UFC Fight Night 223 Prelims: Martin Buday Grinds Down Jake Collier

Martin Buday is starting to loom large as a problem in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division.

In the featured preliminary bout of UFC Fight Night 223 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, “Badys” took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Jake Collier. The hulking Slovakian towered over Collier but struggled with his opponent’s speed and aggression, at least in the first round, during which Collier came forward, landed numerous sharp boxing combinations and largely eluded Buday’s efforts to clinch or bring the fight to the fence. Collier’s advantages dissipated after the opening frame, however, as the Missouri native appeared to tire out, allowing Buday to take over the fight in increasingly dominant fashion over Rounds 2 and 3. Buday was able to force clinch exchanges, score with hard knees to the body, and generally have his way with Collier. The third round featured a brief reprieve for both men, as an accidentally eye poke led to a break of several minutes, but once action resumed, Buday was still the evidently fresher fighter. Late in the final round, Buday pancaked a Collier takedown attempt, took top position and poured on punches as time expired, but too little, too late to merit a serious look from referee Mark Smith. Buday collected unanimous 29-28 scorecards from the cageside judges, giving him an 11-1 overall record and a third straight win since joining the UFC out of the 2021 season of Dana White's Contender Series. Collier’s loss sent him to 13-9 (5-8 UFC), including a 2-5 mark since moving up to heavyweight.

Relentless Durden Smothers Johnson

Cody Durden put on a three-round takedown and back control clinic at the expense of Charles Johnson, en route to sweeping all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. The story of the fight was Durden’s wrestling and offensive grappling, from the first round on. Within the first minute of the fight, he took Johnson’s back standing, locked up a body triangle, and processed to dominate the bulk of the round with repeated choke attempts, punctuated by stinging punches from the back. After a Johnson escape, Durden promptly took him down again and kept the pressure on, including constant work for positional advances and a couple of emphatic mat returns. The second round was a near-repeat of the first, as Durden once again took Johnson down repeatedly, took back mount and provided virtually all of the offense for the first four minutes of the round. When they returned to their feet with 45 seconds left in the frame, however, Durden appeared winded, pointing the way toward a possible window of opportunity for Johnson to get back into the fight. For a while, it looked as though momentum had shifted, as Johnson opened Round 3 by shucking off his foe’s takedown attempts and hurting him with punches, but before he could rack up any appreciable damage, Durden once again took his back, sealing up the round—and the fight—for himself. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Durden (15-4-1; 4-2-1 UFC), placing him on a three-fight winning streak since his first-round submission loss to Muhammad Mokaev last March. In defeat, Johnson fell to 13-5, 2-3 in the UFC.

Alekseeva Taps Out Egger

The third straight catchweight bout to open “UFC Vegas 72” featured a third straight successful Octagon debut, as Irina Alekseeva cranked up a kneebar on Stephanie Egger for a first-round submission. Alekseeva, whose four-pound miss on the scale Friday dictated the 140-pound catchweight at which the fight was contested, struggled in the early going against Egger. The Swiss judoka was the more poised and effective fighter on the feet, advancing and scoring with kicks while Alekseeva mostly missed with wild swings, but it was all moot once the fight hit the ground. Egger attempted a rear waistlock, Alekseeva countered by rolling for a kneebar and from there, “The Russian Ronda” had her way. Egger defended effectively for a few moments, but Alekseeva rolled through to a better position and the tap came nearly instantly, prompting referee Jason Herzog to intervene at 2 minutes, 11 seconds of Round 1. Alekseeva’s impressive grappling display, marred only by the severe weight infraction, elevated her professional record to 5-1; Egger’s record dropped to 8-4 (4-3 UFC).

McGhee Clubs, Subs Newson

Marcus McGhee (7-1) capped off what must have been a whirlwind week, as he stepped up on a few days’ notice to face Journey Newson and ended up netting the biggest win of his career. The 140-pound catchweight clash was a torrid affair from the beginning, as Newson and McGhee—both habitual bantamweights—threw caution to the wind and set a furious pace in a highly competitive first round. The second frame appeared to be set to deliver more of the same, but everything turned on a dime when McGhee sat Newson down with a clean left hand. “Maniac” pounced, took Newson’s back in a flash and locked up a rear-naked choke before his opponent could react. Newson tapped within seconds, spurring referee Mark Smith into action for the stop at 2:03. The win was McGhee’s third straight overall and propelled him to 1-0 in the Octagon, while Newson fell to 10-5 with one no contest overall, 1-4 (1 NC) in the UFC.

Horth Outlasts Cowan

The opening bout featured Jamie-Lyn Horth (6-0) keeping her undefeated record intact in a 138-pound catchweight affair against fellow UFC debutante Hailey Cowan (7-3), who missed the contracted bantamweight limit on Friday. All three rounds were individually competitive, as Horth scored repeatedly with kicks to the body and head, while Cowan leaned on power punches, effective clinch work and a couple of emphatic takedowns. Going into the final round, it may well have been either woman’s fight for the taking, but it was Horth who pulled ahead as the less apparently fatigued fighter. After 15 minutes, the Canadian prevailed by unanimous 29-28 scores, marking a triumphant Octagon debut and a successful return to action after a nearly 18-month layoff. Cowan, who finally made her way to the cage after previously scheduled debuts in February and March were both scuttled, fell to 0-1 in the promotion.