The athletes competing in the prelims of the UFC’s 10th visit to Newark made sure to get the absolute most of their allotted time inside the Octagon, save for one Brazilian heavyweight who had other plans.
Six of the seven fights on the UFC 302 prelims went the distance, with Bassil Hafez and Mickey Gall turning in a crackerjack early in the night and Cesar Almeida and Roman Kopylov combining for an entertaining clash to close out the slate. The lone finish amongst the slate came thanks to jailton Almeida, who rebounded from his first UFC setback in resounding fashion, running through Alexandr Romanov.
UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier Prelim Results
- Randy Brown [29-28, 29-28, 29-28] defeats Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos by Unanimous Decision
- Roman kopylov [29-28, 30-27] defeats Cesar Almeida [29-28] by Split Decision
- Jailton Almeida defeats Alexandr Romanov by Submission [rear-naked choke] at 2:27 of Round1
- Grant Dawson [29-28, 30-27, 30-27] defeats Joe Solecki by Unaimous Decision
- Jake Matthews [29-28, 29-28, 30-27] defeats Philip Rowe by Unanimous Decision
- Bassil Hafez [30-27, 30-27,29-28] defeats Mickey Gall by Unanimous Decision
- Ailin Perez [30-27, 29-28, 29-28] defeats Joselyne Edwards by Unanimous Decision
- Andre Lima [30-27, 30-27] defeats Mitch Raposo [29-28] by Split Decision
Andre Lima [30-27, 30-27] defeats Mitch Raposo [29-28] by Split Decision
Andre Lima secured his second UFC win to open Saturday’s fight card in Newark, out-working Mitch Raposo to earn a unanimous decision victory.
The Brazilian, who missed weight by four pounds, chopped at Raposo’s legs early, stinging the newcomer and giving him pause to close the distance. While the output wasn’t significant, Lima was efficient with his offense, staying focused on the legs throughout, cutting down Raposo late in the fight to further cement his victory.
After collecting a win by disqualification in his debut, Lima came away on the happy side of a questionable split decision verdict to move to 2-0 in the UFC and 9-0 for his career with the victory here. | Official Scorecards
Ailin Perez [30-27, 29-28, 29-28] defeats Joselyne Edwards by Unanimous Decision
The grudge match between Ailin Perez and Joselyne Edwards went the full 15 minutes, with Perez coming away with her third straight UFC win.
Perez used her ability to hit throws and drag Edwards to the canvas to get herself into favorable positions, though Edwards was often able to reverse those positions. The biggest individual blow of the fight came in the second, when Perez dropped Edwards with a clean spinning backfist, although she failed to really capitalize.
When the scores were added up, Perez came out ahead on all three scorecards. After dropping her promotional debut, the Argentinian has now secured three straight victories on the cards to move to 10-2 overall.|Official Scorecards
Bassil Hafez [30-27,30-27, 29-28] defeats Mickey Gall by Unanimous Decision
Bassil Hafez and Mickey Gall spent all three rounds slinging hammers at one another on the feet, each man landing power shots at different points to set the bar for Fight of the Night honors.
Hafez was the aggressor early, bringing the fight to Gall, who was returning for the first time in two years. But as the fight progressed, the New Jersey native started to warm into things, finding his rhythm and confidence on the feet to start working back into things. The back half of the contest was ultra- close, with Gall seeming to edge be the fresher, more successful of the two down the stretch.
For the third straight fight to start the night, the judges were tasked with determining the victor, and all three were in lockstep, awarding Hafez the win. After a competitive, split decision loss to Jack Della Maddalena in his short notice debut, “The Habibi” now has his first UFC victory under his belt.|Official Scorecards
Grant Dawson [29-28, 30-27, 30-27] defeats Joe Solecki by Unanimous Decision
Returning for the first time since suffering his first UFC setback, Grant Dawson got back into the win column with a commanding performance against Joe Solecki.
Solecki was effective in short bursts in the opening round, threatening with a deep guillotine choke early and cutting Dawson with a short elbow off his back. But from there, “KGD” was in complete control, putting Solecki on the canvas and battering away from top position in each of the final two rounds, giving the New Jersey native little room to escape.
This was a grinding, suffocating effort from Dawson, who turned 30 in February and stands at 9-1-1 inside the Octagon after this victory. Despite his setback to Bobby Green last year, the American Top Team representative remains someone with room to continue growing in the lightweight division going forward.|
Official Scorecards
Jailton Almeida defeats Alexandr Romanov by Submission [rear- naked choke] at 2:27 of Round 1
Jailton Almeida snapped the decision streak in New Jersey, securing a first-round submission win over Alexandr Romanov to get back into the win column.
“Malhadinho” took Romanov down less than 30 seconds into the contest, quickly working his way to the back and searching for openings to attack the choke. While Romanov was able to adjust and escape the first attempt, Almeida adjusted, got under the chin, and got the tap.
After suffering his first UFC loss last time out, Almeida makes an expeditious return to the win to column here, pushing his record to 7-1 inside the Octagon and 21-3 overall, This was an emphatic return to from for the promising heavyweight, and it will be interesting to see who gets matched up with next.
Roman kopylov [29-28, 30-27] defeats Cesar Almeida [29-28] by Split Decision
Roman Kopylov showed there is more to his game than his signature striking, utilizing more wrestling in his clash with Cesar Almeida than he’d shown in previous outings, using it to get himself back in the win column on Saturday night.
Many hoped the two kickboxers would stand and trade throughout, and while there were certainly moments where they did, kopylov wisely mixed in takedowns to put the less experienced Almeida on his back and shout down his offense. As the fight progressed, Almeida had more success on the feet, but kopylov was able to repeatedly put him on the canvas and keep him there, salting away an important bounce- back win.
After entering the year on a four-fight winning streak, Kopylov got himself moving in the right direction again following his February loss to Anthony Hernandez. It’s the first loss as a mixed martial artist for Almeida, who falls to 5-1 with the defeat.|Official Scorecards|Main Card Results
Don’t miss a moment of UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier, live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Prelims Start at 8pm ET/5pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
