UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 Full Fight Results

AND STILL! AND NEW! AND WHAT?! In a long, exciting night of fights, Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight crown with a straightforward decision over Marvin Vettori, Brandon Moreno became UFC’s first Mexican champion when he submitted Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight strap and Nate Diaz gave Leon Edwards a late scare in an interesting five-round welterweight bout.

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Results

Heavyweight

Carlos Felipe (-155) def. Jake Collier via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Props: by decision (+161); over 2.5 (-162)

Matt’s pick: Felipe; Craig’s pick: Collier

The fight that lived up to expectations. It was entertaining in the first round with both fighters exchanging on the feet. But as the fight progressed, Felipe looked the fresher fighter as Collier faded. It was a too close for comfort fight for Felipe’s corner, but in the end, Felipe narrowly got the judges on his side. Felipe improves to 3-1 in the promotion while Collier drops to 4-5.

Lightweight

Fares Ziam (-108) def. Luigi Vendramini via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Props: by decision (+222); over 2.5 (-109)

Matt’s pick: Vendramini; Craig’s pick: Vendramini

After Ziam pieced up Vendramini on the feet for two rounds using a jab to maintain defense, Vendramini’s corner had a simple message for him: You need a finish. Vendramini did his best to find one, landing a big left hook to stun Ziam in the third and maintaining ground control for more than two minutes. Still, it wasn’t enough to deny Ziam the victory as “Smile Killer” improved to 2-1 in the promotion. “The Italian Stallion” fell to 1-2.

Featherweight

Steven Peterson (-101) def. Chase Hooper by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Props: by decision (+223); over 2.5 (-119)

Matt’s pick: Hooper; Craig’s pick: Hooper

The bigger, more polished fighter in Peterson evaded all of Hooper’s submission attempts in a dominating performance from start to finish. Peterson will forfeit 20 percent of his purse for missing weight, of which commentators Jon Anik and Joe Rogan hinted it could have been intentional, but still improves to 3-3 in the UFC. The 21-year-od Hooper falls to 2-2.

Bantamweight

Terrance McKinney (+152) def. Matt Frevola by knockout (R1, 0:07)

Props: by knockout (+302); under 1.5 (+103)

Matt’s pick: Frevola; Craig’s pick: Frevola

WELCOME TO THE SHOW, KID! In just seven seconds, Terrance McKinney landed a one-two combination that put Matt Frevola on the ground. Then he proceeded to injure his knee in celebration. You can’t have a more action-packed 10 seconds in your debut than Terrance McKinney. Remember, he fought just eight days ago on the regional scene. Frevola drops to 2-2 in the promotion.

Women’s Bantamweight

Pannie Kianzad (-259) def. Alexis Davis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Props: by decision (-140); over 2.5 (-388)

Matt’s pick: Kianzad; Craig’s pick: Kianzad

In typical Alexis Davis fashion, the veteran got off to a slow start before finding her footing in the second round. From there, it was back and forth in a very evenly matched striking bout in which both fighters cut each other with punches. In the end, the judges sided with Kianzad, who was elated to be interviewed by Joe Rogan post-fight for the first time. Kianzad improved to 4-2 in the UFC; Davis dropped to 7-6.

Featherweight

Movsar Evloev (-225) def. Hakeem Dawodu via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Props: by decision (-106); over 2.5 (-267)

Matt’s pick: Evloev; Craig’s pick: Evloev

Evloev showcased his superior wrestling skills in an absolute smothering opening two rounds as Dawodu had no answer to the grappling skills of the Russian fighter. Hakeem Dawodu did land a couple hard punches in the third round to give Evloev a slight scare, but another takedown secured Eloev’s fifth UFC victory. Dawodu falls to 5-2.

Women’s Flyweight

Lauren Murphy (+117) def. Joanne Calderwood via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Props: by decision (+189); over 2.5 (-392)

Matt’s pick: Calderwood; Craig’s pick: Murphy

Fights don’t get much closer than this. Lucky Lauren Murphy dominated in a second round in which she got the takedown, but clearly lost the third round in which she looked exhausted. The first round was a complete toss up as both fighters had some success on the feet. In the judges’ eyes, the first went to narrowly to Murphy much to the Arizona crowd’s delight. Murphy improves to 7-4 in the UFC and likely earns a shot at the flyweight title with a five-fight win streak. Calderwood falls to 7-6.

Light Heavyweight

Eryk Anders (-151) def. Darren Stewart via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

Props: by decision (+222); over 2.5 (-138)

Matt’s pick: Anders; Craig’s pick: Anders

After two sleepy rounds in which Eryk Anders hugged Darren Stewart against the fence, “Ya Boi” poured it on in the third round by getting a reversal of Stewart’s takedown and going to work on the ground. It wasn’t the prettiest fight by any means, but Anders improves to 6-5 in the promotion with the victory. Stewart falls to 5-6.

Lightweight

Brad Riddell (+126) def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Props: by decision (+246); over 2.5 (-161)

Matt’s pick: Riddell; Craig’s pick: Riddell

You can’t spell Fight of the Night without Dober-Riddell on Saturday. In one of the best fights of the year, Drew Dober and Brad Riddell took turns rocking each other with heavy hands in a back-and forth thriller to ready the Gila River Arena fans for the main card. Dober nearly had Riddell out in the opening minutes and Riddell nearly had Dober out in the closing seconds. Incredible fight and impossible for judges to decide. But in the end, Riddell did just enough to pick up his fourth UFC victory. Dober falls to 9-7 in the promotion.

Light Heavyweight

Paul Craig (+208) def. Jamahal Hill by TKO (R1, 1:59)

Props: by knockout (+1043); under 1.5 (-108)

Matt’s pick: Hill; Craig’s pick: Hill

Don’t mess around on the ground with Paul Craig. Lesson learned for Jamahal Hill, who picked up his first professional defeat when Craig disclocated his elbow with an armbar and threw punches to his head until the referee intervened. Some sites are reporting it as a submission via arm injury, while others are saying TKO. Craig moves to 7-4-1 in the UFC; Hill’s 8-0 unblemished record is no more.

Welterweight

Belal Muhammad (-222) def. Demian Maia via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Props: by decision (+109); over 2.5 (-167)

Matt’s pick: Muhammad; Craig’s pick: Muhammad

If this is Demian Maia’s last time in the Octagon, it was quite a run. But on Saturday, it was clear his best days are behind him. Belal Muhammad defended nearly 20 takedowns and had all the advantages on the feet to earn his 10th UFC victory. Maia fell to 22-11 in the UFC.

Welterweight

Leon Edwards (-478) def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)

Props: by decision (+151); over 4.5 (+118)

Matt’s pick: Edwards; Craig’s pick: Edwards

Well, that got interesting in the final seconds. After a completely dominating performance for four and half rounds, Nate Diaz landed some big combos late in the fight as Edwards had to scramble just to survive the fight. It was impressive up until that point for “Rocky”, who completely pieced up Diaz, who had massive gashes on his head in two different locations. Edwards improved to 11-2 in the UFC; Diaz dropped to 15-11.

Flyweight Championship

Brandon Moreno (+169) def. Deiveson Figueiredo by submission (R3, 2:26)

Props: by submission (+1031); under 2.5 (+123)

Matt’s pick: Figueiredo; Craig’s pick: Figueiredo

AND NEW! Brandon Moreno looked like a vastly improved fighter six months removed from the first fight between these two fighters and in the third round picked up a rear-naked choke over the champ. It was Mexico’s first UFC champion as Moreno’s journey reached its pinnacle. He was once cut from the promotion and is now 7-2-2 in the UFC and the flyweight champ. Figueiredo falls to 9-2-1 in the UFC and potentially faces a move up to bantamweight.

Middleweight Championship

Israel Adesanya (-248) def. Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Props: by decision (+148); over 4.5 (-129)

Matt’s pick: Adesanya; Craig’s pick: Vettori

In a fairly straightforward decision, Israel Adesanya pieced up Marvin Vettori, who shot for takedown after takedown and did little with it. Vettori did have a rear-naked choke possibility in the third round but Adesanya escaped and struck his way to a clear decision. Adesanya is still undefeated as a middleweight while Vettori drops to 7-3-1 and puts to bed who won the first fight between the two — a split decision.

Scorecard

Total Fights: 14

Ended by decision: 11

Ended by submission: 1

Ended by knockout: 2

Matt’s picks: 8-6 (2021: 140-88-5); Craig’s picks: 7-7 (2021: 132-96-5)

Underdogs: 7-7

Biggest underdog winner: Paul Craig (+208)

Biggest prop hit: Craig by knockout (+1043)

Performance bonuses ($50,000 each): Drew Dober, Brad Riddell, Paul Craig, Brandon Moreno