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<\/a><\/p>\nLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 25: (R-L) Aljamain Sterling punches Youssef Zalal of Morocco in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on April 25, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n
Aljamain Sterling, Cage General<\/p>\n
On the whole, Aljamain Sterling didn\u2019t really show anything new while dominating Youssef Zalal. The 36-year-old brought his usual mix of tools to the Octagon: punishing kicks, wide overhand swings, outstanding cage wrestling, and debatably the sport\u2019s best back triangle. He didn\u2019t bring any surprises to the table, and yet he still won the vast majority of the fight in impressive fashion.<\/p>\n
Sterling\u2019s cage generalship and Fight IQ were the real takeaways here. He managed to win the first two rounds without ever putting his foot on the gas in a serious way. He tried a few takedowns, but if Zalal was in good position to defend, he didn\u2019t force it. He would simply bide his time and try again a minute later, and if given an inch, Sterling would take a mile.<\/p>\n
Round Four was the memorable moment. After nearly getting guillotined in the third \u2014 the only real moment of trouble for \u201cFunkmaster\u201d in 25 minutes of combat \u2014 Sterling stormed out of the gate and genuinely surprised Zalal with his sudden outburst of strength and aggression. Zalal didn\u2019t exactly wilt, but he gave up the subsequent takedown in a state of shell shock. With that moment of unprecedented explosion, Sterling wrapped up the win on the judges\u2019 scorecards, allowing him to once again take his time in the fifth.<\/p>\n
He won that round too, by the way.<\/p>\n
Like in the Petr Yan rematch, Sterling demonstrated that he can play the game masterfully here. He\u2019s so experienced against elite competition that he\u2019s able to take a break or ramp up the intensity without paying the price. He\u2019s a very cerebral fighter, able to make these decisions on the fly and reap the rewards.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to see him fight Jean Silva in a bona fide title eliminator next.<\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 25: (R-L) Joselyne Edwards of Panama punches Norma Dumont of Brazil in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on April 25, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n The two women\u2019s Bantamweight fights did not inspire hope in the division\u2019s future.<\/p>\n Dumont did not look like the next contender opposite Edwards. She\u2019s known as a counter fighter, but Edwards gave her relatively few easy openings. As a result, Dumont didn\u2019t do much of anything! After some early grappling exchanges, it was a low-volume kickboxing match in which neither woman really did much to capture the momentum. Edwards was a bit more active and pushed forward more, resulting in a unanimous decision victory.<\/p>\n Nobody is calling for a \u201cLa Pantera\u201d title shot even after five straight wins.<\/p>\n Earlier on the \u201cPrelims,\u201d former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva suffered her fifth consecutive loss to Michelle Montague in yet another uninspired performance. It\u2019s hard to believe she was favored to win gold just two years ago! Montague was able to wrestle her way to victory, looking both very physically talented and very green in overall MMA skill. Montague\u2019s kickboxing is scarily wooden, and one wonders if the 32-year-old up-and-comer can fix that issue in the years to come.<\/p>\n Either way, the divisional future is grim. What\u2019s left after Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison is rebooked?<\/p>\n LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 25: (L-R) Davey Grant of England knees Adrian Luna Martinetti of Ecuador in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on April 25, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n UFC matchmakers must have very high expectations for Adrian Luna Martinetti.<\/p>\n Why else match him with \u201cDangerous\u201d Davey Grant? The Englishman may be 40 years old, but Grant has repeatedly proven himself a top-notch Bantamweight over the last five years. Aside from one robbery, he\u2019s only lost to top prospects and rising contenders this decade. He\u2019s far better than most of the division, and Martinetti found out the hard way.<\/p>\n Grant was surgical in chopping up the lead leg early on. Attacking inside and outside, Grant chopped away at the calf. He hid his calf kicks behind stance switches and linear leg kicks, punishing Martinetti\u2019s boxing-style head movement. Just a few minutes into the fight, the Ecuadorian prospect\u2019s lead leg was severely hampered, limiting his ability to build combinations.<\/p>\n Credit to Martinetti, he\u2019s tough as they come. He continued to press through the kicks, though he walked into some wide overhand swings. He tried to adjust by attacking with elbows then was forced to fight Southpaw due to the low kicks. He did well to try to adjust his way to a comeback win, but Grant had too much experience and grit for him to pull it off.<\/p>\n Martinetti looks like a gifted prospect, but Grant in his debut was a step too far.<\/p>\n LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 25: (R-L) Ryan Spann knocks out Marcus Buchecha of Brazil in a heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on April 25, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n Ryan Spann defeats Marcus Buchecha via second-round knockout (highlights)<\/a>: Spann raised eyebrows a couple of days ago by showing up to weigh-ins at 264 pounds despite his former Light Heavyweight career. Fans wondered if too much weight gain would negatively affect his performance \u2014 nope! Spann looked really solid here, shucking off a lot of Buchecha\u2019s takedown attempts and forcing him off the legs with that dangerous guillotine choke. He maintained a fairly high pace too, catching Buchecha off-guard with a lovely 3-2 combination midway through the second that landed with enough pop to send the Brazilian flying. Spann might have a Heavyweight ranking sooner than later!Jackson McVey defeats Sedriques Dumas via first-round d\u2019arce choke (highlights)<\/a>: \u201cThe Moose\u201d scored his first UFC win in style \u2026 against perhaps the worst fighter on the roster<\/a>. After some early wrestling attempts, McVey stepped back while Dumas was still trapped on the fence. In nearly their first real exchange, McVey timed a Southpaw uppercut as Dumas ducked, flooring him. Dumas hung tough through some ground strikes, but he offered no real defense when McVey locked up the front choke finish.For complete UFC Vegas 116 results and play-by-play, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last night (Sat., April 25, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to Meta Apex in Las Vegas,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,178239,179146,6656],"class_list":["post-631673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-cbs","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n