For the fifth consecutive week, the UFC is back inside its Apex facility on Saturday in Las Vegas, with a UFC Fight Night beginning with prelims at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, then a main card exclusively on ESPN+ at 9 p.m.
In the main event, former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith (33-15) will look to rebound from one of the worst nights of his career when he takes on up-and-comer Aleksandar Rakic (12-2) of Austria. Smith is less than four months removed from a TKO loss to Glover Teixeira in which he suffered a broken orbital and a broken nose and lost multiple teeth.
Saturday’s event also features the return of former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler (28-14), who will make his first appearance of 2020 against Neil Magny (23-7).
Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap the action as it happens in Las Vegas.
Fight in progress — Men’s featherweight: Ricardo Lamas (19-8, 10-6 UFC, -300) vs. Bill Algeo (13-4, 0-0 UFC, +250)
Results:
Welterweight: Impa Kasanganay (8-0) def. Maki Pitolo (13-7) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Impa Kasanganay’s success continues to come ahead of schedule, as the 26-year-old picked up his first UFC victory in a unanimous decision over Maki Pitolo.
Kasanganay (8-0), who has only been fighting professionally for 20 months, looked sharp in his UFC debut, which came just 18 days after he earned a contract on Dana White Contender Series. All three judges scored the 185-pound bout a shutout for Kasanganay, 30-27.
Pitolo (13-7) looked good in the opening minutes of the fight, landing several clean counter punches as Kasanganay tried to come forward. Eventually, Kasanganay started beating Pitolo to the punch though, and hurt him with a flurry late in the first round that opened a cut over Pitolo’s left eye. Kasanaganay built on that momentum in the second round with plenty of lead left jabs and hooks.
According to UFC Stats, Kasanganay out-landed Pitolo in total strikes 63 to 42, and appeared to land the harder shots as well. He showed remarkable poise against an opponent in Pitolo, who came in with more than double the experience. Kasanganay trains out of North Carolina, and has now won his last four fights by decision.
Kasangany looked deadly in the opening round. If I may though, mix in some body shots when you have a guy hurt against the fence.
— michael (@bisping) August 30, 2020
Middleweight: Zak Cummings (24-7) def. Alessio Di Chirico (12-5) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Eventually, referee Mark Smith got his point across. Three times during a lackluster first 14 minutes or so, he called upon the fighters to engage. To that point, Cummings and Di Chirico had been circling and circling, with only the occasional trading of punches and kicks.
But the final minute saw each fighter stun the other with a punch. And then, right at the horn, Cummings landed a head kick that dropped the 30-year-old Italian. Di Chirico jumped right back to his feet but had no equilibrium, staggering to his corner. But the ref did not signal a knockout. The horn had sounded.
Cummings had to settle for a decision win, getting the nod from two judges by 29-28 scores and from the third judge by 30-27. Cummings thought he had got the knockout.
“He didn’t know where he was, couldn’t really get up,” said the 36-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri. “So I figured they had called it. But we got the decision.”
It was the first fight of the night not to go to submission.
For Cummings, it was his third win in four fights since moving up from welterweight in 2018.
For Di Chirico, it was his third straight loss. He was 9-0 when he joined the UFC nearly five years ago but is 3-5 ever since.
Catchweight: Alex Caceres (17-12 1 NC) def. Austin Springer (10-3) by first-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
0:50
Alex Caceres submits Austin Springer with a rear-naked choke early in Round 1 for the statement win.
There was a time when Caceres was considered exclusively a striker. Known for flashy kicks and his “Bruce Leeroy” nickname, Caceres was always thought to be an exciting standup fighter — and not a whole lot more.
Saturday showed just how far Caceres has come. Caceres stopped Springer by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:38 of the first round. It was Caceres’ first submission win since 2014.
“I think my ground game is just very underrated, and I’m glad I could prove that here tonight,” Caceres said.
The sequence really started when Caceres landed a brutal right shovel hook to Springer’s body. At that point, Springer clearly wanted to take Caceres down. When he shot in, Caceres stuffed it, got in position on the ground, took Springer’s back and locked in the choke.
Springer was Caceres’ third opponent of the week. Caceres’ original opponent was Giga Chikadze, who withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test, according to the UFC. Kevin Croom was signed by the UFC to replace Chikadze, but Croom also tested positive for the coronavirus, according to his manager, Jason House.
Nice finish by Caceres! Put em back in there man he’s on a roll. #UFCVegas8
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) August 29, 2020
With Croom out, Springer — who owns a “Contender Series” win over Chikadze — got the call. Springer missed weight by five pounds Friday, and the featherweight bout was instead fought at a catchweight.
Caceres (17-12, 1 NC) has won three straight. The 32-year-old Miami native has been in the UFC since 2011, but this is his longest UFC win streak. Springer (12-4), a 33-year-old Washington native, had his three-fight winning streak snapped.
Welterweight: Sean Brady (13-0) def. Christian Aguilera (14-7) by second-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Sean Brady is looking like a potential problem in the UFC’s welterweight division.
The Philadelphia native extended his perfect record to 13-0 with a second-round submission over Christian Aguilera (14-7). The finish came at the 1:47 mark, courtesy of a mounted guillotine. It appeared Aguilera tried to tap to the choke, but the squeeze was so tight, he ended up going unconscious before referee Herb Dean could intervene.
Even prior to the finish, Brady looked very good in his third UFC appearance. He popped Aguilera with a handful of hard left hooks and was successful getting to the fight to the ground when he wanted it there.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Brady has surprisingly collected only three submission wins in his professional career. The 27-year-old has now defeated Court McGee, Ismail Naurdiev and Aguilera in the Octagon, and said post-fight that he would like an opponent with name recognition in his next bout.
One handed submissions are the best. Congrats @seanbradymma #UFCVegas8
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) August 29, 2020
Women’s flyweight: Polyana Viana (11-4) def. Emily Whitmire (4-4) by first-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
1:11
Polyana Viana finishes Emily Whitmire in Round 1 with an armbar for her 11th professional win, all of them being finishes.
Viana reversed her fortunes in a hurry.
The 28-year-old, of Brazil, came into the fight having lost three in a row after winning her UFC debut in 2018. She had not fought in a year, and within the first minute of the bout, she was taken town and Whitmire had her in side control.
But Viana quickly gained full guard and immediately began throwing elbows from the bottom. At the same time, she locked up Whitmire’s right arm. Then, she went for an armbar, getting Whitmire to verbally submit 1:53 into the fight.
“The elbows were part of the strategy,” Viana said through a translator. “If I didn’t get her with the armbar, I would have managed to cut her.”
Whitmire, 29, was fighting in her adopted hometown of Las Vegas. She last fought in June 2019, losing by submission to Amanda Ribas.
The strawweights were scheduled to meet in March, but Whitmire — who had missed weight — was hospitalized on the day of the fight, and the bout was canceled.
Strawweight: Mallory Martin (7-3) def. Hannah Cifers (10-7) by second-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
0:51
Mallory Martin rebounds after a tough Round 1 to submit Hannah Cifers with a rear-naked choke early in Round 2.
Martin took Cifers’ back, sunk in a choke, forced Cifers to tap and then let out a blood-curdling scream.
The show of emotion was well-earned. Cifers battered Martin in the first round, nearly finishing her with big punches. In the second, Martin rallied, getting things to the ground and working her grappling. The result was a Martin submission (rear-naked choke) win at 1:33 of the second round.
“I have adversity in my life all the time,” Martin said. “It’s nothing new to me. I come back from it all the time – stronger and stronger.”
Cifers dropped Martin with a right hand in the first and Martin could never recover from there. Cifers slammed her out of guard on the ground and continued an onslaught of punches up against the cage. Martin could only defend — until the second round.
“I was still conscious,” Martin said. “She landed a big shot, whatever. It was good. I’m not gonna take that from her at all. I was still fully in the fight.”
Martin’s corner told her to go back to her game and wisely took things to the ground quickly, working her super Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Martin got into dominant position, took Cifers’ back and then quickly put the squeeze on a choke.
Didn’t see rd 1 going that way for Cifers. Wonder how jello-like her arms will feel for rd 2 #UFCVegas8
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) August 29, 2020
Martin (7-3) has won six of her last seven fights. This was the 26-year-old Colorado native’s first UFC win. Cifers (10-7) has lost four straight — all in 2020. The 28-year-old North Carolina native was on a two-fight winning streak prior to the skid. Cifers missed weight by one pound (117 pounds) Friday for this women’s strawweight fight.
Still to come:
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Light heavyweight: Anthony Smith (33-15, 8-4 UFC, +240) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (12-2, 4-1 UFC, -280)
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Welterweight: Robbie Lawler (28-14, 9-5 UFC, +200) vs. Neil Magny (23-8, 16-6 UFC, -240)
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Women’s flyweight: Alexa Grasso (11-3, 3-3 UFC, -300) vs. Ji Yeon Kim (9-2-2, 3-2 UFC, +250)
