UFC Vegas 96 was a night of nonstop action as fighters battled for a spot at the top. The event was held at UFC APEX in Las Vegas and was headlined by the Cia Borralho vs Jared Cannonier bout.
The fighters came in with strong attempts at knocking each other out, but Borralho seemed to have the upper hand in the opening round. He came in with deadly blows and landed a pair of hard jabs that did some damage to Jared’s nose. Jared retaliated with a solid left hook but was soon bombarded with calf kicks. However, Jared managed to stay in the fight until round two. He soon got his act together and retaliated with a few head and body shots that rocked Ciao before the round came to a close.
However, Jared’s luck ran out in round three, as Ciao came in with multiple jabs, a heavy right hand, and a straight left that wobbled him. The fight picked up after that, and both players came in with A game, trying to outpunch each other. Jared managed to open a cut of Ciao’s right eye and continued to fire shots, but none were quite as deadly as the first.
The two soon made it to the final round, albeit slow and punch-drunk, but Ciao still had some tricks up his sleeves. He landed a right hook and a stiff left that dropped Jared and went to the floor with him, where he wrestled for an arm triangle choke till the matchy ended. “The Natural” emerged as the winner of this bout after a unanimous decision by the judges.
Following his victory, Borralho–wearing his signature thick black framed glass with tape in the middle—had a few statements to make.
“ I’m the new face of the middleweight division, even with some scratches. Everybody that sees these glasses must be afraid because we are The Fighting Nerds. We’re coming to take over.
“Tuesday, my name better be in the top five.”
Despite being the headline, the bout was not the only interesting fight at the event. 24-year-old Marion Santos, fresh out of The Ultimate Fighters competition, defeated Kaan Ofli with a knockout. The fighter has earned his spot on the UFC roster and has a bright future ahead of him in his professional career.
Man, I don’t have the words to describe [this moment]. I don’t know if I am dreaming – this is amazing,” he told Michael Bisping after being handed the iconic trophy, stating that he’d like to follow in The Count’s footsteps in the hopes of one day becoming a UFC title holder.
“I’m the new Alex Pereira baby. I want to be a champion just like you [Michael Bisping], so I intend to follow the same path, and I don’t want to rush things; I know I’m young and I’m learning but one day, I’m going to be the UFC featherweight champion.”
The night also featured a lot of bonuses for Gerald Meerschaert, Ciao Borralho, Jared Cannonier, Michael Morales, and even UFC debut fighter Wang Cong. All fighters were given $50,000 as a reward for nabbing Performance of the Night.
Main Card
Caio Borralho def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision.
Tabatha Ricci def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision.
Ryan Loder def. Robert Valentin via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 2.
Mairon Santos def. Kaan Ofli via knockout (punches) – Round 2,
Michael Morales def. Neil Magny via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 1.
Gerald Meerschaert def. Edmen Shahbazyan via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2
Francis Marshall def. Dennis Buzukja via split decision
Zach Reese def. Jose Medina via unanimous decision
Viacheslav Borshchev def. James Llontop via split decision
Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Josiane Nunes via split decision
Wang Cong def. Victoria Leonardo via knockout (punch) – Round 1.
