The Real Winners and Losers From UFC Fight Night 241
After a rousing stop in St. Louis last weekend, the UFC was back at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The card was headlined by two top featherweights, with undefeated Brit Lerone Murphy looking to climb the ranks against veteran finisher Edson Barboza from Brazil. In the end, Murphy succeeded on his mission, pummelling Barboza to a decision win after five rounds.
The co-main event was contested at welterweight, with Khaos Williams taking on Carlton Harris. Neither man was near the rankings ahead of time, but after a knockout win in the first round, Williams is getting pretty close to the Top 15.
Other highlights of the card include an appetizing welterweight scrap between Themba Gorimbo and Ramiz Brahimaj, and a bantamweight bout between Adrian Yanez and Vinicius Salvador, both of whom are looking to rebound from back-to-back losses. Gorimbo won his fight by decision, and Yanez added to his highlight reel with a first-round KO.
It was a big night in the career of every fighter on the card. Keep scrolling for the biggest winners and losers of the night.
Loser: Being Too Tough for Your Own Good
1 of 7
Edson Barboza's main claim to fame is his incredible striking skill. He is behind some of the greatest knockout victories in UFC history—in any weight class. The other thing he's known for is his toughness. While he has been knocked out before, he has also withstood some truly hellacious punishment throughout his UFC career. Usually, he is applauded for his durability, but at UFC Fight Night 241, he started to look too tough for his good.
He wasn't stopped by Lerone Murphy in the card's main event, but by the time the fifth round was over, he had absorbed nearly 150 strikes, according to UFCStats.com, and over 80 percent of those were to the head. That's worrying, particularly given that he is 38 years old, with almost 40 pro fights behind him.
At this point, Barboza's days as a title contender are over. He may have another highlight reel KO or two in him, but in 2024, he has slowed down, which will only expose him to the risk of further punishment every time he steps into the Octagon. In other words, it might be time for him to start thinking about hanging up the gloves.
In Murphy's case, the opposite is true. He's now 14-0-1 overall, and having unseated Barboza, is probably no more than a few wins from a title shot.
Winner: Signs of Promise
2 of 7
Khaos Williams has always been a proven knockout threat. Heading into UFC Fight Night 241, he had scored eight of his 14 wins with his hands and feet. There was no question that he had the power to put people down. However, he wasn't widely considered a serious contender at 170 pounds.
While it would still be premature to call him a serious title threat in the division, he might just crack the Top 15 before all is said and done—and maybe get even further than that.
Williams was back in action against Carlston Harris on Saturday. Harris was riding two-straight wins heading into the fight, but ultimately proved no match for Williams, deflating under a storm of first-round punches.
Having knocked Harris out, Williams is now on a two-fight streak of his own. That's nothing to write home about, but when you consider that the only setbacks of his UFC career have been a split decision loss against proven commodity Randy Brown and a unanimous decision loss to Michel Pereira, who is now a bona fide contender at middleweight, his record looks pretty good.
Throw in the fact that he's still only 30 years old, and the chances of him making a real impact at 170 pounds seem all the higher. Keep an eye on this guy.
Winner: Bouncing Back
3 of 7
Heading into 2023, Adrian Yanez looked like he might be a future champion at bantamweight. He had won nine straight fights, and many of those by stoppage, and it was getting more difficult to imagine anybody slowing him down.
When it came time for Yanez to get a step up, however, things fell apart. In the biggest fight of his career, he was walloped by long-time contender Rob Font to a first-round knockout loss. In his next fight, he ran into a fellow prospect in Jonathan Martinez, and that time had his legs chopped out from under him en route to a second-round stoppage loss.
Suffice it to say that Yanez had his back against the wall in his UFC Fight Night 241 fight with Vinicius Salvador. He might have even been cut from the promotion if he lost again.
In the end, he could not have gotten a better result, as he got back to his old form with a quick and slick first-round knockout win.
It's going to take a little more than that to get Yanez back to the outer edges of the Top 15, where he was at the beginning of 2023, but with some work, he might just become the contender we all initially thought he would be.
It'll be exciting to see where he goes from from here.
Winner: New Blood
4 of 7
The UFC Fight Night 241 undercard was concluded by a pair of big wins from two newer faces in the Octagon.
First up, French light heavyweight Oumar Sy made his promotional debut against England's Tuco Tokkos. The Frenchman made it look easy, tapping his opponent out with a rear-naked choke inside a round.
Next, Australian lightweight Tom Nolan stepped into the Octagon with Victor Martinez. It was the Aussie's second Octagon appearance after a disastrous debut, which saw him get knocked out by Nicolas Motta inside a round, but this time, he performed much better, knocking his foe out with a knee and follow-up punches in the first round.
It remains to be seen how far either man can get in the Octagon, but both showed a lot of potential in Vegas on Saturday night. Sy made a particularly big statement, as he improved to 10-0 in victory, and competes in one of the UFC's most shallow divisions. A few more wins, and he will be banging on the door of the Top 15, where fights with the division's biggest stars await.
Loser: Unadvised Weight Class Changes
5 of 7
Warlley Alves was once considered a top prospect at welterweight. He never lived up to that hype, but as of early 2023, was still very competitive against solid opposition and conceivably could have picked up some big wins in the weight class before the end of his career.
Instead, he decided to hike up to middleweight.
His first fight at 185 pounds came last October when he took on Ikram Aliskerov. He lost that fight via first-round stoppage, and while it was a short-notice challenge for him, the result seemed like a pretty good sign that he should return to welterweight.
He had other plans.
At UFC Fight Night 241, he took his second middleweight fight, this time against Abus Nurmagomedov. He managed to avoid a stoppage loss this time, but was still soundly beaten over three rounds en route to a unanimous decision loss.
That brings him to 0-2 as a middleweight. Given that he lost his last two fights at welterweight too, he might be cut from the UFC altogether, but if they keep him around, a move back down to welterweight seems like the obvious choice.
Loser: Bending the Rules
6 of 7
In MMA, we complain a lot about fouls like eye pokes and groin shots. At best, they compromise fighters and force long breaks in the action, and at worst, they end fights prematurely.
Better gloves and protective gear could one day help diminish the frequency of those fouls, but one thing we'll likely never be fully rid of is head butts. The fact of the matter is, now and then, two fighters lunge in at the same time, their heads collide, and they're either cut or badly rocked by the impact. Most of the time, it's an accident, but sometimes we see a fighter do it on purpose.
That seems to be what we saw on the UFC Fight Night 241 undercard, in a strawweight clash between Ariane Carnelossi and Piera Rodriguez. Mid-way through the second round, during a grappling exchange, Rodriguez drove her forehead right into Carnelossi's face, and it sure didn't look like an accident.
Unfortunately, Carnelossi could not continue, and the bout was waved off. She was then named the winner via disqualification, which is surely not the kind of victory she had envisioned when she flew to Vegas.
It's a situation where nobody wins, but Rodriguez definitely lost.
UFC Fight Night 241 Full Card Results
7 of 7
Main Card | 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Lerone Murphy def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision
Khaos Williams def. Carlston Harris via KO at 1:30 of the first round
Themba Gorimbo def. Ramiz Brahimaj via unanimous decision
Adrian Yanez def. Vinicius Salvador via TKO at 2:47 of the first round
Angela Hill def. Luana Pinheiro via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:12 of the second round
Preliminary Card | 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Tom Nolan def. Victor Martinez via TKO at 3:50 of the first round
Oumar Sy def. Tuco Tokkos via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:43 of the first round
Melissa Gatto def. Tamires Vidal via TKO at 0:37 of the third round
Ariane Carnelossi def. Piera Rodriguez via DQ (head butt) at 3:16 of the second round
Heili Alateng def. Kleydson Rodrigues via unanimous decision
Vanessa Demopoulos def. Emily Ducote via unanimous decision
.jpg?w=600 "Most Exciting NFL Camp Battles ⚔️")
.jpg?w=600 "Mahomes May Return For OTAs")