The Real Winners and Losers From UFC on ESPN 49
UFC on ESPN 49 went down on Saturday night in the promotion's Apex facility in Las Vegas.
Headlining honors for the card went to a women's bantamweight clash, with former champion Holly Holm taking on rising contender Mayra Bueno Silva. The division has been without a champion since the great Amanda Nunes retired earlier this year, so both women were looking to make big statements, and in the end, Bueno Silva did just that with a second-round submission win.
The card was co-headlined by the latest appearance from surging welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena. The Australian had been set to fight Sean Brady at UFC 290 earlier this month, but was left without a fight when Brady, and later his replacement Josiah Harrell, were both forced off the card. He was then matched up with the debuting Bassil Hafez on Saturday's card, and while he left the Octagon with a win, he had to settle for a split decision in the toughest test of his UFC career to date.
Earlier on the card, we saw big wins from rising lightweight Francisco Prado, streaking middleweight Junyong Park, and featherweight contender Norma Dumont.
All in all, the card was conspicuously lacking in relevant match-ups and big name fighters, but in the end, as is often the case, it produced some memorable action all the same.
Kee for the biggest winners and losers from the Las Vegas card.
Winner: Staking Your Claim
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The women's bantamweight throne has been vacant since Amanda Nunes retired earlier this year. At this stage, it's not certain who will be called upon to fight for the vacant title, but former champion Julianna Peña and long-time contender Raquel Pennington seem like frontrunners. The winner of UFC on ESPN 49's Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Holly Holm main event also looked like an obvious candidate.
In the end, Bueno Silva could not have made a much louder statement as she looks to position herself for that opportunity.
The Brazilian, who is now 4-0 in the bantamweight division, was aggressive from the opening bell. In round two, after seemingly stinging Holm with a punch, she locked up a standing guillotine that quickly looked inescapable. Moments later, Holm was desperately tapping out. It was the first time we've seen the former champion finished since she was knocked out by Nunes in 2019, and just her second submission loss ever.
With the win, Bueno Silva clearly needs to be involved in the fight for the vacant bantamweight belt, and she knows it, having passionately called for the opportunity in her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
"Now I want the belt, because I deserve it," she said. "Nobody finishes like me."
She also set her sights on Peña as her potential opponent.
"Julianna Peña, let's go," she said.
That would be a great matchup, and a great way to begin the next chapter of the UFC's oldest women's division.
Winner: Making the Most of a Big Opportunity
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Bassil Hafez was supposed to lose to Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC on ESPN 49 co-main event. In fact, he was supposed to get dominated. The Elevation Fight Team member, who was making his UFC debut, took the fight with Della Maddalena on short notice, and was expected to suffer the same fate as the last four men to have fought the Australian welterweight contender in the Octagon.
In the end, however, Hafez not only survived to the final bell with the No. 14-ranked knockout artist, but actually won the fight on one judges' scorecard, most likely on the strength of the takedowns he landed through round one and two.
While the newcomer didn't get the upset win he sought, he more than proved he deserves a spot on the UFC roster by giving one of the welterweight division's brightest young fighters the toughest test of his Octagon career to date.
It remains to be seen how far he'll be able to go on the sport's biggest stage, but after Saturday, fans will surely be watching him almost as closely as they are Della Maddalena, who remains a definite title threat, even after this competitive victory.
Della Maddalena is now 5-0 in the Octagon. Hafez, the former Fury FC welterweight champ, will have to wait for his first UFC win, but it feels inevitable.
Winner: Main Card Finishes
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The UFC on ESPN 49 undercard featured just one finish, and it wasn't one many people were celebrating, as Viktoriya Dudakova defeated Istela Nunes with a first-round arm injury.
Thankfully, things picked up quite a bit on the main card.
The main card actually began with a finish, as lightweight prospect Nazim Sadykhov picked up come-from-behind submission win over Terrence McKinney in the second round.
The next fight thereafter ended by decision, with Norma Dumont defeating Chelsea Chandler at featherweight, but fans were then treated to two back-to-back finishes.
The first came courtesy of rising South Korean middleweight Junyong Park, who scored his fourth-straight win with a second-round submission of Albert Duraev.
After that, 21-year-old Argentine lightweight Francisco Prado picked up his first UFC win, dropping Ottman Azaitar with a spinning elbow in round one, and finishing him off with a swarm of ground strikes that left his foe bloody.
It was the exactly kind of excitement fans needed after a very slow undercard, and a great appetizer for the final two fights of the night: a welterweight clash between Jack Della Maddalena and Bassil Hafez, and a bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Mayra Bueno Silva.
Loser: The Women's Featherweight Division
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When Amanda Nunes retired earlier this year, she relinquished the two titles she had held: the women's bantamweight and featherweight belts.
It feels like a matter of time before the UFC books a fight for the vacant bantamweight title, as there are a number of contenders in position to fight for the belt. Things are more murky at featherweight, which has only ever been home to a handful of fighters—so few that in all the time it has existed, it has still never had a Top 15 ranking.
In fact, there is legitimate reason to believe the UFC might just shut down the division altogether.
At UFC on ESPN 49, Norma Dumont and Chelsea Chandler met in what could be one of the UFC's last women's featherweight fights, with Dumont winning a clear-cut decision after three rounds.
Before the fight, Dumont stated that she hoped to show the UFC why the featherweight division was worth keeping around. She reiterated this goal after the fight, calling for a title shot and imploring the UFC that she's "here."
It doesn't feel like she was successful on that mission
While her win was impressive, it wasn't the kind of performance that's going to have fans clamoring to see more action in the weight class. Chandler didn't help their cause either, at and actually turned her back and ran away from her opponent after eating a punch in round two—a pretty awful look for a pro fighter, particularly one from a fight town like Stockton, California.
When you consider the fact that both Dumont and Chandler had made the bantamweight limit before, it seems even less likely that UFC brass will keep the featherweight division around to accommodate them.
Winner: New Blood
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Two undefeated prospects made their UFC debuts at Saturday's event in Las Vegas.
The first was Kazakhstan's Azat Maksum, who put his impressive 16-0 record on the line against dangerous flyweight veteran Tyson Nam. It was a close fight, as both man landed some big shots on the feet, but in the end, Maksum walked away with a split-decision win for a successful UFC debut.
While the win likely wasn't enough to push Maksum right into a top-15 fight, the future looks very bright for him, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him fighting the division's top dogs in the near future. "Qazaq" has finished 11 of his fights so far, so anyone he meets in the Octagon will need to be wary.
Later in the night, Russian strawweight Viktoriya Dudakova made her UFC debut, putting her 6-0 record on the line against Brazil's Istela Nunes.
The Russian won the fight in the first round, driving her foe to the ground with an unusual takedown attempt, and seemingly breaking the Brazilian's arm in the process. It was not the way anyone wants to see a fight end, and a finish many fans will call a fluke, but it marks a successful debut for the Russian all the same, and according to commentator Dominick Cruz, she deserves props for the performance.
"I thought she did what she needed to," he said. "That spin [on the takedown] is what caused that arm to break."
Time will tell what she can accomplish in the crowded strawweight division.
Winner: Taking Things Up a Notch
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The first three fights of the UFC on ESPN 49 card were decent, but not great, as Ailin Perez, Alex Munoz, and Azat Maksum picked up underwhelming decision wins over Ashlee-Evans Smith, Carl Deaton and Tyson Nam respectively.
The fourth fight of the night, a lightweight bout between Evan Elder and Genaro Valdez, looked from the early vantage point like it would provide a much-needed jolt of excitement, and it definitely lived up to those expectations.
While the fight went all three rounds, it was full of exciting striking action, with both men landing big shots at various times in the fight. The second round was particularly good, as both fighters landed knockdowns that looked like they could end the fight.
"The first three fights were much slower than this one," a seemingly relieved Daniel Cormier said mid-way through the fight.
In the end, Elder won the fight by unanimous decision. It was his first UFC win after losses to Preston Parsons and Nazim Sadykhov in his first two trips to the Octagon, and it gave the impression that he could have a bright future in the sport.
Valdez, on the other hand, is now on a three-fight skid, and may be sent packing from the UFC. However, the Mexican fighter has established himself as surefire entertainment, having been involved in a handful of memorable fights, and scored finishes in all of his wins.
Loser: Austin Lingo's Torso
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Brazilian featherweight Melquizael Costa picked up one of the most lopsided wins of the UFC on ESPN 49 undercard, dominating Austin Lingo to a clear-cut unanimous decision win. However, it was Lingo who received the bulk of the commentator's praise during the fight.
Over the course of the three round battle—particularly in rounds one and two—Costa landed a series of devastating body kicks that likely would have stopped lesser fighters in their tracks. But Lingo kept marching forward, earning the respective of former UFC champs Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz in the process.
"Every time he lands one of those kicks I cringe," Cormier said in the second round. "Those look so bad."
"Most would not be willing to go through this," he added in the third, clearly in awe of Lingo's toughness.
The fight immediately established Costa as a threat to a lot of fighters at 145 pounds, and gave the Brazilian plenty of reason to celebrate.
The future looks much less bright for Lingo after Saturday, but he still has plenty to be proud of two. To borrow an expression lightweight veteran Dan Hooker once used in a post-fight victory speech, he makes nails look soft.
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