Winners And Losers From Namajunas Vs. Cortez Card

The UFC is at Ball Arena for tonight’s UFC Denver fight card on ESPN. In the main event, former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas faces Tracy Cortez in a flyweight contest. In the evening’s co-headlining matchup, veteran welterweights Santiago Ponzinibbio and Muslim Salikhov meet at 170 pounds.

The main card for tonight’s UFC Denver Fight Night event begins at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, following prelims on the same network at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Namajunas (12-6), a former two-time 115-pound titleholder under the UFC banner, made the move to flyweight in 2023 after losing the strawweight crown to Carla Esparza in May 2022. Namajunas, who is the No. 6 fighter in the official UFC women’s flyweight rankings, is 1-1 at 125 pounds. She dropped her flyweight debut to Manon Fiorot in September 2023 by decision, but Namajunas bounced back from that setback with a March decision win over Amanda Ribas.

Cortez (11-1) is undefeated since losing her MMA debut in 2017. Cortez is 5-0 under the UFC banner. She made her debut with the promotion in late 2019 after earning a contract with a win on a Dana White Contender Series card. Cortez is coming off a September decision victory over Jasmine Jasudavicius. Cortez is ranked No. 11 in the UFC women’s flyweight division. She accepted this fight on short notice after Namajunas’ original opponent, Maycee Barber dropped out for health reasons.

Santiago Ponzinibbio (29-7) has been with the UFC since November 2013. His best run with the promotion came between December 2015 and November 2018 when he won seven consecutive fights. Ponzinibbio is 2-4 since then and coming off an April 2023 knockout loss to Kevin Holland.

Muslim Salikhov (19-5) is looking to end the only losing skid of his professional career. Salikhov first fought for the UFC in November 2017. He went 5-0 between April 2018 and June 2021. Salikhov is 1-3 since then. In his two most recent outings he lost Nicolas Dalby by decision on Randy Brown via knockout. The Brown fight was his most recent trip to the Octagon, and that came in February of this year.

UFC Denver results, winners and losers, as well as final official scorecards will be updated live throughout tonight’s fight card.

UFC Denver Winners

Gabriel Bonfim: Coming off his first career loss, Gabriel Bonfim had a bounce-back performance in Denver, using his striking skills and ability to get off the mat to pick up a decision win over Ange Loosa.

Loosa’s strategy was to keep Bonfim in close, nullify his striking, and take the fight to the mat. However, Bonfim landed heavy knees in the clinch, stayed off the mat, and used his jab in the third round to keep Loosa at bay. All of which helped him pick up the decision win.

Saturday’s win was the first time Bonfim went the distance as a pro.

Julian Erosa: There was not a lot of defense in the early going of the featherweight battle between Julian Erosa and Christian Rodriguez as both men scored early in the first round, but it was Rodriguez leading the dance with Erosa countering.

However, the momentum of the fight went directly to Erosa’s advantage the minute the competitors hit the ground late in the stanza, with Erosa smoothly taking control and picking up a late guillotine choke submission.

Charles Johnson: Charles Johnson struggled with the aggression and pace of Joshua Van in the first 10 minutes of their flyweight scrap. Perhaps needing a finish to win the fight, Johnson came out fast in the third stanza and picked up a nasty knockout win in the opening moments of the final stanza.

Johnson went 1-3 in 2023 under the UFC banner. He is 3-0 with the promotion in 2024.

Jasmine Jasudavicius: Jasmine Jasudavicius had a lot to lose on Saturday, facing a much-hyped Fatima Kline on short notice. Jasudavicius picked up a unanimous decision win in the flyweight contest.

Jasudavicius only had a one-inch height and reach advantage over her opponent. She made those advantages look more pronounced thanks to her speed, footwork, ability to control range, and getting off first with her strikes. Jasudavicius also found Kline struggled to get off the mat after Jasudavicius got the fight to the ground.

Montel Jackson: Moments after UFC commentator told viewers to watch the punches of Montel Jackson, Jackson uncorked a left that caught Da’Mon Blackshear stepping in, possibly to throw a kick or knee. There was no need for a follow-up strike as Jackson ended the fight 18 seconds into the opening round.

With the win, Jackson is on a five-fight winning streak under the UFC banner. He has not lost since Brett Johns defeated him in 2020. Jackson has only fought once per year since 2022.

Luana Santos: Luana Santos made things look easy on Saturday in picking up a submission win over Mariya Agapova in Denver. She used her striking, judo and ground skills to dominate Agapova.

Santos is 3-0 in the UFC with two stoppage victories, and on a five-fight overall winning streak.

Andre Petroski: Andre Petroski ended a two-fight losing skid on Saturday via his wrestling skills and heavy top game on the mat. Petroski had no problem scoring early takedowns in each round on his way to a decision win over Josh Fremd. Once the fight hit the mat, Petroski patiently looked for openings for submissions while preventing Fremd from finding a way off the ground.

The fight might not have been exciting, but coming into it with two losses, any win is a good win for Petroski, who said after the fight that he didn’t want to take risks against Fremd.

Evan Elder: After a tough start to his UFC career with two losses, Evan Elder is on a two-fight winning streak after submitting Darrius Flowers in the opening fight on the UFC Denver card.

This was a short-notice fight, signed earlier this week, but Elder looked very good in defeating Flowers, who ran out of gas before the end of the first round. Elder showed good fight IQ in taking advantage of a compromised opponent. His striking was active, and he mixed up techniques and targets well.

UFC Denver Losers

Ange Loosa: Ange Loosa looked like his game plan against Gabriel Bonfim was to use his jab to set up takedowns and dominate the fight on the mat. That wasn’t a flawed theory, but Loosa could not control the fight on the ground, and his striking didn’t do enough damage to score on the feet. The decision loss ended a three-fight unbeaten streak for Loosa.

Dominick Cruz: UFC commentator Dominick Cruz didn’t say that he thought Cody Brundage was faking his inability to continue after Abdul Razak Alhassan landed illegal blows to the back of his head, but he heavily implied that. Cruz’s opinion on what a fighter is physically feeling is unimportant in a situation like that. Cruz needs to learn when it’s right or wrong to offer his opinion, especially when it comes to a potential head/brain injury.

Joshua Van: Joshua Van had a good 10 minutes against Charles Johnson, using his aggression and power to rack up points on the scorecards. However, Van did not seem prepared to deal with Johnson starting the third stanza looking for a knockout, which he got.

Fatima Kline: A two-division Cage Fury champion, 24-year-old Fatima Kline made her UFC debut on Saturday against the more experienced Jasmine Jasudavicius. The fight was a short-notice one for Kline.

Kline didn’t show any Octagon jitters in the matchup, but she struggled to lead the dance on the feet and had a lot of trouble getting off the mat after Jasudavicius scored takedowns.

Kline showed heart in looking for a stoppage win in the third round when she was down 2-0 on the scorecards, but she could not find the mark.

Kline has only had seven pro fights, and with this one coming on short notice at elevation, it’s hard to get a full grasp on her upside. However, many respected MMA pundits feel she can find success in the UFC. It will be interesting to see what she can do with a full camp against an unranked opponent at 115 pounds instead of 125.

Mariya Agapova: Coming back from nearly two years of inactivity, Agapova did not have much to offer Luana Santos, who easily submitted Agapova in the first round.

With the loss, Agapova fell to 1-4 dating back to August 2020. Her one win during that stretch was an October 2021 submission over Sabina Mazo, who is no longer with the UFC.

Josh Fremd: Josh Fremd looked unprepared for the wrestling skills of Andre Petroski, who averaged 4.32 takedowns per minute heading into this matchup. That lack of takedown defense cost him dearly, as he spent almost the entire fight on his back on the mat.

Darrius Flowers: Darrius Flowers ran out of gas after five minutes in Denver. According to the UFC commentary team, Flowers told his team that he couldn’t breathe after the first round. Not long after that, Evan Elder submitted Flowers.

Flowers did the UFC a favor by accepting this bout during fight week, but with an 0-3 record in the UFC, he might have seen his last UFC action.

Neither

Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage: This short fight ended with a no contest after Cody Brundage was unable to continue after Abdul Razak Alhassan elbowed him to the back of the head.

UFC Denver Full Fight Card

Main Card

Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez

Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov

Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva

Gabriel Bonfim defeats Ange Loosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Julian Erosa defeats Christian Rodriguez via submission at 4:49 of Round 1 (Guillotine choke From guard)

Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage ends in a no contest at 0:37 of Round 1 (Accidental elbow to the back of the head)

Preliminary card

Charles Johnson defeats Joshua Van via knockout at 0:20 of Round 3 (Punch to head at distance)

Jasmine Jasudavicius defeats Fatima Kline via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Montel Jackson defeats Da’Mon Blackshear via knockout at 0:18 of Round 1 (Punch to head at distance)

Mariya Agapova defeats Luana Santos via submission at 3:27 of Round 1 (Rear-naked choke)

Andre Petroski defeats Josh Fremd via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Evan Elder defeats Darrius Flowers via submission at 1:46 of Round 2 (Arm triangle from side control)

UFC Denver Fight Night Bonuses

UFC Denver Scorecards

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