Ludovit Klein once again proved he has one of the most accurate nicknames in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
On Saturday, in the top prelims of UFC on ESPN 57 in Louisville, Kentucky, “Mr. Highlight” (22-4-1) knocked down Thiago Moises (18-8) multiple times to earn a commanding unanimous decision victory. Their bout was marked by each man’s willingness to challenge the other’s strong suit. Moises, one of the most dangerous submission artists in the lightweight division, traded strikes with Klein, attempted kicks to the head and narrowly missed a loop bomb to the head, especially in the first round, much to Klein’s visibly relieved. Klein, meanwhile, had little fear of Moises’ jiu-jitsu, taking down the black belt multiple times, including a powerful slam in the third round. Their fighting spirit was exciting to watch, but the strategy favored Klein, who repeatedly hurt Moises and looked set for a showdown at the end of the first and second rounds. Moises survived and fought to the end, but the unanimous decision score of 30-27 in favor of Klein accurately represented the fight. The win extended Klein’s unbeaten streak to six matches and will set him up for a top 10 opponent in his next bout, while Moises will need to bounce back from this loss if he wants to climb back up the rankings.
On the undercard of a six-fight series that began with six straight decisions (three by split decision), Carlos Prattes kicked off in style, devastating Charlie Radke with a powerful knee to the body in the first round. Prattes (19-6) seemed a few steps ahead of Radke (9-4) from the start, luring “Chuck Buffalo” out with fakeouts and then picking him apart with precise punches and kicks. Radke was fired up, coming forward and throwing hard punches, some of which nearly landed, but “Carlao” was simply waiting to see how his opponent would fare. Prattes landed an intercepting knee on an advancing Radke, followed a few seconds later by an even more powerful and clean knee, forcing Radke to fold instantly at 4:47 into the first round. No follow-up strikes were needed, as referee Blake Grice deemed Radke finished. With the highlight-reel finish, Prates improves to 2-0 since joining UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, while Radke falls to 2-1 in the Octagon.
Brad Katona (14-3) entered the cage in Louisville as the biggest betting favorite on the card and he lived up to that promise, battering Jesse Butler (12-6) on the ground for three rounds while barely taking any damage. “Superman” took Butler to the ground and used his ferocious top game to quickly establish his wrestling dominance. In the first round, Katona smothered and controlled Butler, but his relentless aggression took its toll, and in the second round, Katona landed a flurry of elbows from top position that split Butler’s forehead and sent him into full survival mode. Butler held on until the end of the round, but there was no reprieve in the final frame, as Katona again quickly took Butler down and pummeled him from the guard. The judges awarded Katona a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26), giving him another win following his loss to Garrett Armfield in January. Butler is now 0-2 in the UFC after losing by big decisions to Jim Miller last summer and now Katona.
Montana De La Rosa (13-9-1) got revenge on Andrea Lee (13-10) in a rematch of their 2019 flyweight bout, in which Lee won by decision. Like the first bout, Saturday’s bout was closely contested, with both fighters winning by striking and grappling. De La Rosa stood out with her aggressive attack from the back and boxing that was much sharper than it was five years ago, including multiple triangle choke and armbar attempts that put Lee on the defensive. De La Rosa showed off some unconventional submission moves, including an unnatural choke attempt from behind in the second round and a stretch setup for Suloev in the third. Neither put “KGB” in any real danger. But that, combined with her precise striking, was enough to win two rounds on both judges’ scorecards and a split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). With the win, the 29-year-old De La Rosa snapped a three-fight losing streak, while Lee’s slump continued with five straight losses.
Daniel Marcos continued his rise through the bantamweight rankings with a dominant three-rounder against John Castañeda. Marcos (16-0, 1 no kick) boxed too fast, too sharp and too strong for Castañeda (21-7), who struggled to find the Peruvian and was unable to land a takedown, the best path to victory. Marcos’ jab quickly turned Castañeda’s face red. Castañeda had the most success with leg kicks in the early going, but those kicks dried up as Marcos scored with crisp punch combinations. Castañeda was successful in taking Marcos down in the second round, but was unable to use his position to inflict damage. “Soncora” picked up the momentum in the third round, knocking down Castañeda and continuing to show off his boxing skills until the final horn. Markos won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), redeeming himself from a bizarre foul-plagued no contest against Kyren Awori earlier this year. Castaneda’s loss ended a two-fight win streak he’d built last year and he was in need of re-gaining form after the one-sided contest.
Dennis Gomez put in a helmet-worthy performance, suffering his first professional defeat in a 117-pound catchweight bout against the overweight Eduardo Moura. Conventional wisdom had it in his favor that the knockout artist (9-3) would take the side of a traditional striker-versus-grappler matchup against the accomplished judoka Moura (10-1), but that notion was quickly dispelled when he caught Moura in a standing guillotine within the opening seconds. After a tense few minutes, Moura managed to escape a submission attempt, but it was a sign of things to come. Gomez landed a flurry of powerful punches on the feet and showed no fear of his countryman’s vaunted ground game, calmly fighting from the back and even scoring takedowns himself when convenient. The second round was particularly strong for the 24-year-old Gomez. As Moura appeared to tire, Gomez increased the pressure, finishing the round by smashing into his opponent’s head as he leaned against the fence for a single-leg takedown. Gomez looked to have clearly won at least two, and possibly all three, rounds, but was forced to settle for a split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29) due to inexplicable scoring by local judge Chris Kinman.
Taylor Lapiras continued to prove his decision to re-sign with UFC was the right one, defeating Cody Stamann in the bantamweight prelims. Lapiras (20-4) used his footwork, superior reach and plenty of volume to frustrate Stamann (21-7-1), nearly shutting out the American, who usually has a solid takedown game. Going into the final round, Lapiras seemed headed for a deserved win, but Stamann, who had a relatively suspense-free victory, managed to bring some drama to the bout. “The Spartan” finally secured a solid takedown early in the final round, slamming the Frenchman to the canvas and landing in side control, but Lapiras was able to get to his feet without actually taking any damage. From there, Lapiras again kept his distance, tagged Stamann, and the rest was theory. Lapiras won by a unanimous score of 30-27, improving to 2-1 since returning to UFC last year. This marked Stamann’s second straight loss and he has now lost five of his last seven bouts in the Octagon.
In the strawweight opener, Pooja Tomar made history twice, stepping into the cage as the first Indian woman to compete in UFC and becoming the first Indian fighter, male or female, to record an official victory. That doesn’t mean Tomar (9-4) had an easy night, as Rayanne dos Santos (14-8) appeared to outdo “Cyclone” Tomar in at least two of the three rounds. The former Invicta Fighting Championship atomweight champion had a visible size advantage for one of the few times in her UFC career, spending most of the bout supporting the smaller Tomar with punches and kicks. But dos Santos’ inability to block the cage and Tomar’s busy kicking game influenced by Sanda-ho made each round very close on an individual basis. For the cageside judges, that meant it was hard to come to a consensus, resulting in a rare 30-27 decision on the scorecards. The third round saw the score 29-28 in favor of Tomar, resulting in a split decision for the 30-year-old rookie.
