UFC Fight Night 260 Live Winners and Losers, Results
It's a big stretch for the UFC's light heavyweights.
Seven days before champion Magomed Ankalaev meets the man from whom he took the title, ex-two-division champ Alex Pereira, in Las Vegas, two contenders looking to jump the line for the next shot got together in Perth, Australia.
Third-ranked Carlos Ulberg took on No. 7 Dominick Reyes in an important bout atop an adjusted 12-fight show from the RAC Arena.
Ulberg, 34, was 8-1 since arriving to the promotion five years ago with a win on Dana White's Contender Series. He was beaten by Kennedy Nzechukwu in his octagonal debut in 2021 but had since won eight in a row, including five by finish.
Reyes, meanwhile, had experienced the highs and lows with the promotion, winning six in a row before a razor-thin loss to then-205-pound king Jon Jones in 2020, then losing three more before reinventing himself with a three-fight KO streak.
The B/R combat team was in place to take in all the action and delivered a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
Winner: Punishing Premonition
1 of 11
One man's run had to end. And when it did, everyone knew it.
Ulberg abruptly ended a hesitant opening round when he clipped an advancing Reyes with a hard left jab and followed with a concussive overhand right, rendering the former title challenger semi-conscious and defenseless to a pair of unfettered ground strikes.
Referee Marc Goddard leapt in to end things at 4:27 and Ulberg was instantly ready to let Ankalaev and Pereira know he'd be cage-side in Vegas for next week's title fight.
"I'm coming," he said.
Blow-by-blow man Brendan Fitzgerald concurred, suggesting the New Zealander had "never been more impressive than that" and forecasting "title shot next."
It was the 34-year-old's ninth straight win in the UFC and 14th in 15 fights as a pro, and, he said, came precisely how he'd expected it.
"That's exactly what we wanted," Ulberg said. "That's exactly how I envisioned the whole thing."
Winner: Celebration Practice
2 of 11
Jimmy Crute needs a little work on the celebrations.
The 205-pounder climbed off Ivan Erslan within moments of the Croatian's first-round surrender, then ran to the cage and sprang into a backward somersault whose rotation left a bit to be desired as he landed hard on his knees.
But he regained his smile soon after his rear-naked choke victory—at 3:19 of the first round—was made official by announcer Joe Martinez.
"I love it," said the 29-year-old, who's unbeaten in three fights (two wins and a draw) since a four-fight skid (three losses and a draw) had him contemplating retirement in 2023.
Crute dragged hie foe to the floor after a fence-side tie-up a minute into the fight, then gained a superior position after a series of scrambles and prompted Erslan to tap by sneaking his left hand under his chin and pulling backward until he gave in.
"That was a crazy submission," analyst Dominick Cruz said. "He just kind of ripped his head off."
Winner: Following the Plan
3 of 11
Jack Jenkins made no secret of his strategy.
The Aussie featherweight's aim was to wear opponent Ramon Taveras down with consistent aggression and to rattle the American with hard kicks to the legs and head amid well-timed grappling spells.
And though the approach didn't yield the local favorite's second UFC victory by finish, it did provide enough distance between he and his Florida-based foe to warrant a unanimous decision that gave him his fourth win in six octagonal appearances.
"Jack Jenkins fought a very smart fight," Cruz said. "He used all the tools he said he was gonna use. He really showed up."
Jenkins ended with a 67-49 edge in significant strikes, including 15 shots to the body, 19 to the legs and three takedowns in six attempts on the way to earning two 30-27 scores and another 29-28 verdict from the judges.
"It went exactly how I thought," he said.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Loser: Dubious Decision-Making
4 of 11
Jim Perdios had to be pulling for Jake Matthews to bail him out.
The Australian welterweight was cheated out of a win at the end of the opening round when the referee waved Neil Magny out via mounted guillotine choke, but instantly changed his mind as the horn sounded and Magny got up and appeared ready to continue.
It was even more difficult for Matthews to take two rounds later, when Magny was ruled a winner by d'arce choke at 3:08 of the third.
Replays clearly indicated Perdios said "he's out" and waved his arms to signal a finish an instant before the first ended, but he just as quickly said "fight's still on" as Magny headed to his stool and Matthews began to celebrate.
The broadcast team noticed the error immediately.
"I think the ref corrected himself real quick," Cruz said, "because he knew he messed up."
Loser: Talking the Talk
5 of 11
Charlie Campbell had a lot to say in the beginning.
The New York-based lightweight kept repeating "my time" during fight week, openly chatted with a camera man during introductions, and got a last-minute instruction from his corner team to "shut these mother—kers up."
But just more than four minutes later—in the aftermath of a duel with Aussie favorite Tom Nolan—he was conspicuous in his chatty absence.
The newly minted black belt dragged Campbell down from a cage-side clinch, snaked his left arm under Campbell's chin and squeezed until he'd gotten his first career submission via rear-naked choke at 4:08 of the opening round.
The result left Campbell talking to himself as the official verdict was announced, and Nolan said the pre-fight gift made a finish an objective.
"My coach gave me the black belt before the fight," he said, "so I felt a bit obligated to get that sub."
Winner: Saving His Strength
6 of 11
Navajo Sterling survived a difficult third round to secure his third straight win by decision in Saturday's prelim feature, but it turns out the New Zealander still had some gas in the tank when analyst Paul Felder approached for a post-fight interview.
The 27-year-old was a shutout winner on two scorecards and a 2-1 winner on the other after a 15-minute scrape with Brazilian Rodolfo Bellato, who dished out some hard leg kicks and scored a takedown down the stretch to make it difficult on his unbeaten foe.
But when it looked like Sterling would huff and puff his way through the chat with Felder, he got a surge of energy when the topic turned to what the winner wanted next.
"Ibo Aslan," he screeched, "I think you're f--king dog s--t. Let's f--king run it."
Aslan had been set for a co-main slot on the show before his opponent pulled out, and Sterling's prospects looked in doubt at times against Bellato, who Sterling suggested was a bit more durable than he'd expected.
"I was trying for the finish, but he was receiving the shots pretty well," Sterling said. "I'm not fully, fully happy with this one. We just kind of scraped by in the end."
Winner: Aussies vs. Americans
7 of 11
The U.S. isn't typically a big rival to Australia.
But you'd not have known by looking at heavyweight Brando Peričić, who made his UFC debut with a particularly violent prelim blowout of fellow newcomer Elisha Ellison.
Peričić got to work with an overhand that rattled his opponent and didn't let up, eventually getting a superior position on the ground and battering Ellison with left hands until Mike Beltran stepped in to rescue the stricken fighter at 1:55.
"I'm blessed to send these clowns home broke, bloody and bruised," Peričić said. "This is my life. No one was gonna beat me tonight."
Sydney native Cam Rowston made it 2-for-2 for the Aussies four fights later, dropping Philadelphia veteran Andre Petroski with a left hook and following up with enough ground strikes to force the hand of Steve Percival at 2:41.
It was a devastating debut for the winner, who'd won on the Contender Series last month and said he'd be available for a spot on the Perth card.
"Hey middleweights, there's a new dog in the yard," he said. "Get on the Cam Rowston bandwagon now. The express train is going nonstop to the top now."
Loser: Taking a Break
8 of 11
Just when you think you've seen everything, you haven't.
Congolese bantamweight Josias Musasa was recovering amid the intense discomfort of a hard low kick from Colby Thicknesse early in the third round of their prelim bout when he turned to Perdios with an unorthodox request.
"I need to pee," Musasa said, drawing chuckles from the broadcast team and a sheepish reply from Perdios, who said he'd have to wait until after the fight. He asked again a few minutes later into his five-minute recovery break, but Perdios stayed firm with his reply.
That left the 26-year-old to press on with the rest of the bout with Thicknesse, who regained the upper hand with his second takedown in 14 tries and stayed on top the rest of the way to lock up a second winning round and a unanimous 29-28 decision win.
Had Perdios taken a point for the foul, it would have been a draw.
But he didn't, allowing the victory for the protégé of featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski and a second straight UFC loss for Musasa, who was submitted in one round in his debut six months ago.
Winner: Women Working Early
9 of 11
Alexia Thainara sure looks like she belongs.
The 29-year-old Brazilian danced her way to cage before the fight and posed her way out of it afterward, and she wasn't so bad in between while pounding her way through a unanimous three-round decision over 14th-ranked strawweight Loma Lookboonmee.
Scoring five takedowns and spending roughly two-thirds of the 15 minutes in positional control made it academic for the judges, who each gave Thainara all three rounds.
It was her second UFC win after a Contender Series debut and kicked off an admittedly brief stay for the women on the show.
Michelle Montague, a New Zealander who trains in Florida with bantamweight champ Kayla Harrison, was a winner in the final women's bout of the night with a grinding three-round decision over veteran Luana Carolina.
Montague got her opponent to the ground in all three rounds while going the distance for the first time after six straight rear-naked chokes in other promotions.
"I think her little smiles threw me off a little bit," Montague said. "She was looking at me like, 'that wrestling ain't s--t.' She was a lot more slippery than I expected."
Loser: Pre-Fight Shrinkage
10 of 11
As big as a 12-bout international show feels, it could've been even bigger.
In fact. no fewer than three bouts were scrubbed from the Perth show ahead of fight night, including a would-be co-main event matching light heavyweight Junior Tafa and Aslan. An injury to Tafa forced his removal and elevated the bout between fellow light heavies Jimmy Crute and Ivan Erslan into the co-main spot.
Also on the chopping block due to illnesses were a heavyweight bout matching Justin Tafa and Louie Sutherland and a welterweight content between Oban Elliott and Jonathan Micallef.
Tafa and Elliott were deemed unable to compete and both fights were canceled.
Full Card Results
11 of 11
Main Card
Carlos Ulberg def. Dominick Reyes by KO (punches), 4:27, Round 1
Jimmy Crute def. Ivan Erslan by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:19, Round 1
Jack Jenkins def. Ramon Taveras by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Neil Magny def. Jake Matthews by submission (d'arce choke), 3:08, Round 3
Tom Nolan def. Charlie Campbell by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:08, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Navajo Stirling def. Rodolfo Bellato by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Cam Rowston def. Andre Petroski by TKO (punches), 2:41, Round 1
Jamie Mullarkey def. Rolando Bedoya by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Colby Thicknesse def. Josias Musasa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Michelle Montague def. Luana Carolina by unanimous decision (29-26, 30-25, 30-26)
Brando Peričić def. Elisha Ellison by KO (punches), 1:55, Round 1
Alexia Thainara def. Loma Lookboonmee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
