UFC 292 Prelims: Unflappable Brad Tavares Ruins Chris Weidman’s Return in Boston

WEIDMAN WASN'T HAVING IT 😤 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/Ilv3UCPfdb

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 20, 2023

Brad Tavares’ sympathies only go so far.

Destructive leg kicks, a punishing jab and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Hawaiian to a unanimous decision over returning former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the featured UFC 292 prelim on Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. All three cageside judges submitted 30-27 scorecards for Tavares (20-8, 15-8 UFC), who rebounded from back-to-back losses to Dricus Du Plessis and Bruno Silva.

In his first appearance since suffering a career-threatening leg injury in April 2021, Weidman (15-7, 11-7 UFC) looked tentative at times and outgunned at others. Tavares wrecked his lead leg with kicks and denied all of his takedown attempts. Weidman hobbled visibly on his compromised base in the second round and never fully recovered, as he was forced to switch stances and shift his surgically repaired leg into the lead position. Tavares simply picked his shots from the outside and circled away whenever danger presented itself.

Meanwhile, Kill Cliff Fight Club export Gregory Rodrigues bounced back from a Jan. 21 knockout loss to Brunno Ferreira, as he disposed of Denis Tiuliulin with ferocious ground-and-pound elbows in the first round of their middleweight confrontation. Tiuliulin (10-8, 1-3 UFC) met his end 1:43 into Round 1.

Rodrigues (14-5, 5-2 UFC) more or less brushed aside and overmatched adversary. The ex-Legacy Fighting All8iance champion secured a body-lock takedown and floated from side control to full mount to the back. Devastating elbows followed, and when a semi-conscious Tiuliulin did not respond to referee Bryan Miner’s calls to defend himself, the stoppage was called.

It goes in the books as Rodrigues’ fastest finish in 19 professional appearances.

Related » UFC 292 Round-by-Round Scoring

Elsewhere, Gracie United rep Kurt Holobaugh subdued Austin Hubbard with a triangle choke in the second round of “The Ultimate Fighter 31” lightweight final. Holobaugh (20-7, 1-4 UFC) drew the curtain 2:39 into Round 2, netting his first submission victory since Dec. 2, 2016.

Hubbard (15-7, 3-5 UFC) executed a pair of takedowns and consolidated them with ground-and-pound in the first round but struggled to find a foothold in the standup exchanges. Holobaugh slammed home picture-perfect one-twos and leg kicks, slowly but surely establishing himself as the superior martial artist. The onetime Titan Fighting Championship titleholder bullied an off-balance Hubbard to the floor in the middle stanza, wheeled to the back and eventually climbed to full mount. Holobaugh threatened with an armbar initially, then made a seamless transition to the triangle choke and prompted a reluctant tapout.

The setback snapped Hubbard’s modest two-fight winning streak.

Not to be outdone, SBG Ireland’s Brad Katona outlasted former Tachi Palace Fights champion Cody Gibson to a three-round unanimous decision in “The Ultimate Fighter 31” bantamweight final. Katona (13-2, 3-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 marks from the cageside judges, as he became the first man to win the reality series twice.

Gibson (19-9, 1-4 UFC) was a worthy and willing dance partner in what turned into an absolute barnburner at 135 pounds. He marched down the onetime Brave Combat Federation champion with merciless forward pressure and connected with a variety of weapons, from sharp one-twos and chopping right hands to low leg kicks at close range and collar-tie uppercuts. It was not enough to keep Katona at bay. The 31-year-old Canadian answered often, dazed Gibson with a lightning-strike right hand in the second round and gave him pause with repeated punches to his already badly damaged right eye in the third. By the time it was over, they had combined to land more than 300 significant strikes against one another.

Katona, who also won Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2018, has won five straight bouts.

Further down the undercard, Former Jungle Fight champion Natalia Silva picked apart Andrea Lee to a unanimous decision in a three-round flyweight affair. All three cageside judges struck 30-27 scorecards for Silva (17-5-1, 4-0 UFC), who has rattled off 10 consecutive victories and carries the look of a future contender at 125 pounds.

The 34-year-old Lee (13-8, 5-6 UFC) generated almost no offense of note. Silva staggered the Texas native with a right cross in the first round and bloodied her nose with repeated jabs. The 26-year-old Team Borracha kept her foot on the accelerator for 15 minutes and flexed her superiority in the third round, where she continued to pile up points with multi-punch bursts and even sat down Lee with a front kick to the chest.

Lee has lost three fights in a row.

Finally, Gile Ribeiro Team standout Karine Silva turned away Maryna Moroz with a guillotine choke in the first round of their women’s flyweight rematch. Moroz (11-5, 6-5 UFC) checked out 4:59 into Round 1, having been finished for the first time in her 16-fight career.

Silva (17-4, 3-0 UFC)—who submitted to an armbar from the Ukrainian in their first meeting almost nine years ago—tore into the American Top Team rep with clean punching combinations and kicks to the body, legs and head. She executed a takedown with a little more than a minute left on the clock, withstood a reversal and lured Moroz into the fight-ending guillotine.

The 29-year-old Silva has stopped eight consecutive opponents, seven of them inside one round.

In other action, “The Ultimate Fighter 29” semifinalist Andre Petroski (10-1, 5-0 UFC) eked out a split decision—28-29, 29-28, 29-28—over onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Gerald Meerschaert (35-17, 10-9 UFC) in a three-round middleweight pairing.