UFC Fight Night 235 Prelims: Molly McCann Armbar Submits Diana Belbita in Rematch

Molly McCann put her naysayers in timeout.

The Next Generation MMA mainstay downshifted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division and disposed of Diana Belbita with an armbar in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 235 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Belbita (15-9, 2-5 UFC) conceded defeat 4:59 into Round 1 but not before her limb bent the wrong way.

McCann (14-6, 7-5 UFC), who had beaten the Romanian by unanimous decision back in 2019, was far more decisive in their rematch. She closed the distance without fear and unleashed a variety of weapons, from overhand rights and spinning back kicks to push kicks and her patented spinning back elbow. McCann delivered a late takedown, climbed to full mount and uncorked a series of elbows before she transitioned to the armbar for the finish.

Meanwhile, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Charles Johnson rallied from an inauspicious start to stun the previously unbeaten Azat Maksum by unanimous decision in their three-round flyweight encounter. A short-notice substitution for Nathan Maness, Johnson (14-6, 3-4 UFC) swept the cards with 29-28 scores from all three members of the cageside judiciary.

Maksum (17-1, 1-1 UFC) floored the Murcielago MMA standout with a counter right hand in the first round, then threatened his neck with a guillotine and brabo choke. Johnson spent the rest of the period clearing the cobwebs and inching his way back into the fight. He outstruck Maksum for much of the second round and turned up the heat further when it counted most in the third. There, Johnson answered single shots from the Brave Combat Federation veteran with two and sometimes three of his own, nearly put him to sleep with a ninja choke and secured a late takedown, consolidating those efforts by climbing to full mount.

The victory closed the book on Johnson’s three-fight losing streak.

Elsewhere, MMA Masters export Themba Gorimbo wiped out Pete Rodriguez with punches in the first round of their welterweight confrontation. In his first appearance since Oct. 15, 2022, Rodriguez (5-2, 1-2 UFC) bowed out just 32 seconds into Round 1.

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Gorimbo (12-4, 2-1 UFC) barely broke a sweat. The 33-year-old Zimbabwe native sat down the MMA Lab product with a devastating overhand right on the counter, plowed into top position and let the punches flow until referee Herb Dean had seen enough. A late replacement for Kiefer Crosbie, Rodriguez never knew what hit him.

It was Gorimbo’s first sub-minute finish as a pro.

Further down the undercard, former Road Fighting Championship titlist Jeong Yeong Lee flexed his superiority in all phases and laid claim to a unanimous decision over Blake Bilder in a three-round featherweight clash. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Lee (11-1, 1-0 UFC), who now finds himself on an eight-fight winning streak.

Bilder (8-2-1, 1-2 UFC) had no pathway to victory. Lee hammered the body with punches from both hands, cut off attempted takedowns with elbows to the side of the head and outclassed “El Animal” once the action spilled onto canvas. Bilder was in survival mode for much of the back half of the fight. Lee had him ducking for cover with ground-and-pound late in the second round and paired a takedown with suffocating control in the closing stages of the third.

The 33-year-old Bilder has suffered back-to-back defeats after an 8-0-1 start to his career.

Finally, Dana White’s Contender Series alum Luana Carolina put away ex-Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Julija Stoliarenko with punches in the third round of their women’s flyweight pairing. Stoliarenko (11-8-2, 2-6 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:52 into Round 3.

Carolina—who forfeited 20% of her purse after missing weight for the match by two pounds—outstruck and outmaneuvered the Lithuanian at range, tortured her with knees in the clinch and managed to extricate herself from a few harrowing submission attempts. The Brazilian broke free from a triangle choke late in the third round, returned to a standing position, staggered a visibly exhausted Stoliarenko with a thudding right hand and executed a head-and-arm throw. Carolina moved to a mounted crucifix, met little resistance and cut loose with a sustained burst of punches until the job was done.

Stoliarenko has lost five of her last seven bouts.

In other action, Factory X rep Marquel Mederos (9-1, 1-0 UFC) made a successful promotional debut with a unanimous decision over onetime Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Landon Quinones (7-3-1, 0-2 UFC) in a three-round lightweight affair, as he earned matching 29-28 marks on the scorecards; and Syndicate MMA’s Jamal Pogues (11-4, 2-1 UFC) rode efficient combination punching and stellar takedown defense to a unanimous decision over former LFA champion Thomas Petersen (8-2, 0-1 UFC) in a three-round heavyweight tilt, drawing 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 scores from the cageside judges.