A top prospect kicked off UFC Perth early in the morning.
Ahead of UFC 320 next week, the UFC returns to Western Australia for a Fight Night event.
The 12-fight card, which has been trimmed down by multiple fight cancellations, is headlined by potential title eliminator at light heavyweight between top contenders Carlos Ulberg and Dominick Reyes.
The UFC Perth prelims began in the UFC’s lightest weight division at 7AM local time for the Australian fans.
Alexia Thainara dominates Loma Lookboonmee to decision
In a few days, Alexia Thainara will have a number next to her name.
The Brazilian prospect opened up the card against #14-ranked women’s strawweight contender Loma Lookboonmee. This was Thainara’s second UFC fight after submitting (and retiring) Molly McCann in her debut earlier this year at UFC London.
Thainara took down Lookboonmee with ease across three rounds of action. Thainara scored five takedowns and racked up ten minutes of control time.
It was a gritty performance from Thainara, who snapped Lookboonmee’s four-fight win streak with trips, ground and pound, 12-6 elbows, and even a can opener attempt towards the end of round 1.
Lookboonmee survived to see the distance and all three judges scored the fight for Thainara.
Thainara is now on a 11-fight win streak.
Alexia Thainara impressed UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili
UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili liked what he saw out of Thainara.
For Lookboonmee, this was her 10th UFC fight and Thainara looked like she was on a different level in just her second UFC appearance.
“I am very impressed how @Alle_Thainara using her wrestling and fight IQ against [experienced] fighter Loma,” Dvalishvili wrote on X.
This is a massive compliment from Dvalishvili, who’s ranked #3 pound-for-pound in the world.