UFC on ABC 9 Live Winners and Losers, Results
If you're going international, go big.
The UFC took that mantra seriously while assembling a 12-bout card that included 11 ranked fighters and a main event with an ex-middleweight champ.
Former 185-pound kingpin Robert Whittaker was the lead man on the marquee at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, where he met Dutch jiu-jitsu ace Reinier de Ridder in a five-rounder that matched the division's fifth- and 13th-ranked contenders.
Now 34, Whittaker has been with the UFC since 2012 and was its champion for nearly two full years from 2017 to 2019 before he was TKO'd by Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia. He was 6-3 in nine fights since, including a decision loss in a title rematch against Adesanya at UFC 271 and a rear-naked choke loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his most recent appearance at UFC 308 last October.
De Ridder, meanwhile, was 17-2 in other promotions before arriving in the big leagues last fall and reeling off consecutive finishes of Gerald Meerschaert (SUB 3), Kevin Holland (SUB 1) and Bo Nickal (TKO 2) that moved him into the top 15.
The B/R combat team took in the entire card and delivered a real-time list of its definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Competitive Compromise
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De Ridder came for a finish. But he’ll certainly take the decision.
The rising Dutch contender presumably punched his ticket into the middleweight top 10 with a harder-than-expected five-rounder against Whittaker, winning three of five rounds on two judges scorecards to emerge with a grueling victory by split verdict.
“I don’t want a fight like this. This guy was too tough,” said de Ridder, whose now-four-fight win streak is the fourth-longest active run in the weight class. “I want to finish someone in the first round.”
It wasn’t happening against the popular Australia-based Whittaker, who controlled the opening five minutes with sharper, faster striking before de Ridder’s methodical aggression and superior height and reach allowed him to initiate tie-ups along the fence and get his opponent to the ground in second and third rounds while running up nearly five minutes in positional control time.
Whittaker rallied again in the fourth and controlled the last half of the round with boxing, but de Ridder swayed the two deciding judges in a final round in which he was unsuccessful on four takedown attempts but was awarded better than two minutes of control time along the fence.
All three judges gave de Ridder the fifth round, allowing him to move to 4-0 in the UFC while Whittaker dropped to 17-7 and lost for the fifth time in his last 11 fights.
The B/R card agreed with the dissenting judge and had it 3-2 for Whittaker.
“I’m pretty butthurt, to be honest,” Whittaker said. “But it was a lot of pressure. He has a lot of skill sets.”
Winner: Perpetual Pain
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It’s not as if Petr Yan wasn’t getting hit.
In fact, the former bantamweight champ was on the receiving end of hard punches and punishing kicks throughout his three-round co-main with Marcus McGhee.
But he never stopped coming forward. And he never stopped delivering blows of his own.
It was the perpetual punishment that ultimately won the day, with the 32-year-old Russian escaping with a competitive but clear unanimous decision that included a 2-1 margin in rounds on all three scorecards.
The third-ranked contender had some difficulty with McGhee’s speed, movement and precise striking in the opening five minutes, but gradually took over with pressure and hard right hands that frequently had his opponent stumbling backward.
A prolonged fence-side tie-up allowed Yan to run up a significant edge in total strikes in the final round before a late takedown and a brief bid for a kimura finish sealed the result.
“My opponent was a strong guy,” Yan said. “He was good.”
Yan became a champion after a brutal beatdown of Jose Aldo at UFC 251 in 2020, but he lost the belt by disqualification against Aljamain Sterling eight months later and dropped a decision to Sterling at UFC 273.
He lost subsequent fights to future champs Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili but has since rallied with three consecutive victories that he believes warrant another title try.
“Merab please,” he said. “I want a title fight next.”
Winner: Craving Blood
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Every now and then, the bloodthirsty fans get satisfied.
The middleweight bout between Shara Magomedov and Marc-Andre Barriault delivered free-flowing titillation for the ghoulish, with both men sustaining damage that left their faces, bodies and the octagonal canvas beneath them stained in crimson.
Magomedov emerged from the bloodbath with a shutout decision thanks to three 30-27 scorecards.
But the official result doesn’t tell the whole story of a scrap that saw Magomedov dominate stretches with creative kicks and punishing knees and elbows, while Barriault bravely plowed forward and appeared to break Magomedov’s nose with a second-round elbow.
Magomedov bled for the rest of the fight, while Barriault was cut high on the head in the first and continued to ooze throughout as blood smeared his body and legs.
“That,” analyst Michael Bisping said, “was a stunning performance of mixed martial arts.”
The win was the fifth in six UFC fights for Magomedov, who’d dropped a decision to Michael Page in February. Barriault, meanwhile, has lost nine of 15 with the company after arriving in 2019, having gone 11-1 in smaller promotions.
“I’m happy. My opponent was very strong. A very hard fighter,” Magomedov said. “I’m not going to repeat my mistakes again.”
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Winner: Patient Punishment
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When an analyst, in this case Paul Felder, describes a landed blow as having the sound of “a 2 x 4 landing upside his head,” you know it was a good shot.
So, it was no surprise that Bogdan Guskov was happy about it.
The Uzbek light heavyweight ran an active win streak to four fights and likely parlayed it into a top-10 ranking with a first-round TKO victory over No. 10 contender Nikita Krylov that was defined by one right hand.
The shot came after Guskov had spent much of the round trying to draw Krylov forward, so, as the 33-year-old Russian finally advanced, he was greeted by the blow that landed flush on the left side of his head and dumped him to the floor on his right hip.
Guskov immediately pounced and let loose with a series of ground shots that forced the hand of referee Marc Goddard at 4:18.
“I waited for the moment,” Guskov said. “And at that moment, the guy was stunned.”
It was the 32-year-old’s 15th KO in 18 career wins and his fourth straight finish in the UFC since a submission loss to Volkan Oezdemir in his September 2023 debut.
As for the future, the winner was succinct in his ambition.
“Just give me a location and say for me a name,” Guskov said, “and it’s on.”
Winner: Thug Nastiness
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Welcome to the Bryce Mitchell Experience, bantamweight edition.
The polarizing American took a run of three losses in five fights at 145 pounds as a cue to move down a weight class, and his experiment paid off on Saturday with a narrow but unanimous decision defeat of Said Nurmagomedov in the prelim feature.
All three judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Mitchell, who was rattled by a hard knee in the first round but carried the second and third with relentless pressure, takedowns and significant control time that made the result academic.
Nurmagomedov had a significant 100-39 edge in total strikes landed but it took a back seat to Mitchell’s grappling, which yielded three takedowns in nine attempts and nearly 10 full minutes (9:44) of positional control time.
It was Mitchell’s ninth win in 12 UFC appearances and came three months after he was submitted by guillotine choke by Jean Silva in his featherweight finale at UFC 314. Still, he suggested the debut at 135 was his toughest task yet.
“(Nurmagomedov) was honestly my hardest fight ever,” he said. “He does not look as strong and fast on film as he does when he’s hitting you.”
Winner: Countering Confidence
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Carlos Leal was full of confidence.
The 31-year-old Brazilian welterweight was 10 years younger than opponent Muslim Salikhov and insisted during fight week that he’d drag the grizzled Russian into the deep waters thanks to a high-intensity pace.
Well, maybe next time it’ll go a little better.
The powerfully built striker was already trying to close distance early in the first round, but he didn’t account for a sneaky counter right hand coming back in his direction, and it was that shot that immediately ended matters when it landed.
Leal took the shot squarely on the face and was instantly rendered senseless, dropping to his right knee before pitching face-forward toward the fence as referee Dan Movahedi waved it off after just 42 seconds.
“I was trying to keep my range for kicks and punches,” said Salikhov, who arrived as a +400 underdog. “(Leal) always gives pressure but I was ready, I’m working hard, and I feel that I’m going to get 50 Gs.”
It was his 15th first-round finish overall and a third straight win in the UFC since his most recent loss 17 months ago.
“I’m 41 years young,” he said. “I’m with a new team, I feel I’m getting stronger. Maybe I’m getting younger now, too.”
Winner: Shark Week
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When the punches and takedowns don’t work, throw the elbows.
That was the between-rounds advice from Tabatha Ricci’s corner team and the powerful Brazilian strawweight put it to work, unleashing a barrage of shots from a tie-up along the fence that left taller, longer opponent Amanda Ribas sagging to the canvas.
Nicknamed “Baby Shark,” Ricci sensed the end was near and delivered a subsequent series of ground strikes that forced Movahedi's hand and ended the fight at 2:59 of Round 2.
Five inches shorter than her 5’6” foe, Ricci’s left elbows traveled up from a crouch and struck Ricci repeatedly, including one in which the point of the elbow landed squarely in Ribas’ left eye socket and clearly created distress. A few more blows prompted the drop to the floor, where Ricci scored the fifth finish of her 12 career wins.
It’ll yield a spike in the rankings, too, where Ricci arrived as the No. 10 contender at 115 pounds compared to Ribas’ No. 7 position. “I struck like a shark tonight,” Ricci said. “I needed the victory. I want to climb the ranks.”
Loser: Saving Face
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So, you want to be an MMA fighter, eh?
Take a quick look at the left eye of Mohammad Yahya and you might reconsider.
The Abu Dhabi-based featherweight was on the wrong side of a UFC-record six knockdowns and wound up sustaining what analyst Michael Bisping guessed was a fractured left orbital bone before the cage-side physician and referee Jason Herzog waved things off at the end of Round 2.
The brutal output made a winner out of American slugger Steven Nguyen, who’d fought three times on the Contender Series before earning a contract and dropped a decision to Jarno Errens in his octagonal debut 16 months ago.
“It feels f---ing amazing,” Nguyen said. “I worked my a-- off to get here and I’ve been working so hard for this moment.”
Nguyen burst from his corner with fury in the opening round and scored five knockdowns in an initial five-minute session that Yahya was fortunate to survive thanks to the patience of Herzog. Yahya began the second with a flurry of his own, but Nguyen quickly regained the upper hand with another knockdown amid a 108-strike final output that included 75 significant blows to Yahya’s head.
“The fight’s not over ’til it’s over,” Nguyen said. “I wanted that finish. And here we are now.”
Loser: Tough Transition
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Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Marcus Buchecha was a decorated grappler when he decided to give MMA a try in 2021 and had won five of six before graduating to the UFC amid significant hype and a slot as a betting favorite against 13th-ranked heavyweight Martin Buday.
So, to say it didn’t go well for him is a significant understatement.
Instead, the 35-year-old struggled to take his massive opponent to the ground and didn’t get enough done when he got him there, ultimately losing the first and last rounds on the way to a unanimous decision loss in which all three judges had it 29-28.
Buchecha converted just one of 11 takedown attempts, was reversed twice on the mat, and got out-landed by a 92-80 margin in terms of strikes in losing for the second time in three fights after beginning his run with four straight victories.
Loser: Baker's Dozen
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A 12-bout card would have been 13 had it not been for an injury that scuttled the initially planned co-main event between top-ranked featherweight contender Movsar Evloev and Aaron Pico.
Evloev, a 31-year-old Russian, is 19-0 as a pro and a winner of nine straight decisions since arriving to the UFC in 2019. But he's just as frequently been on the sidelines, as evidenced by multiple previous cancellations.
He was removed from the bout with Pico thanks to an undisclosed issue that necessitated the match between Yan and McGhee moving up to the card's No. 2 spot.
Evloev beat Sterling in his most recent fight in December.
Pico, 28, is 13-4 in a pro run spent exclusively with the Bellator promotion and had won nine of 10 fights since the start of 2020. He was rescheduled into a co-main next month at UFC 319 against unbeaten Lerone Murphy, who's ranked sixth at 145.
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Reinier de Ridder def. Robert Whittaker by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
Petr Yan def. Marcus McGhee by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shara Magomedov def. Marc-Andre Barriault by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Asu Almabayev def. Jose Ochoa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Bogdan Guskov def. Nikita Krylov by TKO (punches), 4:18, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Bryce Mitchell def. Said Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Muslim Salikhov def. Carlos Leal by KO (punch), 0:42, Round 1
Davey Grant def. Da'Mon Blackshear by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tabatha Ricci def. Amanda Ribas by TKO (elbows), 2:59, Round 2
Billy Elekana def. Ibo Aslan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya by TKO (referee stoppage), 5:00, Round 2
Martin Buday def. Marcus Buchecha by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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