Jared
Gordon took the judges out of the equation.
The 36-year-old Kill Cliff Fight Club veteran rebounded from a
contentious June 22 decision defeat to Nasrat
Haqparast and righted himself in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division, as he
dispatched Thiago
Moises with punches in the first round of their featured
UFC Fight Night 256 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Gordon (21-7, 9-6 UFC) drew the curtain 3:37 into Round
1.
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Moises (19-9, 8-7 UFC) never established a stable foothold. Gordon
caught the American Top Team mainstay off-guard with takedown
inside the first 20 seconds, ate some elbows from the bottom and
made the Brazilian work to get back to his feet. Once there, the
two men separated and reset.
Gordon decked the onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion
with a counter right hook, chased him to the canvas and closed it
out with unanswered punches.
Meanwhile, Gabriel
Green returned from a two-year absence and waded through
serious adversity to tap promotional newcomer Matheus
Camilo with a face crank in the second round of their
lightweight battle.
Green (12-5, 3-3 UFC) sealed the deal 3:43 into Round
2.
Camilo (9-3, 0-1 UFC) hammered away with punishing inside leg kicks
and powerful right hands in a one-sided first round, then completed
a takedown and backed it up with some elbow-laced ground-and-pound.
The Xtreme Couture-trained Brazilian seemed to be closing in on a
finish in the middle stanza, where he executed a trip takedown,
climbed to mount and locked in a triangle choke. Green stayed
composed, managed to free himself and scrambled behind his
counterpart. He bit down on a body triangle, lassoed the head and
squeezed on the fight-ending crank.
The setback snapped a six-fight winning streak for Camilo.
Further down the undercard, undefeated Mainstreet Boxing prospect
Yadier Del
Valle turned away Connor
Matthews with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
featherweight clash.
The outmatched Matthews (7-4, 0-3 UFC) checked out 2:54 into Round
1 and remains winless through three starts inside the
Octagon.
Del Valle (9-0, 1-0 UFC) tested the waters with heavy inside leg
kicks, then dumped the New England Cartel product to the mat. The
Bob Perez protégé threw his ground-and-pound in gear, wheeled
behind his adversary and flattened out Matthews with ease. Del
Valle attacked the neck, cinched the choke and forced the Dana
White’s Contender Series graduate to capitulate.
The 28-year-old Del Valle now has four first-round finishes to his
credit.
Elsewhere, Syndicate MMA export Luana
Santos dismissed the returning Tainara
Lisboa with a keylock in the second round of their women’s
bantamweight scrap. In her first appearance since Oct. 14, 2023,
Lisboa (7-3, 2-1 UFC) raised the white flag of surrender 4:59 into
Round 2.
The 25-year-old Santos (9-2, 4-1 UFC) struck for a takedown inside
the first 90 seconds and operated between side control, north-south
and half guard in a tone-setting opening round. Lisboa conceded
another takedown early in Round 2 and failed to respond.
Santos climbed to the back, settled in full mount, isolated her
opponent’s left arm and cranked it beyond its bounds. Lisboa had no
choice but to tap.
Santos has won six of her past seven bouts.
Deeper into the prelims, GAEA Project standout Denis Gomes
wiped out ex-Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Elise Reed
with punches in the second round of their women’s strawweight
encounter.
Reed (8-5, 4-5 UFC) succumbed to blows 30 seconds into Round
2.
Gomes (11-3, 5-2 UFC) was dominant from the start. She staggered
Reed with a surgical right cross in the first round, pinned her to
the fence and unleashed a series of short-range elbows. Gomes then
struck for a takedown, applied suffocating control and incorporated
some ground-and-pound, establishing her superiority in all phases.
A visibly discouraged Reed retreated to her corner with a massive
hematoma near her left eye. Gomes showed no mercy after the
intermission. She floored Reed with a right hand off the counter
early in the middle stanza, allowed the American to stand and
dropped her again with a brutal left hook. More punches followed,
necessitating the stoppage.
The 25-year-old Gomes has rattled off three straight victories.
Finally, “Road to UFC” Season 1 winner Hyun Sung
Park kept his perfect professional record intact and did so in
clinical fashion, as he disposed of VFS Academy rep Carlos
Hernandez with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
flyweight tilt. Hernandez (10-5, 3-4 UFC) bowed out 2:26 into Round
1, losing for the third time in four outings.
Park (10-0, 3-0 UFC) backed up the former Hoosier Fight Club
champion with punches, cut off the cage and executed a takedown.
He then jumped to the back, secured his position with a body
triangle and snaked his arms in place for the choke. Hernandez
resisted briefly, then tapped.
The undefeated Park has stopped nine of his 10 opponents, five of
them inside one round.
In other action, Tecia
Pennington (15-7, 11-7 UFC) took a unanimous decision from
Luana
Pinheiro (11-5, 3-4 UFC) in their three-round women’s
strawweight affair, earning 29-28 scores across the board.