UFC Vegas 9 Results

Hunter Azure got back in the win column in the bantamweight opener, as he scored a close, but unanimous, three-round decision over Cole Smith.
 
Azure (9-1) got the fight to the mat in the opening minute, and while Smith didn’t stay there for long, he then got tagged and dropped with a left hand. Again, Smith rose quickly and got out of immediate danger, pinning Azure to the fence and landing a flush elbow that knocked his foe’s mouthpiece out. Once separated, Smith threw some kicks before getting grounded, and even when he rose, Azure stayed in the lead until the horn.
 
After eating a couple right hands to start round two, Smith got his own takedown. Azure rose quickly, but Smith kept looking for the takedown, even getting his back taken briefly by the Contender Series graduate, who was controlling the grappling exchanges.
 
Smith (7-2) made a late charge in the third round, nearly catching Azure in a rear naked choke, but a finish wasn’t in the cards, allowing Azure to leave with three identical scores of 29-28 and the win.

In a battle of flyweight contenders, Viviane Araujo scored a hard-fought three-round unanimous decision over Montana De La Rosa.
 
Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for the No. 8-ranked Araujo, now 9-2. The No. 11-ranked De La Rosa falls to 11-6.
 
Fighting smoothly and confidently, Araujo controlled the action throughout, bloodying De La Rosa’s nose while tagging her regularly with jabs, overhand rights and kicks to her opponent’s lead leg. De La Rosa was competitive throughout, and had some positive moments, but she wasn’t able to land anything to deter Araujo or get her to the mat, leading to a clear victory for the Brazilian.

After being slated to face two other opponents before Ray Rodriguez made the walk to the Octagon on short notice, Brian Kelleher had a short night at the office, submitting the Texas newcomer in the first round of their featherweight bout.

Brazilian middleweight prospect Andre Muniz scored an impressive submission win over Bartosz Fabinski, finishing the Poland native in the first round.

Dynamic Brazilian striker Michel Pereira picked up his first win since May 2019, as he put on a striking clinic before submitting Zelim Imadaev late in the third round of their welterweight bout.

Veteran standout Ovince Saint Preux had a successful return to the light heavyweight division, knocking out Alonzo Menifield in the second round of the UFC Fight Night co-main event.
 
Saint Preux, whose last bout was at heavyweight against Ben Rothwell, landed with some sharp straight lefts early on before Menifield closed the distance and bulled him into the fence. Once separated, it was OSP still doing good work from long range as Menifield fought in a disciplined fashion, looking for openings, and with seconds left in the round, he found one, landing hard hooks at close quarters.
 
OSP kept outworking Menifield in round two, and when the Texan began making rushes, he walked into a left punch to the head that put him down and out at 4:07 of the second stanza.
 
With the win, Knoxville’s Saint Preux moves to 25-14. Dallas’ Menifield falls to 9-2.

The chase for a second UFC title fight is still alive for 40-year-old heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem, who stopped Augusto Sakai in the fifth round of their UFC Fight Night main event at the Apex in Las Vegas to move to 4-1 in his last five bouts.
 
After a brief feeling out process, Sakai got Overeem’s attention with a body shot, and he followed up with knees from close range. Overeem responded in kind, and after a brief stay against the fence, the two went back to fighting at distance, Overeem wobbling Sakai with a right hand with under two minutes left. Sakai responded well, landing some hard shots in the closing stages of the round.
 
Both fighters had their moments early in round two, but Sakai had an impressive run just before the midway point of the frame, landing several shots before Overeem slowed things down with a clinch. Once he opened up his offense again, Overeem bloodied his foe, continuing the back and forth nature of the bout.
 
Sakai upped his work rate in the third, but Overeem, showing his veteran experience, switched things up with a takedown with a little over a minute and a half remaining and he kept the fight on the ground until the horn.
 
An elbow from Sakai opened a cut on the forehead of Overeem in the fourth frame, but a low kick by the Netherlands veteran brought a momentary halt to the action, keeping the Brazilian from capitalizing. With a little over two minutes left, Overeem got a second takedown, and this time he went all-in on his ground-and-pound attack, battering his bloodied foe until the end of the round.
 
Taking the fight down to the mat immediately to start the final round, Overeem knew what was working and he ended up finishing the fight with it, as a series of unanswered strikes prompted referee Herb Dean to step in 26 seconds into the fifth frame.
 
With the win, the No. 6-ranked Overeem moves to 47-18 with 1 NC. The No. 9-ranked Sakai falls to 15-2-1.