Chris Duncan

(#10) Renato Moicano showed that he was still a legitimate force to be reckoned with as he dropped, battered and submitted the streaking unranked Chris Duncan, in the main event on Saturday. “The Problem” now falls to 6-2 in the UFC and loses the momentum of his four-fight win streak.

Chris has some options for his next bout since this was a huge step-up fight for him. A fight against Nasrat Haqparast is a very attractive option. Only thing that doesn’t really work is timing as Haqparast was last in the cage back in October. Haqparast is 10-5 with the UFC, but has gone 4-1 in his last five and was also finished in his most recent bout just like Duncan. These guys are in a similar spot, and this is a good fight to make that could sneak onto the main card of a Fight Night.

Giving Chris the loser of Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics could make a lot of sense as a backup. That bout would match up well timing-wise as it’s slated for UFC 327 on April 11. Gamrot is inside the top 10 but has gone 1-2 in his last three bouts. He’s lost to Dan Hooker, and in his most recent bout, was submitted by Charles Oliveira. Gamrot would be 1-3 in his last four leading into his fight with Chris (and have just lost to an unranked fighter). Esteban is currently 4-2 with the promotion and has gone 3-1 in his last four. Ribovics is similar to Duncan in getting this opportunity at a ranked matchup as he’s impressed recently, earning three straight Fight of the Night honors

Duncan’s next fight: Nasrat Haqparast or Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics Loser

Tabatha Ricci

(#3) Virna Jandiroba out grappled (#7) Tabatha Ricci on her way to a fairly routine victory in a huge strawweight fight in the co main event of UFC Vegas 115. Ricci now falls to 3-3 in her last six bouts as she has stepped up in competition. Her losses over this nearly three-year, six-fight stretch are to Lupita Godinez, Yan Xiaonan and now Virna Jandiroba. Ricci was not stopped in any of those bouts.

Ricci’s next matchup should be against (#11) Fatima Kline. Fatima is just outside the top ten at 115lbs. and is 3-0 with the promotion since her short notice promotional debut loss in 2024. Her last fight was against Angela Hill in November of last year where she scored a unanimous decision victory. Timing wouldn’t work the best here, but it’s still an excellent fight to make and could do some heavy lifting for both fighters. A halfway decent backup would be Amanda Lemos, who just fought and lost last month to Gillian Robertson. As mentioned in that loser’s article, the UFC won’t be doing Lemos any favors anytime soon. Fans could expect to see the nearly 40-year-old fighter against a younger lesser-known fighter, and Ricci somewhat fits that bill.  Fight could easily be on the main card of a fight night card with the winner moving into the top five.

Ricci’s next fight: Fatima Kline or Amanda Lemos

Brendson Ribeiro

Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev stayed perfect Saturday, scoring a rear naked choke victory and becoming the third fighter in a row to finish Brendson Ribeiro in the first round.  This was Brendson’s fifth time facing an undefeated fighter either with the UFC or the Contender Series. Ribeiro is now 2-3 (one of those victories was on the CS). Brendson is now on a 3-fight skid and is 2-5 with the UFC.

It’s debatable whether Brendson is in danger of being cut considering that he is within one of the weakest divisions in the UFC. More likely than not, Brendson will be kept with the promotion. His next bout should be against Julius Walker or Urlan Satybaldiev. Julius Walker is 1-2 with the UFC and last fought in February when he fell to Dustin Jacoby via second round stoppage. Urlan is 1-1 with the promotion. Julius vs Urlan was a matchup featured on a past Losers article, as the bout been made before. If that fight doesn’t materialize, Brendson is a good backup for either light heavyweight.

Ribeiro’s next fight: Julius Walker or Urlan Satybaldiev

Rafael Estevam

Ethyn Ewing stayed perfect on Saturday as he found the liver with a perfectly placed hook in his fight against Rafael Estevan in the third round. Devastating loss for Rafael as it’s the first loss of his 15-fight career and he’s now 3-1 with the UFC. Rafael has UFC victories over Charles Johnson, Jesus Aguilar and Felipe Bunes. Also worth noting here: Estevam has struggled heavily on the scale. Rafael has missed weight three times in the UFC, and now across two different weight divisions.

Lots of potential matchups for Rafael here as flyweight-featherweight has lots of guys who are forced up in weight classes. Best fight for here is to matchup Rafael with the loser of Aorquileng vs Cody Haddon.

Everyone knows how the UFC feels about fighters who miss weight, especially repeatedly. Nothing special will be done for Estevam. He should stay at bantamweight, make weight, and look for the loser of that May 30th bout. Aoriquileng would be 4-5, 1 no contest if he loses to Cody. While Haddon would be 1-1 with the UFC. Haddon was matched up against Malcom Welmaker for his second fight before breaking his foot and forcing the Ethyn Ewing short notice coming out party. Aoriquileng’s record may look spotty but he’s lost to names like Cody Durden, Aiemann Zahabi, and most recently, Raul Rosas Jr. Great fight to make and would provide endless action.

Estevan’s next fight: Aoriquileng vs Cody Haddon Loser

Manolo Zecchini

Tommy McMillen melted Manolo Zecchini with punches and knees in the first round of their mini war on the main card of UFC Vegas 115. The fight was under four minutes but still secured fight of the night honors, a rare feat in the UFC. Manolo came up short against an undefeated prospect and now falls to 0-2 with the promotion. Zecchini has been on the shelf a while, as his debut came back in September of 2023 when he was finished in the first round via body kicks by Morgan Charriere. That was also Morgan’s promotional debut, and he has gone 2-3 since then, only losing to top competition (Chepe Mariscal, Nathaniel Wood, Melquizael Costa).

Easiest fight to make here is to simply pair Manolo up with Robert Ruchala. Robert fought just before Manolo on the main card of UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday. They have identical records with the promotion, and both fighters were paired up against tough guys for their promotional debuts. Their standup styles also mix well. This matchup has the potential to be a nice scrap that could land on the undercard of a fight night.

Zecchini’s next fight: Robert Ruchala

Robert Ruchala

Jose Delano pieced up Robert Ruchala on the feet on his way to a unanimous decision victory to open the main card of UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday. Jose, a 2025 Contender Series product was making his much-anticipated UFC debut. 27-year-old Ruchala, on the other hand, falls to 0-2 with the promotion. He dropped his debut against a tough nosed William Gomis via decision last September.

Best fight to make here is Robert vs Manolo.  Despite these two not getting into the win column while with the UFC, it’s doubtful either of them faces the axe just yet.

Ruchala’s next fight: Manolo Zecchini

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Ewing had shocked fight fans by derailing the previously undefeated Malcolm Wellmaker in his short-notice promotional debut last year, and was getting a second undefeated foe in his sophomore outing in the octagon.

Estevam, meanwhile, missed weight for the fight, coming in a pound heavy.

The first round began with Ewing using forward pressure to find a big shot. Estevam retreated throwing kicks from the outside. Ewing landed a big hook followed by a front kick that stunned Estevam. Almost immediately Estevam shot a takedown but was unsuccessful getting Ewing to the floor. Midway through the round Ewing landed an accident groin strike that stopped the action momentarily. When the fight resumed, Ewing landed a solid jab to right hand combination near the fence. Estevam was again unsuccessful attempting a takedown in self defense. Ewing blitzed Estevam near the end of the round knocking him down and nearly ending the fight.

In the second round, Estevam landed a few shots to start the round before shooting another takedown. Ewing defended again stopping all five of the takedowns from his opponent so far. Starting to walk down his opponent, Ewing landed massive shots against the cage. Ewing was in complete control of the fight putting massive volume on Estevam who seemed to be fading. A completely dominant performance through ten minutes.

The final frame saw Ewing again piecing up Estevam while walking downhill on the undefeated fighter. Midway through the round Ewing landed a massive body shot followed by ground and pound that ended the contest. After his impressive performance over Malcom Wellmaker, Ewing is quickly becoming a household name to fight fans showcasing his elite striking skills once again.

Official Result: Ethyn Ewing def. Rafael Estevam by TKO, Round 3, 1:44

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“Feel like I’m strong and tough as well. You know what I do.”

“I’m aware. That stuff gets to me. The information comes to my attention. I think it’s a number and these numbers are meant to be dissected and broken (down),” he said.

“Believe me, we’re going to put on a performance to get that done.”

It’s hard to make a quick rise in a stacked bantamweight division, and Estevam isn’t delusional enough to believe he’ll get a title shot soon. As a matter of fact he’s not in a rush whatsover.”

“I understand I just came up, right? I can see myself (come up) very slowly. Not rushing into anything,” he said.

“But I can see myself like two, four, six fights and I’m going and climbing up the rankings. I understand my place and I know that I’ll have to put in some work to do it.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Rafael Estevam above. He faces Ethyn Ewing at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

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Bunes (14-7) comes into UFC Vegas 108 with the full support of the Pitbull Brothers Fight Team. After dropping his UFC debut against Joshua Van last January he bounced back with an armbar finish over Jose Johnson in January. The 35-year-old has no time to waste recently telling Cageside Press’ Eddie Law that he planned to call out former champ Brandon Moreno following UFC Vegas 108.

Estevam (13-0) won’t make that callout easy. Since entering the UFC from the Contender Series he’s put together a two-fight win streak. Victories over Charles Johnson and Jesus Aguilar may have him on the verge of a ranking in a competitive 125-pound division.

Round 1

Estevam had to deal with the height and length advantage of Bunes who worked teep kicks, leg kicks and push kicks early on. Estevam flew in on a takedown attempt that Bunes was able to reverse it and end up on top.

Estevam popped back up, threw some strikes, then got taken down. Again back to the feet and Estevam got the takedown he wanted shortly after. Bunes tried some submissions, including a triangle attempt, but Estevam stuffed that easily and passed to side control.

Bunes threw up a buggy choke, but Estevam stayed very calm refusing to react to the attempt. Estevam was able to survive and make it to the next round.

Round 2

Estevam came after Bunes throwing strikes and forcing Bunes to the fence. He got Bunes on the fence, clinched for a bit, and then started throwing big shots. Bunes retaliated with massive shots landing on his opponent including a knee that Estevam ate while getting a takedown.

Estevam working ground and pound very carefully moving Bunes’ arms out of the way to land clean shots. Bunes continued to look for submissions off his back, but he was eating way too many shots in this position.

Bunes was able to get back to his feet, but Estevam gave him maybe 2 seconds before taking him right back down. Bunes went to his hands and knees, Estevam tried taking the back, but wasn’t able to get his hooks. Instead he landed shots up top until Bunes was able to get to his feet.

The round ended with Estevam going for another takedown.

Round 3

Bunes came out looking to land, but was clearly fading. Estevam took advantage getting him back to the ground. Bunes used what he could to get back to his feet. Heavy exchanges followed before Estevam decided he had enough and took Bunes right back down.

Estevam got to the back, a bit too high, but Bunes was unable to shake him off. Estevam began to try and wrap his opponent up like an anaconda. Now fully on the back with a body triangle in place he began to punish Bunes to the head.

The rest of the round was all Estevam landing on Bunes and Bunes not being able to find a way back to his feet.

Solid victory for Rafael Estevam.

Official Result: Rafael Estevam def. Felipe Bunes via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post Rafael Estevam Uses Wrestling To Control Bunes To Decision Win appeared first on Cageside Press.

The fight, for Estevam anyway, was a long time coming. His first win in the company, over Charles Johnson, came back in November of 2023. Beating a ranked flyweight, you might have expected Estevam (13-0) to make a quick turnaround and build on that momentum. The discovery of an abdominal tumor, however— thankfully benign, but requiring surgery— kept the Brazilian on the shelf.

His return fight against Aguilar looked dominant, and Estevam knew he was up in the fight heading into the final five minutes. “I knew that I was going into the third round two-nothing. I got to the third round, we started running away with it a little bit,” he noted, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout. Heading into the fight, “I knew I needed to pull a rabbit out of a hat, and I was able to do it. It was about waiting for him to make a mistake, and when he did, he kind of over-reached out there, I was able to take him over. And then from then on, I knew that I had it in me there, and it was just a matter of controlling— and I was happy about the win.”

Surprisingly, Aguilar seemed content to keep the fight on the ground and engage with Estevam, a strong grappler.

“That was the plan, to keep things on the ground, and keep it all the way down low. But the thing is, I didn’t know if that was his plan. I figured he would have watched tape on me and did not want to go to the ground with me,” said Estevam. “I thought he was going to keep the distance, I thought he was going to avoid takedowns. I figured that he would exchange more with me.” Instead, Aguilar “decided to grapple, and he was going against a natural grappler. Somebody that’s very comfortable out there. And I knew I had all the tools to do it.”

It all worked out for Estevam, though clearly not for Aguilar, and the Brazilian known as “Macapa” is now hoping to get two more fights this year. “And I’m going to get those two more fights. The plan is to be active, continue to train, always be training, always be ready for fights. Get that conditioning, and get those two fights. Get those two fights, get those two wins, have a great Christmas with the family and finish the year on a positive note.”

There are no names on Estevam’s lips at the moment, no callouts he wants to make. What he is looking for is a shot at the flyweight division’s top 15.

“No names out there, but let’s talk about this. I beat Charles Johnson who was number 12 in the rankings. So I think I deserve this. I deserve a 12 or 13, whatever position in the rankings. I beat the dude, so just give me that chance, because I deserve it.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 102 post-fight appearance by Rafael Estevam above.

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Estevam was undefeated in his pro career, starting the night with a dozen wins under his belt with Aguilar looking to play spoiler.

An early clinch at center saw the pair come together and Estevam come out on top. That led to a scramble and Aguilar threatening off his back, but Estevan managed to take the back, before a further scramble along the fence saw them back up, then down again, Estevan in guard. The entire round played out in this fashion, with scrambles and transitions on the ground and Estevan more often than not maintaining the dominant position.

Round two saw more ground game play out with Estevam again getting dominant positions and finding some space for ground n’ pound. When Morales worked back to his feet, he almost immediately had to contend with another takedown attempt. That was sapping his energy and making it difficult to get any offense of his own off. The only bright spot for Aguilar through two rounds, really, was that he has survived.

Estevam was again pursuing takedowns early in the third, but appeared to have slowed a step, with Aguilar able to stuff one attempt. He was marching forward, with Estevam firing right hands and kicks to keep him at bay. Estevam managed to shoot again later in the frame, and Aguilar stuffed it again, and took the back, only to find himself too far up. He fell over the top, allowing Estevam to get back on top. With seconds ticking away, Aguilar might have lost his last real chance to get back in the fight and find the finish he almost certainly needed.

Official Result: Rafael Estevam def. Kevin Aguilar by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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An undefeated talent out of Brazil, Estevam’s 11-0 record no doubt made him an attractive pick-up for the promotion — but he did himself no favors by missing weight for his first official UFC bout.

Estevam came right out of the gate with a lot of kicks and dove for the legs but was too far away. On his second shot, Estevam got in on the leg and went to the bodylock. Johnson was digging underhooks but Estevam hit a beautiful hip throw. Johnson worked back to his feet and scraped Estevam off his back. They were still working in the clinch when Estevam hit another takedown — this time by an outside trip. Off the takedown Estevam beautifully took the back and into the full mount. Johnson defended well getting back to half-guard but gave up his back again to close the round.

To start round two Estevam dove right into a single leg. He didn’t get it but got Johnson against the fence and got the trip takedown. Johnson got to his feet but with Estevam on his back. Johnson defended well but fell to the mat where Estevam was trying to sink in the RNC. Johnson had Estevam on his back for a while but Johnson eventually got out and to his feet. Right away, Estevam wasn’t playing around on the feet as he went for another takedown. Johnson defended and peppered Estevam on the outside with straight punches. He ended the round well but lost a lot of time on the mat.

Johnson was the aggressor to start the final round going after Estevam. He did get carried away and Estevam shot in on the legs. Johnson defended as Estevam was visibly tired. Estevam kept going for takedowns just being relentless on the shots. Estevam has his hands locked but is maybe too tired to get Johnson down. Johnson looks at the ref and the fight gets separated. Johnson was marching forward going up high and to the body but was throwing one punch at a time. More missed takedowns from Estevam as he was shooting desperately. Johnson wasn’t landing anything hard but was making Estevam uncomfortable with the pressure. Johnson ran out of time that most likely will be a loss for him.

Official Result: Rafael Estevam def. Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Although flyweight Zhalgas Zhumagulov hit the scales and successfully made weight for his fight with Rafael Estevam, that fight has been scratched. Estevam never made it to the scale, and just past 9:30AM ET, promotion officials announced that the fight was off.

The cancellation came about “due to weight management issues” on the part Estevam.

Just yesterday, a bantamweight match-up between Daniel Santos and Johnny Munoz Jr. was lost due to an injury suffered by Santos. It’s been a rough 24 hours overall for the Newark, NJ-based UFC 288, as Joseph Holmes, a.k.a. “Ugly Man Joe,” announced just prior to Friday’s weigh-ins that he was heavy. Holmes hit the scale 3lbs over the middleweight limit, though his fight with Claudio Ribeiro will move forward. Holmes will forfeit 20% of his purse however.

Zhumagulov, meanwhile, just can’t catch a break. The Kazakh fighter briefly retired after a number of contentious decisions that didn’t go his way, but opted to return against Estevam, looking to snap a three-fight skid.

The undefeated Rafael Estevam was set to make his promotional debut in the fight. He won his way into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, improving his record to 11-0 in the process.

UFC 288, headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champ Aljamain Sterling and the returning Henry Cejudo, now moves forward with the following bouts:

• Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Henry Cejudo — for the UFC bantamweight championship
• Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
• Jéssica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
• Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
• Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
• Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark
• Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
• Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter
• Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro

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