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UFC Vegas 27 prelims play-by-play and results

The UFC Vegas 27 prelims–like most preliminary cards–featured several talents making their Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts. However, it also includes Octagon and main card veterans like Court McGee and Ben Rothwell looking to bounce back from recent losses. Yancy Medeiros versus Damir Hadzovic was a fight day last-minute scratch. Cutting down the card to 12…

Jason Burgos

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The UFC Vegas 27 prelims–like most preliminary cards–featured several talents making their Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts. However, it also includes Octagon and main card veterans like Court McGee and Ben Rothwell looking to bounce back from recent losses. Yancy Medeiros versus Damir Hadzovic was a fight day last-minute scratch. Cutting down the card to 12 total bouts. The prelim action kicked off at 4 pm ET on ESPN+. Play-by-play and results will drop in this space following the conclusion of each bout.

UFC Vegas 27 prelims open with 18th straight win for Damir Ismagulov

The UFC Vegas 27 prelims started with a showcase of two fast-rising prospects at lightweight. In Dana White’s Contender Series contract winner Rafael Alves–in the midst of a five-fight win streak–versus Damir Ismagulov and his 17-fight win streak. And just seconds into the fight Alves came out with straight fire and hurt the Russian by way of Kazakstan.

On the mat, the Brazilian attempted a guillotine but was unsuccessful. After defending the choke, the 30-year-old Ismagulov took control of the fight and dropped some heavy ground-and-pound on Alves. Despite being floored early, the first was a productive round for Ismagulov.

In the second “The Turn” fought a little bit more cautious. as to not push himself into anymore grappling with Ismagulov. Alves showed he was the faster and more explosive fighter, but Ismagulov used better fundamentals, a jab, and some nice combos to out technique his opponent. It led to a failed takedown attempt by Alves that was defended and turned into top-game control by Ismagulov to finish another round.

In the third round Alves showed despite the explosive actions and being on the bottom often on the ground, his gas tank was far from empty. At moments he seemed to have Ismagulov on his heels playing prevent defense. The UFC newcomer landed some good shots and had his best round, but it was a round he needed to get a finish in.

As Ismagulov earned a unanimous decision win in his first Octagon appearance since August 2019. He moves to 4-0 in the UFC and 23-1 overall. Alves’s winning streak is ended and he falls short in his UFC debut. However, he did show why he earned a DWCS contract and gave fans something to look forward to in his next fight.

Dvorak scores 16th straight win with first round submission on replacement opponent Ronderos

David Dvorak versus Juancamilo Ronderos was a last-minute fight change after Dvorak’s original foe Raulian Paiva was ruled out after a bad weight cut. The very last-minute opponent came out with zero fear despite making his UFC debut against a ranked foe. Both traded shots early, but a few minutes in, Dvorak landed a strike that hurt the Columbian newcomer. He eventually took the fight to the mat, got to his opponent’s back, and scored a one-armed rear-naked choke on Ronderos at 2:18 in the opening round.

It’s a sixteenth straight win for the Czech fighter, and “The Undertaker” now has as many submissions (8) as he does knockout victories in his 19 wins. He has certainly earned getting a top-10 ranking next week. He also scored 20% of Ronderos’ purse after the Octagon newbie missed weight after getting the call on a days’ notice.

Culibao takes UFC newcomer Nuerdanbieke to a striking clinic in decision win

Josh Culibao entered the Octagon looking for his first UFC win in his third try, after losing in his 2020 debut and then fighting to a draw against Charles Jourdain in October. In his way was Chinese Octagon debutante Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.

Thirty seconds in “Wolverine” pushed for the grappling and forced Culibao into a clinch battle on the cage. That was how the majority of the round went. As Nuerdanbieke worked a body clinch and his opponent defended well to keep it off the mat most of the time. However, in the final minute, there seemed to be momentum behind the Aussie as he got separation and started landing shots on his opponent.

In the second, “Kuya” was able to show off the speed, footwork and striking advantages he had on Nuerdanbieke. Throughout the round, the 26-year-old landed a consistent jab and a bunch of low-kicks to his opponent. Near the close of the round, Culibao handed landed more than twice as many strikes as his foe after two rounds.

The third round was more of the same as Culibao looked several levels above Nuerdanbieke in the striking department. He avoided the power shots of his opponent throughout and defended the takedown attempts at every turn. After weathering the wrestling in the first, he was the far better fighter for the rest of the fight. It earned him the unanimous decision win from the judges and his first victory in the Octagon. As for thhe Wu Lin Feng veteran, he falls in his UFC debut, and it ends his two-fight W streak.

Bruno Silva scores fifth-fastest knockout in UFC flyweight history on Victor Rodriguez

Bruno Silva versus Victor Rodriguez started out with some early range finding between the two. However, the quiet start was quickly broken up a minute in by a heavy knee to “Vicious” that stunned the native of Alaska. Silva quickly followed that up with a massive right hand that floored Rodriguez. A few ground-and-pound shots later and the Brazilian “Bulldog” had a technical knockout win after just one minute in the first round.

It’s the fifth fastest knockout in UFC flyweight history and gives Silva a second straight KO win in the Octagon after scoring one two months ago. As for Rodriguez, he has lost his first two UFC bouts, both by knockout.

Court McGee delivers in a must-win scenario and scores decision over Claudio Silva

Court McGee entered his fight with Claudio Silva in need of a win badly after losing six of his last eight fights since 2016. In usual Silva fashion, he came out with odd angled strikes and aggression. McGee responded with sound technique in counter striking. Eventually, he timed the Brazilian’s odd movement and scored a takedown. Silva was able to get it back to the feet but “The Crusher” offered better striking while defending takedowns.

The second was much like the first. With “Hannibal” throwing up wild punches, kicks, and takedown attempts. None of it was effective enough to do any damage. McGee stuffed a takedown after two minutes and was able to turn it into a top control position. Silva tried sweeps and submission attempts, but his American counterpart was up to the task every time. He even threatened a triangle choke on Silva at the end of the round.

Sensing he needed a finish, Silva went for it early in the third, and it was bombs away in trying to stun McGee. However, the push seemed to take all the remaining energy out of him, and his opponent scored another takedown. Most of the final round took place on the mat, in route to the 36-year-old scoring a victory in a must-win booking.

The win ends a three-fight losing streak for The Ultimate Fighter season 11 winner. For Silva, it’s back-to-back wins in the Octagon after winning 14 straight overall.

Ben Rothwell controls and submits Chris Barnett in featured prelim bout

The featured prelim at UFC Vegas 27 between Ben Rothwell and Chris Barnett was a heavyweight showcase of some girthy combatants. The much shorter Barnett worked low kicks early and tried to find his range and close the distance with lunging haymakers. Rothwell stalked like a zombie, which is par for the course from the 52 fight veteran. Halfway through, “Huggy Bear” made the poor choice of clinching with his opponent and was quickly taken down by the Wisconsin native. At one point Rothwell had full mount and worked for a choke, but the UFC newcomer survived the submission attempt.

The second was more zombie stalking and Barnett trying to stick and move, but it was more like haymaker and run as he got more and more tired. The final result started to seem like an eventuality as Barnett took some shots he didn’t like, shot in for a takedown, and was submitted by the UFC veteran soon after.

The 39-year-old bounces back from his October loss to Marcin Tybura with a solid showing, and earns his seventh career submission win. For “Beastboy” the 34-year-old comes up short in a difficult UFC debut.

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