UFC Fight Night 206 Results: Ketlen Vieira Beats Holly Holm by Decision

The third round featured a little bit of both fighters’ strengths. Holm continued to hold position in the clinch for large swaths of the round, but Vieira landed some substantial strikes.

Holm’s cardio was on display in the fourth round. While Vieira appeared to slow the 40-year-old, Holm stuck with her gameplan and even landed a front kick to the face that rocked her opponent.

Holm was again able to control for most of the fifth round with her clinch game, but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges she deserved to have her hand raised.

The win is Vieira’s second win over a former champion in a row. With two five-round victories over Holm and Miesha Tate, it’s getting harder to argue against her getting a shot at the winner of Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes.
  

Main Card

• Ketlen Vieira def. Holly Holm by split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)

• Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

• Chidi Njokuani def. Dusko Todorovic by knockout (elbow) at 4:48 of Round 1

• Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

• Junyong Park def. Eryk Anders by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Prelims

• Joseph Holmes def. Alen Amedovski by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:04 of Round 1

• Jailton Almeida def. Parker Porter by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:35 of Round 1

• Uros Medic def. Omar Morales by TKO (punch) at 3:05 of Round 2

• Jonathan Martinez def. Vince Morales by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

• Chase Hooper def. Felipe Colares by TKO (punches) at 3:00 of Round 3

• Sam Hughes def. Elise Reed by TKO at 3:52 (elbows) of Round 3

Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio

The scorecards were all over the place, but Michel Pereira picked up a unanimous decision victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio in the co-main event.

On paper, this one looked like it would be a slugfest, and it didn’t disappoint.

Pereira put the pressure on early. His pace was difficult for the Argentinian to match, and Pereira seemed to have a power advantage in the first round.

Midway through the second round is where things started to get interesting. Pereira has become a more measured fighter as his UFC career progresses but Ponzinibbio was able to draw out his inner brawler. By the third round, both fighters were swinging and throwing caution to the wind. 

Ultimately, Pereira did enough to get the nod from the judges, although the second round could have gone either way. With Pereira winning the first and Ponzinibbio winning the third, it was a tough fight to score. 

Chidi Njokuani def. Dusko Todorovic

Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani lived up to his moniker and added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume with a first-round stoppage of Dusko Todorovic. 

Njokuani showed just how little space he needs to create a fight-ending blow with this one. While clinched up with Tudorovic, he unleashed an elbow that landed flush and earned him his second first-round knockout in as many fights.

The middleweight has already made quite the statement just two fights into his UFC career. He knocked out Marc-Andre Barriault in 16 seconds in his UFC debut.

After sitting down a talented fighter in Tudorovic, his stock will continue to rise. Chidi’s brother Anthony had a brief run in the UFC after a successful stint in the WEC. It’s looking like Chidi could be around much longer.

Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana

Tabatha “Baby Shark” Ricci relied heavily on her ground game to score a unanimous decision victory over Polyana Viana in the women’s strawweight division.

The Baby Shark drowned Viana with her aggression in the wrestling department. Viana had some success on her feet but was too content to concede top position when the fight hit the mat. Ricci took advantage with 9:31 of control time.

It’s a big win for Ricci moving forward as Viana is easily the best opponent that she has beaten. Although she is 7-1, Ricci’s lone loss came against one of the best fighters she has seen in Manon Fiorot. Topping Viana brings some validity to her prospects moving forward.

Ricci still needs to figure out how to close distance effectively in her striking, but she has a good enough grappling base to be dangerous in the future.

Junyong Park def. Eryk Anders

Junyong Park kicked off the main card with a split decision victory in middleweight action.

After losing his last bout by second-round knockout, Park was fired up after getting back on track with a win in a close fight.

He had to find ways to succeed despite Anders spamming takedown attempts. In all, Park stuffed all but three of 24 takedown attempts by Anders.

While Anders held the advantage in control time, it was Park who dealt the most damage. Park landed 105 significant strikes to his opponent’s 65. He was also more efficient, connecting on 57 percent of his significant strikes compared to just 45 percent for Anders.

It was a good example of judges giving credit to the fighter who actually created the most offense rather than the one who exerted the most control time.