Tom Nolan Rebounds with TKO in UFC Fight Night 241 Featured Prelims Bout

Nice knee to the body from Tom Nolan #UFCVegas92 pic.twitter.com/NpshMdOM2U

— TakeruCigarra (@TakeruCigarra) May 18, 2024

A bloodied Tom Nolan (7-1) closed out the UFC Fight Night 241 prelims in violent fashion with a first-round TKO win (3:50) over Victor Martinez (13-6). Coming in with 13 knockouts between them, the lightweights did not disappoint. Martinez dropped Nolan with a clean left hook and almost found the finish before Nolan ultimately closed the show with a debilitating knee to the body. It only took a few shots for good mesure for referee Mark Smith to intervene.

Two UFC newcomers shared the Octagon for the first time as undefeated French light heavyweight Oumar Sy (10-0) matched up against Bellator MMA veteran George Tokkos (10-4). After escaping from a few of Sy’s sprawls, Tokkos decided to tease the Frenchman. Tokkos’ constant reminders of “you’re heavier than me” didn’t faze Sy at all and ultimately backfired as Sy sunk in a face crank that ended the fight 3:43 into the first round.

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Tamires Vidal had no answers for Melissa Gatto in their bantamweight tilt. Gatto stifled the heavy-handed Brazillian on the ground early and nearly submitted her in the second round with an armbar. Down two rounds to nil, Vidal needed to explode out of her corner to push the pace, but it was Gatto who brought the surge. Just 37 seconds into the final frame, Gatto (10-2-2) polished off her performance with a flurry of shots to Vidal’s body until she was down and out. The win gave Gatto her eighth career stoppage.

After suffering back-to-back losses to Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho, middleweight contender Abus Magomedov rediscovered the winner’s circle with a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) over Warlley Alves. Alves (14-8) entered the bout on a three-fight skid and looked to lure Magomedov into a brawl. Magomedov exchanged with Alves for most of the first round but quickly altered his gameplan. Once Magomedov realized he could get Alves to the mat at will the fight shifted in his favor. Alves through up prayers on his back that Magomedov laughed off and responded with punishing ground-and-pound. Alves was left cut and bloodied as Magomedov (26-6-1) took home his first win since September 2022.

Piera Rodriguez used her head a little too literally in her flyweight scrap against Ariane Carnelossi. After a solid first round, the Venezuelan slugger was warned for leading with her head by referee Mark Smith, but the message was not received. While trying to pass Carnelossi’s guard, Rodriguez speared the former with the top of her skull, resulting in a disqualification. With the loss, Rodriguez (9-2) drops her second straight after ripping off nine straight wins to begin her career.

Heili Alateng (17-9-2) rebounded from a loss in his last time out with a clear unanimous decision over Kleydson Rodrigues (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in bantamweight action. Rodrigues brought the flash and tried to catch Alateng with spinning back kicks but “The Mongolian Knight” kept him a step behind with his wrestling and ground-and-pound. Alateng ended all three rounds on top of Rodrigues (8-4) and never let the Team Nogueira prospect find his rhythm.

Two strawweights looking to build momentum off their last win kicked off UFC Fight Night 241 as Vanessa Demopoulos squared off against former Invicta Fighting Championships champion Emily Ducote. Ducote and Demopoulous didn’t give each other an inch and the fight was a 15-minute barnburner. Ducote’s right-hand counters routinely snapped Demopoulos’ head back, but the Factory X prospect returned the favor and hurt Ducote in rounds two and three. Despite a late takedown from Ducote, the judges favored Demopoulos’s heavy shots in the split decision verdict (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).