida’s never fought Cerrone, and had a win over Lauzon in 2017. Either of those names works; give Guida whoever loses.

Guida’s next fight: Cerrone vs. Lauzon loser

Montana De La Rosa

Montana De La Rosa went the distance with Maycee Barber, and had a couple of submission attempts in the fight, but just couldn’t get the job done. She’s 1-1-1 in her last three fights, and outside the top 15. She’s also coming up on UFC fight #10, so let’s look at someone with equivalent experience. Canada’s Gillian Robertson is a gamer. She has the most fights in UFC women’s flyweight history at 12. These two have never fought. Both are coming off a single loss. It’s time.

De La Rosa’s next fight: Gillian Robertson

Lando Vannata

What’s not so groovy about Lando “Groovy” Vannata’s UFC run? He’s never won back-to-back fights, despite debuting for the promotion back in 2016. Entering UFC Vegas 52, he was coming in off a win over Mike Grundy, and wound up submitted by Charles Jourdain.

Vannata always has fun fights, but he really needs to get some consistency going. Still, let’s give him another fun one. Gavin Tucker was supposed to fight Pat Sabatini earlier this month, but had to withdraw. If he’s healthy, book him against Vannata a few months down the road. The pairing screams banger, and Vannata can try to get his revenge on Canada.

Vannata’s next fight: Gavin Tucker

Jordan Wright

Middleweight Jordan Wright opened the UFC Vegas 52 card against Marc-Andre Barriault, and wound up caught in a guillotine. That’s his second straight setback, making his next fight key. “The Beverly Hills Ninja” has been in some fun scraps, and had no idea what a decision looks like. That’s because win or lose, he’s never needed the judges’ scorecards.

Edmen Shahbazyan’s only been to a decision twice, win or lose. He’s on a three-fight skid, looking to turn things around after a very promising start to his career. He hasn’t fought since last November, and if he’s looking to bounce back in an entertaining scrap, this could be it.

Wright’s next fight: Edmen Shahbazyan

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Barber (9-2) came in off a controversial split-decision victory over Miranda Maverick in July 2021. After entering the UFC with a lot of hype and fanfare she quickly rattled off three finishes before dropping two bouts by decision to Alexa Grasso and Roxanne Modafferi respectively. She looked to start a win streak against De La Rosa.

De La Rosa (12-6-1), in the UFC since 2017, has shown flashes of promise in her time in the promotion. She came in off a TKO win over Ariane Lipski in June 2021.

With the flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko looking for more contenders to take on this fight had the division watching to see who would take that next step towards the crown.

Barber used a flurry to get into the clinch early and put De La Rosa on the fence. Barber stayed busy with foot stomps, left hands and tried to trip De La Rosa down but instead pulled her on top of her. Barber quickly got back to her feet without letting go of Montana.

The rest of the round was mostly Barber landing heavy shots in the clinch with elbows, and left hands. Round 1 was all Barber.

Second round began with De La Rosa landing a big right hand that forced Barber to clinch and land shots in that position. De La Rosa was able to get her to the fence and land knees and short shots inside.

De La Rosa jumped guard and dragged Barber to the ground and began to work to take the back. Barber was able to reverse the position and get on top, but she De La Rosa grabbed the right arm and held her close. Barber was able to scramble and wiggle her arm out getting her out of danger.

Barber continued to land shots from top, but stood up to land a heavy shot and gave De La Rosa room to stand and shoot. The round ended with De La Rosa on top.

Without being sure how the judges had it both fighters knew they needed the third round.

Third round began with De La Rosa throwing heavy right hands and then a flurry forcing Barber to fire back and clinch. De La Rosa continued to try and throw Barber, but gave her back up standing and ate shots from behind. De La Rosa kept on trying to reverse the position but Barber continued to stay busy and land on her forcing the defensive game plan at that point.

Regardless of position, in the clinch, Barber continued to land elbows clean on De La Rosa. The rest of the round was all Barber as well working elbows in the clinch and short shots to the body as she finished the fight clearly dominating De La Rosa.

Official Result: Maycee Barber def. Montana De La Rosa via (30-27×3) Unanimous Decision 

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