{"id":39237,"date":"2026-07-12T03:59:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T03:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/UFC-329-Prelims-Gable-Steveson-smashes-Elisha-Ellison-in-promotional-debut-201844"},"modified":"2026-07-12T03:59:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T03:59:05","slug":"ufc-329-prelims-gable-steveson-smashes-elisha-ellison-in-promotional-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/ufc-329-prelims-gable-steveson-smashes-elisha-ellison-in-promotional-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 329 Prelims: Gable Steveson smashes Elisha Ellison in promotional debut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Gable
\nSteveson<\/a> blasted through his first potential roadblock in the
\n
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a> heavyweight division and did so
\nwhile sustaining minimal damage.<\/p>\n

The five-time NCAA All-American wrestler and 2020 Olympic gold
\nmedalist excelled in his long-awaited promotional debut, as he
\nswept aside Elisha
\nEllison<\/a> with punches and knees in the first round of their
\nfeatured
\nUFC 329<\/a> prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
\n
\nEllison (5-3, 0-2 UFC) bowed out 2:31 into Round
\n1<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Steveson (4-0, 1-0 UFC) bypassed a feeling-out process in favor of
\na tit-for-tat firefight. He tore into Ellison with front kicks to
\nthe body and power punches upstairs, all while walking through the
\nreturn fire. Steveson closed the distance midway through the
\nopening stanza and smashed his fading adversary with close-range
\npunches and knee strikes. Ellison ultimately collapsed under all
\nthe punishment.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes\u201d winner Robert
\nWhittaker<\/a> moved up to 205 pounds and stopped former Fight
\nNights Global champion Nikita
\nKrylov<\/a> with punches in the third round of their light
\nheavyweight spat.
\nKrlyov (31-12, 12-10 UFC) clocked out 61 seconds into Round
\n3<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/center>
\n
Whittaker (27-9, 18-7 UFC) crowded the Ukrainian with punches, his
\nsuccess in standup exchanges keyed by a potent jab. Krylov\u2019s pace
\nslowed noticeably in the second round and further diminished in the
\nthird. Whittaker capitalized and clipped the Raty Team product with
\na pair of wicked right hands, the second of which had his opponent
\nchecking his jaw, turning away from contact and looking for a way
\nout.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Whittaker has now posted wins in three UFC weight
\nclasses.<\/p>\n

Further down the undercard, Metro Fight Club\u2019s Adrian
\nYanez<\/a> wiped out Cody
\nGarbrandt<\/a> with punches in the first round of their bantamweight
\nscrap.
\nGarbrandt (15-8, 10-8 UFC) succumbed to blows 2:47 into Round
\n1<\/a><\/strong>, falling for the third time in four outings.<\/p>\n

Yanez (18-6-1, 7-3-1 UFC) withstood a flurry from the former
\nchampion at the start and eventually clipped him with a pair of
\ncounter right hooks. Garbrandt wobbled where he stood and could not
\nweather the avalanche of punched that followed. Hooks from both
\nhands tipped the Yanez spear and left his dazed-and-confused
\ncounterpart wrecked at the base of the cage.<\/p>\n

The victory was Yanez\u2019s first in more than two years.<\/p>\n

Not to be outshined, Next Generation MMA standout Luke Riley<\/a>
\nkept his perfect professional record intact, as he took care of
\nKai
\nKamaka III<\/a> with punches and knees in the first round of their
\nfeatherweight battle.
\nRiley (14-0, 3-0 UFC) sealed the deal 3:03 into Round
\n1<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kamaka (18-8-1, 2-3-1 UFC) enjoyed significant success with kicks
\nto the Englishman\u2019s lower lead leg and a few left hooks, but he
\nlacked the firepower necessary to go shot for shot with his
\n27-year-old opponent. Riley sat him down with a clean right,
\nallowed him to stand and then swarmed with knees and punches for
\nthe finish.<\/p>\n

The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Kamaka.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, fast-rising Nova Uniao prospect Damian
\nPinas<\/a> punched out Cesar
\nAlmeida<\/a> in the first round of their middleweight affair.
\n
\nAlmeida (7-3, 3-3 UFC) met his end 4:44 into Round 1<\/a><\/strong>,
\nas the Matheus Naccahce prot\u00e9g\u00e9 suffered his second consecutive
\nsetback.<\/p>\n

Pinas (10-1, 2-0 UFC) exchanged high-velocity kicks and punches to
\nall levels with the experienced Brazilian kickboxer. Late in the
\nfirst round, the Aruban sent a devastating right cross crashing
\nthrough Almeida\u2019s defenses. The Lotus MMA product hit the deck in a
\ndazed state and absorbed one standing-to-ground hammerfist from
\nPinas before referee Chris Tognoni waved it off.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old Pinas has won six fights in a row, five of them via
\nstoppage.<\/p>\n

Deeper into the prelims, Ryan Gandra<\/a>
\ndispatched fellow Dana White\u2019s Contender Series graduate Zachary
\nReese<\/a> with punches in the first round of their middleweight
\ntilt. Gandra (10-1, 2-0 UFC) brought it to a close 1:15 into Round
\n1, as he nailed down the seventh first-round finish of his
\ncareer.<\/p>\n

Reese (10-4, 4-4 UFC) landed a few kicks to the body and lead leg
\nbut lowered his shields at the wrong time.
\nGandra floored him with a counter left hook and proceeded to slam
\nthe door with a series of follow-up punches that prompted referee
\nMike Beltran to intervene<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gandra, 31, now finds himself on a nine-fight winning streak.<\/p>\n

Finally, Lobo Gym export Alessandro
\nCosta<\/a> filled in as a late-notice replacement for Ode
\nOsbourne<\/a> and put away Cody Durden<\/a>
\nwith a rear-naked choke in the second round of their flyweight
\nencounter.
\nDurden (18-11-1, 7-9-1 UFC) conceded defeat 2:19 into Round
\n2<\/a><\/strong>, losing for the fifth time in six appearances.<\/p>\n

Costa (17-5, 5-3 UFC) connected with the more consequential blows
\nthroughout a competitive first round, then waited for an opening to
\npresent itself. Durden slipped while throwing a kick and wound up
\npinned to the mat against a world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
\nbelt early in the middle stanza. Costa flowed from side control to
\nthe back, secured his position with a body triangle and
\ntransitioned from a neck crank to the fight-ending choke.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Costa has rattled off three straight victories.<\/p>\n

In other action, Farid
\nBasharat<\/a> (16-0, 7-0 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous decision
\nover John Garza<\/a>
\n(6-2, 0-1 UFC) in their three-round bantamweight pairing, as he
\nearned 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judges; and
\nCong
\nWang<\/a> (10-1, 5-1 UFC) outstruck Tracy
\nCortez<\/a> (12-4, 6-3 UFC) to a unanimous decision\u201429-27, 29-27,
\n29-27\u2014in their three-round women\u2019s flyweight confrontation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gable Steveson blasted through his first potential roadblock in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division and did so while sustaining minimal damage. The five-time NCAA All-American wrestler and 2020 Olympic gold medalist excelled in his long-awaited promotional debut, as he swept aside Elisha Ellison with punches and knees in the first round of their featured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}