Coming in a full eight pounds over the bantamweight limit, Oliveira forced a 144lb catchweight, basically making the bout a featherweight affair. Fined 50% of his purse, Oliveira was required to weigh no more than 155lbs on the night of the fight, a mark he fortunately hit.

The night’s opening fight went to the ground early, and Oliveira was soon showing his power advantage, escaping one position, then getting up, reversing along the fence and landing a takedown care of a body lock. Lacerda escaped out, with the pair trading knees in close thereafter. Later in the round, going to the ground again, it was Lacerda taking the back and getting a body triangle in place. He went hunting for a rear-naked choke, but couldn’t force the tap. Instead, he fired off a few punches, transitioned to mount, and took the back again just before the horn.

Lacerda was on top early in the second, working some shots to the body while Oliveira tried to tie things up, throw something up off his back, or just find space. He succeeded at none of the above, and instead Lacerda again took the back. One hook went in, then another, as Lacerda flattened Oliveira out. Lacerda soon had a body lock in place, with a full two minutes on the clock. Oliveira, however, reversed the position, and on top began dropping elbows to the delight of the crowd at the Farmasi Arena.

Just went it seemed like Oliveira was in control, however, Luan Lacerda locked up an arm-bar. It was deep, and Oliveira was forced to submit! He could be seen favoring the limb after the ref called the fight.

Official Result: Luan Lacerda def. Saimon Oliveira by submission (arm-bar), Round 2, 3:55

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In the co-main event, Drew Dober was stopped by Manuel Torres. And in the main event, former UFC flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno, pulled off a well-fought unanimous decision. It was nearly a clean sweep for Mexican fighters on the main card with the only loser being Ronaldo Rodriguez. Ronaldo also has the pleasure of being the only fighter on this edition of losers that isn’t on a three-fight losing streak.

Steve Erceg

Steve Erceg lost a unanimous decision to Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC Mexico City on Saturday.  Erceg has now lost three fights in a row stemming from his unsuccessful title shot against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 last year. Tough break for Erceg as he started his UFC career off red hot, winning three fights in about nine months.

Erceg entered the bout as the #8 ranked flyweight while his opponent entered ranked at #2. Steve needs to slow down a bit. The UFC through him right into the deep end after his three-fight win streak. Well Erceg sank. It’s time to take a step back and give him a lot more manageable of a fight.

Erceg should fight Tim Elliot in his next fight. Elliot is a tenured fighter that is currently ranked at #11 in the UFC’s flyweight division. Tim might be 38 years old, but he has won three of his last four fights. Elliot was last in action in December of 2023 with his performance bonus winning submission of Sumudaerji. Elliot was matched up with Tatsuro Taira last May but withdrew from that bout. This would be a great scrap as Tim is such an awkward fighter that always pushes the pace.

Erceg’s next fight: Tim Elliot 

Drew Dober

Manuel Torres stopped Drew Dober in the opening round of the co main event Saturday. Dober is now on a three-fight losing skid. Drew has lost four of his last five fights and been stopped in three of those. It’s been a rough 13 months for Dober who took to X (formerly known as Twitter) after the bout, to hint that he could potentially be taking a little bit of time off until his next fight.

With that in mind, Dober’s next fight can’t be a rapidly ascending prospect. A fight against Claudio Puelles could make sense. The 28-year-old is 5-3 with the UFC but is on a two-fight losing streak. The submission specialist was finished by Dan Hooker in 2022 and dropped a split decision to Fares Ziam in his most recent bout last February. Claudio has three kneebar submission finishes in his UFC career thus far. Dober has faced serious striking threats in his most recent bouts so this could be a welcome change of pace.

Dober’s next fight: Claudio Puelles

CJ Vergara

Edgar Chairez submitted CJ Vergara in the first round of their bout with a rear naked choke. With the loss, Vergara has now lost three fights in a row. And Vergara has now been finished twice in a row in the first round.

Obviously in a weight class like flyweight (where ranked fighters have been cut), Vergara is in real danger of being released. Vergara needs a good showing in his next bout.

CJ should fight the loser of Ode Osbourne vs Luis Gurule. That fight is going down on April 5th, so the timing is perfect. Luis Gurule is a 10-0, 31-year-old, 2024 Contender Series alumni. The LFA and Fury FC veteran earned a contract from a split decision victory over Nick Piccininni last year. Ode Osbourne is 4-6 with the UFC since coming off the Contender Series in 2019. Ode has lost his last three fights and was stopped in two of them. Depending on how that fight goes, the loser could be in a very similar position as Vergara. If Ode loses this has the potential to be a wild striking battle but either way the bout would be a high stakes scrap.

Vergara’s next fight: Loser of Ode Osbourne vs Luis Gurule

Vince Morales

The UFC’s golden boy, Raul Rosas Jr. snagged a unanimous decision victory opposite of Vince Morales on Saturday at UFC Mexico City. Morales is now riding a three-fight losing streak in his second stint with the UFC. Morales was with the UFC between 2018 and 2022 going 3-5 in his first stint with the promotion.

The 2018 Contender Series alum is now 3-8 with the UFC. Morales is in danger of losing his roster spot. It makes sense for him to take on another guy in a similar position. Vince should fight Saimon Oliveira in his next fight. Oliveira also fought on UFC Mexico City and is in a very similar position to Morales.  Stylistically, Morales has threats while both standing and on the ground. Hes a fighter that has fought for a few flagship promotions and taken on some high-level competition. A scrap vs Saimon would be entertaining as the loser would likely be sent packing.

Morales’s next fight: Saimon Oliveira

Saimon Oliveira

Saimon Oliveira was stopped in the opening round of his bout against UFC debutant, David Martinez, on the main card of UFC Mexico City. With the loss, Saimon is now 0-3 with the UFC. It’s worth noting the 2021 Contender Series alum has faced some solid competition during his tenure, his other losses coming to Tony Gravely and Daniel Marcos. Despite this fact, Oliveria is undoubtedly on the short list to be cut.

Oliveira’s next fight should be against Vince Morales. Vince fought in the fight following Oliveira’s on Saturday. Oliveira hasn’t shown it yet in the UFC, but he looks to be something of a submission specialist. This fact could make for a fun and unpredictable fight against Vergara. One thing is for sure, this fight would be action packed as two Contender Series alum fight for their spot on the UFC roster.

Oliveira’s next fight: Vince Morales

Ronaldo Rodriguez

Ronaldo Rodriguez lost a unanimous decision to Kevin Borjas to open the main card of UFC Mexico City Saturday. “Lazy Boy” missed weight ahead of what was his first loss in seven fights. Rodriguez had not lost since his 2020 appearance on the Contender Series to Jerome Rivera. Ronaldo is now 2-1 with the UFC.

What a momentum destroying appearance for Ronaldo. Between the loss, the weight miss and the fact that he was a favorite, it was definitely his worst fight with the promotion. Rodriguez has a couple different plays here: He could take on another prospect like Rei Tsuruya (who also suffered his first loss with the promotion recently). Or he could take a step back a face a guy like Daneil Barez. Daniel is a 2021 Contender Series alum who is 1-2 in his UFC career. Barez last fought earlier this month, when Andre Lima submitted him in the final round of their bout.

High risk, high reward, fighting a guy like Rei as he’s very skilled but still doesn’t have much of a name within the promotion. Rei’s most recent fight was also earlier this month when he lost a unanimous decision to Joshua Van (who is now ranked at #14 at FW). For that reason, a fight against Daniel Barez makes the most sense at this point for Rodriguez. A win, especially in an impressive fashion would get “Lazy Boy” right back on track.

Rodriguez’s next fight: Daniel Barez

The post What’s Next: UFC Mexico City Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

The bantamweight fight was the first in over two years for the returning Oliveira, leaving him at something of a disadvantage and a clear underdog in the fight.

Round one began with Martínez taking the center of the cage, using hard feints to dictate the pace. He relied heavily on kicks and lateral movement early, making it difficult for Oliveira to find his range. Desperate to close the distance, Oliveira rushed in without setups, allowing Martínez to clinch and break away with ease.

With less than a minute remaining, Martínez landed a right hand that rocked Oliveira but chose not to pursue immediately. Moments later, he capitalized on an opening, slipping back to land a crisp right-hand counter followed by a devastating knee that sent Oliveira crashing to the canvas. Martínez sealed the victory with ground-and-pound, rendering the Brazilian unconscious.

Now having joined sister “Super Mely” Melissa Martinez in the UFC, things are most certainly looking up for David Martinez moving forward. The pair are a rare brother-sister duo to compete inside the octagon.

Official Result: David Martínez def. Saimon Oliveira by TKO (Knee and GNP), Round 1, 4:38

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Marcos, who had missed three years prior to his Contender Series fight, put his undefeated, 13-0 record on the line in the fight.

Thirty seconds into the card’s opening fight, Oliveira shot in on a takedown. It was against the cage and Marcos was able to defend and circle out. Oliveira shot in on another takedown but it came from a mile away — an attempt which Marcos easily defended.

Marcos was the one pressing forward. Oliveira was landing well but was more worried about pushing Marcos against the cage. Marcos kept defending the takedowns and started to mix it up in space. Oliveira was being very sloppy throwing pointless spinning attacks not coming close. Marcos was making him pay by landing some clean shots in the closing seconds of the round. Marcos was more aggressive and landed the more significant shots. Also, the takedown defense of Daniel Marcos was perfect.

In round two Oliveira started off by missing another spinning backfist. Marcos hurt Oliveira with a body kick forcing him to shoot. Marcos defended and landed a combination, resulting in Oliveira turning away from him. Marcos was going to the body and head while using the kicks mixing it up. He kept going after Oliveira and Oliveira was turning away from him again and again, turtling up. More blows to the body and some knees put Oliveira down and the ref stepped in.

DANIEL MARCOS, WELCOME TO THE UFC!!!! #UFC283 pic.twitter.com/eSVZJqPJk5

— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2023

“I worked really hard, I only had a few weeks to come back here, but I knew I was going to come back here,” Marcos said following the fight, before calling for “50Gs, baby!”

Official Result: Daniel Marcos def. Saimon Oliveira by TKO (knees and punches), Round 2, 2:18

The post UFC 283: Daniel Marcos Impresses in Debut, Stops Saimon Oliveira appeared first on Cageside Press.

“If only I could have gotten like 2 or 3 more. Maybe if I had like one more minute I could have gotten a couple more,” Gravely said with a laugh at his post-fight media scrum.

Gravely (22-7) defeated Oliveira (18-4) via unanimous decision after putting the Brazilian on the canvas 11 times in the fight.

“It’s a tough one. Wasn’t as pretty as I expected. Every time you go out there to get the finish but we knew he was tough. We knew that he was going to be relentless on the guillotines. He’s more of a striker. I guess i’ll have to watch to see exactly how I feel about my performance but obviously I’m happy to come away with the win and get back in the winning column.”

During the bout Oliveira was able to land a shot on Gravely that resulted in his left eye swelling up which Gravely sported in the post-fight media scrum.

“He actually caught me with a front kick. It was his toes I remember his toes hit me in the eye. His toes that was like the first little bit of the round. The knees that he did, if I could remember correctly, I don’t think any of them landed to my face. I jammed a couple and they kind of hit my chest so I took him down. But the front kick is what got my eye in the first, if I could remember…you saw the fight, I was just in there.”

As for what’s next Gravely actually had a name ready.

“I’m not really big on call outs but I’d like to fight Chris Gutierrez. There was a fight, I think it was after the contender series, kind of forgot about it, and he called me out. I can’t let that go unpunished.”

Watch the full UFC 270 post-fight press conference with Tony Gravely above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

The post UFC 270: Tony Gravely Comes Close To Takedown Record In Win appeared first on Cageside Press.

While Oliveira came in on a full head of steam, riding a five-fight win streak, Gravely was looking to bounce back from a loss to Nate Maness in his last outing.

Early on, Oliveira launched into a flying knee attempt. But when it fell short, the Brazilian was stuck with Gravely on top of him. He didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he caught Gravely in a guillotine choke, and put the squeeze on. Gravely was in a bad spot, but gutted it out, eventually pulling free despite not bothering to really fight the hands.

What a start to the fight for Saimon Oliveira 👀 #UFC270 pic.twitter.com/Qm1X90LGmv

— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022

From there, Gravely moved to half-guard, firing away with ground n’ pound while Saimon Oliveira did little more than cover up. The barrage wasn’t violent enough to warrant a stoppage, however. Instead, Gravely just built up a lead on the scorecards, until Oliveira wall-walked up with roughly half the round remaining.

He wasn’t up for long. Gravely landed a trip, and this time, Oliveira’s guillotine attempt was short lived. So was the takedown, and Oliveira was soon back up, leading to him reversing Gravely momentarily, before Gravely put him back on the fence. Oliveira would manage one more guillotine attempt before the end of the round.

It was another takedown early in round two from Gravely — and another guillotine attempt from Oliveira. On the feet, Gravely drove his opponent into the cage, but the Brazilian did manage to fire knees and eventually reverse. He also had a little more pep in his step by the midway point of the second — though Gravely would change levels and land yet another takedown. Going into the final minute, Gravely landed some big ground strikes, which forced Oliveira to scramble out and up. The American let his hands go as Oliveira covered up to end the frame.

Oliveira opened up the third round with another flying knee attempt that ended up more of a kick. When Gravely took him down, Oliveira answered with another guillotine attempt. But the definition of insanity, as they say, is repeating the same actions again and again, expecting different results. The results for Oliveira were no different, as Gravely easily avoided the submission, moved into half-guard, and put the pressure on.

A standing guillotine by Oliveira in the final two minutes looked slick, but when Oliveira took it to the ground, Gravely used the fence to escape the hold. By that point, Tony Gravely had a good ten takedowns (he’d later add an eleventh), and plenty of control time. He even managed to tag Oliveira with an uppercut in the final minute. They scrapped it out until the final bell; come the scorecards being read, there were zero surprises.

Official Result: Tony Gravely def. Saimon Oliveira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC 270: Tony Gravely Avoids Flying Knees, Guillotines to Win Decision Over Saimon Oliveira appeared first on Cageside Press.

In a historic first, last week’s Contender Series outing saw a losing fighter (Carlos Candelario) granted a contract. While UFC President Dana White had hinted in the past that such a thing could happen, it still came as something of a surprise. In total, five contracts were handed out on an episode that only had four fights to begin with.

Would there be any similar surprises this week? Among the notables were Bellator MMA veteran Chidi Njokuani, a dangerous striker in a middleweight showdown with Mario Sousa, and ONE Championship veteran Muin Gafurov. For those keeping track, Gafurov’s only loss since 2016 had come against UFC ex-pat John Lineker.

Dana White’s Contender Series 2021 Week 2 kicks off at 8PM ET on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass internationally. Full results from DWCS Season 5 Week 2 can be found below.

Kicking off Saturday’s card, Gafurov went the distance with Chad Anheliger. Muin’s wrestling was on point, but he would eat a nasty knee and found himself in danger. Come the third it was still anyone’s fight, and they’d swing right to the bell. In the end, Canada’s Anheliger would pick up the split decision win, as the biggest underdog on the card no less.

CJ Vergara wasted no time whatsoever sealing the deal for a UFC contract in the second fight of the night. A right hand rocked Bruno Korea, knees in the clinch softened him up, and a final knee to the body sent him down. Less than a minute, and the UFC’s flyweight division has its latest addition.

The second bantamweight fight of the evening also went the distance — and also ended in a split decision. That saw Saimon Oliveira get his hand raised.

Chidi Njokuani had the edge on the feet and on the ground in his fight with Mario Sousa. The first round seemed to drag on forever due to multiple low blows by Sousa. It was probably even longer for Chidi. In the end, he put it away in the third round.

Josh Quinlan, in the final fight of the evening, seemed to find a home for every strike he threw. Short-notice opponent Logan Urban lasted less than a minute.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 2 Results

Welterweight: Josh Quinlan def. Logan Urban by knockout, Round 1, 0:47
Middleweight: Chidi Njokuani def. Mario Sousa by TKO, Round 3, 1:35
Bantamweight: Saimon Oliveira def. José Alday by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Flyweight: Carlos Vergara def. Bruno Korea by TKO, Round 1, 0:41
Bantamweight: Chad Anheliger def. Muin Gafurov by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Contracts: Chad Anheliger, CJ Vergara, Saimon Oliveira, Chidi Njokuani, Josh Quinlan

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 2 Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Welterweight: Logan Urban vs. Josh Quinlan

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Who has the advantage?

Striking: Quinlan
Speed: Urban
Output/Volume: Quinlan
Knockout Power: Quinlan
Chin: Quinlan
Kickboxing: Even
Footwork: Urban
Wrestling: Urban
Grappling: Urban
Submissions: Urban
Cardio: Even

Prediction

This card took a hit when Darian Weeks had to pull out of this fight, but Urban is a wonderful replacement.

With Quinlan, it’s all violence for him as he’s always throwing and looking to finish. Urban is just as dangerous but more methodical in his approach. He can be a bit too patient at times but is such a dangerous counter striker. If you come in blind he will catch you. If you throw single strikes he will catch you. I would love to see Urban throw more combinations because when he does, he’s much more of a threat. Instead, he will throw power straights in just one strike. That opens the door for him to get countered and Quinlan is not someone to sleep on.

Urban does have a clearer path to victory in using his wrestling and grappling. I’m not sure it’s good enough to take Quinlan down however. Quinlan has decent takedown defense but is no slouch like the guys Urban has been fighting. I’m predicting this fight to stay on the feet and it’s going to be a matter of who catches who first. I’m siding with the more active and dangerous fighter in Quinlan. I won’t be surprised if Urban wins but he has to put it together and not wait on Quinlan to engage. If he waits to much he’s going to pay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgpnEz31eQY

The post DWCS 2021 Week 2 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.

A former Combate Americas (now Combate Global) bantamweight champion will get his shot at the big show as Jose “El Pochito” Alday steps in for Javid Basharat to face Saimon Oliveira on the upcoming episode of Dana White’s Contender Series.  First reported by MMADNA, sources confirmed the bout to Cageside Press, with Alday stepping in on five days notice.

Alday (14-5-1) rose to prominence in 2018 when he upset Contender Series veteran and current UFC fighter John Castaneda in a short notice headliner for Combate Americas.  Alday would quickly become one of the faces of the promotion, being a part of tv spots for Cricket Wireless during broadcasts.  He would go on to defeat promotional veteran and current UFC fighter Gustavo Lopez to win the first championship in Combate Americas history.  Alday most recently fought in May where he picked up a first round knockout over Marcos Lopez.

Oliveira (17-3) is riding a four fight win-streak going into the bout and has fought in promotions such as ACB, Sicario, and Pancrase.  The Brazilian is respected for his skills on the ground with most of his victories coming by submission.

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