UFC News & FeaturesUFC Vegas 104 Prelims: Waldo Cortes-Acosta Smashes Repackaged Ryan Spann
Waldo
Cortes-Acosta might soon make it impossible for
Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers to ignore him.
The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion wiped out Ryan Spann with punches in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 254 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cortes-Acosta (13-1, 6-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:48 into Round 2, winning for the fourth time in as many outings.
Spann (22-11, 8-6 UFC) was out of his depth in his first assignment
as a heavyweight. Cortes-Acosta punished him with a persistent jab
and buzzed the tower repeatedly with overhand rights. He caught
Spann moving backward late in the middle stanza, decked the Fortis
MMA rep with a beautiful left hook and pounded him unconscious with
a volley of follow-up punches.
Meanwhile, ex-Renaissance MMA titleholder Carlos Vera dispatched the heavily favored Josias Musasa with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bantamweight encounter. Vera (12-4, 1-1 UFC) showed the Congolese striker the door 3:16 into Round 1.
Musasa (8-1, 0-1 UFC) tested the waters with repeated inside leg kicks but never seemed comfortable. Vera gave him pause with a spinning wheel kick, reset in open space and countered a punching combination with a perfectly timed head kick. The Ryan Hall protégé trailed he fallen Musasa to the canvas, moved immediately to the back and cinched the choke without breaking stride. It soon became apparent there was no escape.
Vera, 37, has won five of his past six bouts.
Further down the undercard, Team Lucas Mineiro prospect Andre Lima kept his perfect professional record intact, as he dismissed former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion Daniel Barez with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their flyweight encounter. Barez (17-7, 1-2 UFC) capitulated 3:05 into Round 3.
Lima (11-0, 4-0 UFC) was in rare form. He systematically dismantled the game but overmatched Barez with crisp standup. Lima blew up the Spaniard’s base with high-velocity kicks to the lower lead leg, mixed in savage body-head combinations and threw in standing elbows to complete the puzzle. Barez eventually broke down. Lima struck for a takedown inside the first minute of the third round, applied his ground-and-pound and advanced to the back. From there, he softened Barez further, snaked his arms in place for the choke and elicited the tapout.
The 26-year-old Brazilian has stopped six of his first 11 opponents.
Elsewhere, MMA Masters standout Priscila Cachoeira rebounded from back-to-back defeats to Miranda Maverick and Jasmine Jasudavicius, as she punched out Josiane Nunes in the first round of their women’s bantamweight pairing. Nunes (10-4, 3-3 UFC) crashed and burned 2:46 into Round 1.
Cachoeira (13-6, 5-6 UFC) was aggressor from the start and never took her foot off the gas. She pelted Nunes with thumping right hands and clean one-twos. Nunes marched forward behind punching bursts of her own but often did so with her head down. Cachoeira capitalized and clipped her countrywoman with a right uppercut that sent the Striker’s House export into a fight-ending nosedive.
It was the fifth first-round finish of Cachoeira’s career.
Finally, Carli Judice put away fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Yuneisy Duben with a head kick and follow-up punches in the first round of their women’s flyweight tiff. The previously unbeaten Duben (6-1, 0-1 UFC) bowed out 1:40 into Round 1.
Judice (4-2, 1-1 UFC) walked through a series of low kicks, staggered the Venezuelan with a few straight lefts and kept her at a desired distance with rear-leg front kicks to the midsection. She later fired a kick upstairs, dropped Duben where she stood and flurried with punches until the job was done.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Judice.
In other Action, “Road to UFC” Season 3 winner Su Young You (15-3, 2-0 UFC) cruised to a unanimous decision against A.J. Cunningham (11-5, 0-2 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight tilt, earning 30-27 marks from all three cageside judges; and Fortis MMA’s Sam Hughes (10-6, 5-5 UFC) eked out a split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-27—over former Jungle Fight champion Stephanie Luciano (6-2-1, 1-1 UFC) in a three-round women’s strawweight clash.
The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion wiped out Ryan Spann with punches in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 254 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cortes-Acosta (13-1, 6-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:48 into Round 2, winning for the fourth time in as many outings.
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Meanwhile, ex-Renaissance MMA titleholder Carlos Vera dispatched the heavily favored Josias Musasa with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bantamweight encounter. Vera (12-4, 1-1 UFC) showed the Congolese striker the door 3:16 into Round 1.
Related » UFC Vegas 104 Round-by-Round Scoring
Musasa (8-1, 0-1 UFC) tested the waters with repeated inside leg kicks but never seemed comfortable. Vera gave him pause with a spinning wheel kick, reset in open space and countered a punching combination with a perfectly timed head kick. The Ryan Hall protégé trailed he fallen Musasa to the canvas, moved immediately to the back and cinched the choke without breaking stride. It soon became apparent there was no escape.
Vera, 37, has won five of his past six bouts.
Further down the undercard, Team Lucas Mineiro prospect Andre Lima kept his perfect professional record intact, as he dismissed former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion Daniel Barez with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their flyweight encounter. Barez (17-7, 1-2 UFC) capitulated 3:05 into Round 3.
Lima (11-0, 4-0 UFC) was in rare form. He systematically dismantled the game but overmatched Barez with crisp standup. Lima blew up the Spaniard’s base with high-velocity kicks to the lower lead leg, mixed in savage body-head combinations and threw in standing elbows to complete the puzzle. Barez eventually broke down. Lima struck for a takedown inside the first minute of the third round, applied his ground-and-pound and advanced to the back. From there, he softened Barez further, snaked his arms in place for the choke and elicited the tapout.
The 26-year-old Brazilian has stopped six of his first 11 opponents.
Elsewhere, MMA Masters standout Priscila Cachoeira rebounded from back-to-back defeats to Miranda Maverick and Jasmine Jasudavicius, as she punched out Josiane Nunes in the first round of their women’s bantamweight pairing. Nunes (10-4, 3-3 UFC) crashed and burned 2:46 into Round 1.
Cachoeira (13-6, 5-6 UFC) was aggressor from the start and never took her foot off the gas. She pelted Nunes with thumping right hands and clean one-twos. Nunes marched forward behind punching bursts of her own but often did so with her head down. Cachoeira capitalized and clipped her countrywoman with a right uppercut that sent the Striker’s House export into a fight-ending nosedive.
It was the fifth first-round finish of Cachoeira’s career.
Finally, Carli Judice put away fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Yuneisy Duben with a head kick and follow-up punches in the first round of their women’s flyweight tiff. The previously unbeaten Duben (6-1, 0-1 UFC) bowed out 1:40 into Round 1.
Judice (4-2, 1-1 UFC) walked through a series of low kicks, staggered the Venezuelan with a few straight lefts and kept her at a desired distance with rear-leg front kicks to the midsection. She later fired a kick upstairs, dropped Duben where she stood and flurried with punches until the job was done.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Judice.
In other Action, “Road to UFC” Season 3 winner Su Young You (15-3, 2-0 UFC) cruised to a unanimous decision against A.J. Cunningham (11-5, 0-2 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight tilt, earning 30-27 marks from all three cageside judges; and Fortis MMA’s Sam Hughes (10-6, 5-5 UFC) eked out a split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-27—over former Jungle Fight champion Stephanie Luciano (6-2-1, 1-1 UFC) in a three-round women’s strawweight clash.
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