The UFC returned to the APEX for the 98th time this Saturday for UFC Vegas 91, as flyweights Matheus Nicolau and Alex Perez headlined the event.
With the hangover of UFC 300 still lingering, there wasn’t much interest from the fans for this lackluster APEX event with it only including five ranked fighters.
In the main event, Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1) was taking on late replacement Alex Perez (24-8) after Manel Kape withdrew yet again. In the co-main event, Ryann Spann (21-9) was returning from back-to-back losses to take on Bogdan Guskov (15-3).
Here are the live results fight by fight.
Early Prelims
Lightweight: Maheshate vs Gabrel Benitez – Maheshate def. Gabriel Benitez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s flyweight: Ivana Petrovic vs Liang Na – Ivana Petrovic def. Liang Na via submission (armbar), round 3 (1:29)
Prelims
Lightweight: James Llontop vs Chris Padilla – Chris Padilla def. James Llontop via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1 (4:33)
Women’s strawweight: Marnic Mann vs Ketlen Souza – Ketlen Souza def. Marnic Mann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Don’Tale Mayes vs Caio Machado – Don’Tale Mayes def. Caio Machado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Don’Tale Mayes returns to the win column and hands Caio Machado his second UFC loss since earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last year.
Lightweight: Austin Hubbard vs Michal Figlak – Austin Hubbard def. Michal Figlak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Despite heading into the fight as an underdog, Austin Hubbard finally picked up his first win of his second UFC stint, handing Figlak his second UFC loss since joining the promotion in 2022.
Bantamweight: Rani Yahya vs Victor Henry – Victor Henry def. Rani Yahya via TKO, round 3 (2:36)
Victor Henry, who is most well known for his wrestling and cardio showed a different side to his game on Saturday night, scoring a stoppage over the veteran Rani Yahya. Henry’s last fight ended in a no-contest after an accidental groin strike against Javid Basharat.
The 39-year-old Brazilian has now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2010.
Main Card
Welterweight: Tim Means vs Uros Medic – Uros Medic def. Tim Means via TKO, round 1 (2:09)
Early in the fight, Tim Means‘ game plan became clear as he attempted several takedowns early on. Although he was able to control Medic against the cage, he just wasn’t able to secure any of the attempts.
Just a few moments later, Uros Medic landed a hellacious uppercut directly on the chin of the 40-year-old veteran. That’s now four losses for ‘Dirty Bird’ in his last five fights, with ‘The Doctor’ Medic bouncing back into the win column emphatically.
Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce vs David Onama – David Onama def. Jonathan Pearce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Highlighted as one of the better fights on the card was the featherweight bout between Jonathan Pearce and David Onama. Although neither of these 145lbers is ranked, they both sit just outside of the top 15.
Pearce was beaten by Joanderson Brito in his last outing last November, whereas ‘The Silent Assassin’ bounced back from a loss to Nate Landwehr with a win over Gabriel Santos last June.
Early in the fight, Pearce was showcasing a clear advantage in the wrestling and grappling but whenever the two exchanged on the feet, Onama got the better of the exchanges. After an extremely close first two rounds, both fighters were showing their fatigue throughout the final five minutes.
The final 10 seconds of the fight gave the fans something to cheer about, as both featherweights stood with their feet planted and began throwing relentlessly, showing shades of Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
David Onama’s striking was the difference as he scored his second win in a row, picking up his first professional win via decision.
Heavyweight: Austen Lane vs Jhonata Diniz – Jhonata Diniz def. Austen Lane via knockout, round 2 (2:12)
Credentialed kickboxer, Jhonata Diniz was making his first UFC appearance since earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last season, taking on former NFL player, Austen Lane.
Lane was looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Justin Tafa last time out, where he suffered a first-round knockout. The 36-year-old’s clear advantage in this fight was in the wrestling and grappling department, where he dominated for the majority of round one.
Despite that, the Brazilian kickboxer came out in round two after having weathered the early storm and began piecing Lane up on the feet. The American continuously attempted to get the fight back to the ground but because of how tired he was, he couldn’t put Diniz back on the mat.
The 32-year-old managed to push Lane against the fence where he landed a heavy left hook, folding Lane, scoring a knockout win on his full UFC debut.
Women’s flyweight: Ariane da Silva vs Karine Silva – Karine Silva def. Ariane da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Two of only five ranked fighters fought in the women’s flyweight division, as Karine Silva looked to pick up the biggest win of her career thus far, against Ariane da Silva.
In the opening round, Karine Silva dominated on the mat where she looked to score her 10th career submission, coming close on a few occasions. Round two played out similarly as the 30-year-old once again got the fight to the ground where she controlled for another five minutes.
The final five minutes were far more competitive as Lipski was able to keep the fight on the feet for the large majority, but it just wasn’t enough.
The 30-year-old moved to 4-0 in her UFC tenure, putting a stop to da Silva’s win streak.
Light heavyweight: Ryan Spann vs Bogdan Guskov – Bogdan Guskov def. Ryan Spann via TKO, Round 2 (3:16)
‘Superman’ Ryan Spann was looking to return to the win column following back-to-back losses to Nikita Krylov and Anthony Smith. Bogdan Guskov was looking to improve on his win over Zac Pauga and earn a spot in the 205lb rankings, just three fights into his UFC tenure.
The number 11 ranked Spann, scored an extremely dominant round one, spending the majority of the five minutes on the back of Guskov.
Bogdan Guskov came out in round two and buzzed Spann with several big shots, wobbling him a few times. After landing a beautiful shovel right uppercut, Guskov rolled Spann’s eyes back and dropped him to the ground. He followed him down to the ground and reigned down some heavy ground-and-pound, securing the TKO finish.
The Uzbek now moves into the top 15 of the light heavyweight division.
Flyweight: Matheus Nicolau vs Alex Perez – Alex Perez def. Matheus Nicolau via knockout, round 2 (2:16)
This marked Matheus Nicolau’s first fight in over a year, with his last being a loss to Brandon Royval. Alex Perez on the other hand was coming in off a loss to Muhammad Mokaev just over a month ago.
The first round was an extremely competitive one with Perez being the slightly more active of the two and landing the cleaner strikes. Midway through round two, the 32-year-old had the Brazilian backed up against the fence and cut off the Octagon. He then landed a huge right hook, turning Nicolau’s lights out.
This marks Perez’s first stoppage win since 2020, and with that, he has put himself back into the flyweight title picture. Since his last win, he has had nine canceled bouts and three losses.