Kamaru Usman had to endure a pair of injured hands and 15 takedown attempts from Demian Maia, but „The Nigerian Nightmare“ still managed to earn a lopsided unanimous decision in the main event from UFC Fight Night in Chile.
Usman showed off his grappling defense against Maia, who wasted no time trying to get inside on the former Division II National Champion wrestler. For all his attempts to drag the fight to the mat, Usman thwarted Maia’s attempts at every turn before taking the action back to the feet.
Usman’s striking was crisp and on point throughout all 25 minutes, including a knockdown in the fourth round that nearly earned him the finish. When it was all over, the judges agreed that Usman had done more than enough to get the win as the former Ultimate Fighter winner remains undefeated inside the Octagon while finally getting a signature win over a top five-ranked opponent.
Heading into the event, Usman was a solid favorite according to the selections made by fantasy players, with 68 percent picking him to win. Usman certainly came through with a dominant victory while Maia drops to 0-3 in his past three fights.
In the co-main event, Tatiana Suarez sent a strong statement to the rest of the strawweight division as she made quick work of highly-touted prospect Alexa Grasso with a first-round rear naked choke submission to remain undefeated in her professional career.
While she was actually the lower-ranked fighter, Suarez was favored amongst fantasy players, with 59 percent picking her to win in Chile.
Dominick Reyes managed to pull of a sizable upset as he earned a first-round TKO against Jared Cannonier in a featured light heavyweight bout on the main card. Reyes was selected by just 32 percent of fantasy players as he picks up the biggest win of his career with a victory over the always tough Cannonier.
Guido Cannetti survived a hostile crowd in Chile as he defeated hometown favorite Diego Rivas by unanimous decision with just 26 percent of fantasy players picking him to win.
Meanwhile, Andrea Lee took home Fight of the Night honors in her UFC debut as she defeated Veronica Macedo by unanimous decision despite just 34 percent of fantasy players selecting her going into the night.
In the lead off bout on the main card, Vicente Luque earned yet another finish as he knocked out Chad Laprise in the first round of their welterweight showdown. Luque was picked by 61 percent of fantasy players as he continues to climb towards the welterweight top 15.
On the preliminary card, Michel Prazeres made a successful transition to welterweight with a split decision win over Zak Cummings with 64 percent of fantasy players picking him to walk away victorious.
Alexandre Pantoja also got the biggest win of his UFC career as he dominated Brandon Moreno for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision win. Despite actually having a win over Moreno from their time on The Ultimate Fighter, the Brazilian was selected by just 21 percent of fantasy players. But those who did pick him also earned an extra 120 points because this was such a tight matchup going into the event.
Poliana Botelho was one of the biggest favorites on the card, with 85 percent of fantasy players picking her, and it showed with her performance. Botelho starched Syuri Kondo with punches, earning the fastest finish in UFC strawweight history with the finish coming just 33 seconds into the opening round.
Gabriel Benitez wasn’t far behind, as he earned a 39-second knockout over Humberto Bandenay with 77 percent of fantasy players correctly predicting this matchup. Once again, the players who picked Benitez enjoyed an extra 120-point bonus as well.
The early prelims where highlighted by two favorites getting wins as Enrique Barzola took out Brandon Davis while Frankie Saenz earned a unanimous decision victory over Henry Briones. The lone upset on the early prelims came from Claudio Puelles, who pulled off one of the most ridiculous comebacks in UFC history with a third-round submission over Felipe Silva with just 21 percent of fantasy players picking him to win.
All told, UFC Fight Night from Chile ended with eight favorites walking away victorious, with just four upsets based on the selections made by fantasy players on Saturday night.
