LAS VEGAS — Edson Barboza feels like he’s close.
The UFC’s No. 9-ranked featherweight has never fought for a championship but believes he is just two wins away from finally realizing that opportunity. He’s got a tough one ahead of him on Saturday, in the form of a five-round main event against No. 10-ranked Giga Chikadze inside the Apex.
Barboza (22-9) is 3-1 since dropping to the featherweight division last year — and there are some who feel he actually should be 4-0, as the only loss was a razor-thin decision to Dan Ige. Beating Chikadze would be a significant win on Barboza’s résumé, as the Georgian is 6-0 in the UFC.
On the other side, Chikadze (13-2) is seeking his second signature win in a row, as he is coming off a first-round stoppage of Cub Swanson in May.
In addition to the main event, the UFC will crown two winners of The Ultimate Fighter reality series — for the first time since 2018. Bantamweights Ricky Turcios (10-2) and Brady Hiestand (5-1) and middleweights Bryan Battle (5-1) and Gilbert Urbina (6-1) will square off for a UFC contract.
Follow along as Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim recap the action or watch the fights on ESPN+.
Fight in progress: Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov (25-6, 3-0 UFC, -575) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (32-14, 7-6 UFC, +425)
Results:
Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan (11-4, 5-4 UFC) def. Alessio Di Chirico (13-6, 4-6 UFC) by first-round KO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Razak Alhassan is back in the win column for the first time since September 2018 — and boy is he back in a big way.
Alhassan, of Ghana, knocked out Di Chirico with a right head kick that will forever live on his personal highlight reel. The finish came just 17 seconds into the middleweight bout. Alhassan walked Di Chirico to the fence and dropped him with a walkoff knockout. Di Chirico actually lowered himself into the kick, as he moved to block low.
It was a much-needed finish for Alhassan, who had lost three in a row going in. One of those losses came in the form of a 30-second knockout loss to Khaos Williams.
Holy schmokes!!!!!! #UFCVegas35 Abdul razak al Hassan sheesh
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) August 29, 2021
Alhassan, who is from Texas but now trains out of Denver, now has 11 first-round finishes in his career. He improves to 5-4 overall in the UFC. Di Chirico, of Italy, drops to 1-4 in his last five.
Middleweight: Wellington Turman (17-5, 2-3 UFC) def. Sam Alvey (33-16-1, 10-11-1 UFC) by split decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
“Smilin’ Sam” had a whole different expression on his face when the verdict was announced.
After coming in winless in his last six bouts, Alvey clearly expected to have his hand raised this time after he landed more strikes and saw the referee deduct two points from his opponent. But no, Turman got the nod on two of the three 28-27 scorecards.
Turman, a 25-year-old from Brazil, broke out of a two-fight losing streak by remaining the aggressor in all three rounds. He opened a cut on Alvey’s cheek with a spinning elbow, and had a couple of takedowns. But he didn’t make it easy on himself down the stretch. With just under two minutes left, referee Chris Tognoni deducted a point from Turman twice within 20 seconds because of eye pokes.
Tognoni had warned the Brazilian earlier, and on a couple of occasions the ref even appeared to miss eye pokes. Alvey, who is 35 and from Temecula, California, has not won a fight since June 21018. It’s appropriate he was competing on a card with two Ultimate Fighter finals, as Alvey competed on Season 16 of the reality show back in 2012.
Light heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby (16-5-1, 3-2-1- UFC) def. Darren Stewart (12-8 2 NC, 5-8 2 NC UFC) by first-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Jacoby, of Colorado, overwhelmed Stewart with strikes on the feet en route to a TKO win at 3:04 of the opening round.
Stewart, who fights out of London, did all he could to survive Jacoby’s onslaught of punches, but eventually succumbed. Jacoby walked him down rather effortlessly and unloaded power shots along the fence. In a last-minute Hail Mary attempt, Stewart fired back with a handful of haymakers, but Jacoby saw them coming and continued to land shots until the 205-pound fight was over.
For Jacoby, it is his 10th career win by knockout. He improves to 3-0-1 in the UFC. The former professional kickboxer said he would like to fight again this year, and is eyeing a move into the top 15 of the division.
It’s a tough result for Stewart, who is now winless in his last three appearances and 5-8 in the UFC overall.
Jacoby wore Stewart’s head out with those punches at the end #UFCVegas35
— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 29, 2021
Women’s flyweight: JJ Aldrich (10-4, 6-3 UFC) def. Vanessa Demopoulos (6-4, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Aldrich scored a takedown less than a minute into the fight, and from top position she connected with several punches and elbows, a few of them landing hard. Demopoulos couldn’t get out from underneath, but then Aldrich just let her opponent up, and it quickly became obvious why.
As an emboldened Demopoulos came forward with a flurry of punches after standing up, she was met by a straight left hand from Aldrich. And that set a tone for the rest of the fight. Aldrich walked down her opponent with poise and accuracy, peppering Demopoulos with her right jab and straight left hand again and again.
There were times when Demopoulos looked ripe for a finish, but she toughed it out for three rounds, trying to produce offense but mostly being rebuffed. Aldrich, who is 28 and from Aurora, Colorado, settled for three 30-27 scorecards in her favor, giving her a second straight win.
Demopoulos, a 32-year-old from Phoenix, was making her UFC debut. She has lost three of her last four.
Men’s featherweight: Pat Sabatini (15-3, 2-0 UFC) def. Jamall Emmers(18-6, 1-2 UFC) by submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Sabatini, of Pennsylvania, picked up a nifty comeback victory as he submitted Emmers with a heel hook 1:53 of the first round.
Emmers, who fights out of Redlands, California, drew first blood when he appeared to hurt Sabatini in an early exchange and immediately jumped on his back. Sabatini remained composed, however, and eventually escaped the position and attacked Emmers’ left leg. Rather than try to spin out and reset on the feet, Emmers looked for his own leg submission on Sabatini.
It proved to be a costly decision, as he tapped to the heel hook moments later, but only after apparently suffering an injury to his knee.
He most definitely should have abandoned the toe hold and cleared his knee instead. Hate to see guys get hurt 🥺 #UFCVegas35
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) August 28, 2021
Sabatini moves to 2-0 in the UFC, while Emmers, who was favored going into the bout, falls to 1-2.
Men’s bantamweight: Mana Martinez (9-2, 1-0 UFC) def. Guido Cannetti (8-7, 2-5 UFC) by split decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
2:11
Mana Martinez is visibly emotional after winning his UFC fight just days after Saul Soliz, his coach and an MMA pioneer, died from COVID complications.
Martinez, of Houston, collected his first win in the UFC, and immediately dedicated it to his late coach, Saul Soliz.
Martinez defeated Cannetti via split decision, following three back-and-forth bantamweight rounds. The victory came just 11 days after Soliz passed away at the age of 55, due to complications caused by Covid-19. Martinez, who was actually supposed to fight two weeks ago but was instead postponed, elected to carry on with his UFC debut despite the emotional circumstances surrounding him.
Immediately after the bout, Martinez broke down into tears. It was a hard fought win, as Martinez absorbed a lot of damage to his legs early on, thanks to a steady diet of Cannetti leg kicks.
Great fight fellas! My legs hurt from all those kicks landing! #UFCVegas35
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) August 28, 2021
Martinez turned the tide in the second and third rounds, however. He had success walking Cannetti backwards, and opened up with hard combinations and body work along the fence. He surprised Cannetti with a late takedown attempt in the final minute of the bout which likely secured him the third round.
Cannetti, of Buenos Aires, has lost this last three appearances.
Still to come:
Men’s featherweight: Edson Barboza (22-9, 16-9 UFC, -120) vs. Giga Chikadze (13-2, 6-0 UFC, +100)
Middleweight (TUF final): Bryan Battle (6-1, 0-0 UFC, -175) vs. Gilbert Urbina (6-2, 0-0 UFC, +145)
Men’s bantamweight (TUF final): Ricky Turcios (11-2, 0-0 UFC, -160) vs. Brady Hiestand (6-1, 0-0 UFC, +135)
Welterweight: Kevin Lee (18-6, 11-6 UFC, -155) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (15-2, 5-1 UFC, +130)
Middleweight: Andre Petroski (6-1, 0-0 UFC, -500) vs. Michael Gilmore (6-3, 0-0 UFC, +380)
