The UFC officially has a new — and ferocious — welterweight contender. Matched against Neil Magny for his first UFC main event, Carlos Prates passed Saturday’s test with flying colors, knocking out the record-setting veteran with a brutal punching assault in the closing seconds of round one at UFC Vegas 100.
Prates (21-6) first dropped Magny (29-13) with a snapping right hand, then floored him again for good with a left hand that caught Magny on the temple and sent the American crashing to the mat unconscious. The sequence capped off what’s been a stellar rookie year for Prates in the UFC — a top prospect out of the Fighting Nerds gym who rose up through Contender Series, the Brazilian has now rattled off four consecutive first- or second-round knockouts to kick off his Octagon career.
Following his victory, Prates, 31, called out ranked contenders Jack Della Maddalena and Geoff Neal, and also made it clear that he wants to fight next in Australia, where his daughter lives.
When asked about the root of his thunderous punching power, Prates answered with a smirk, “I cannot say, because it’s secret.”
Magny, 37, the holder of countless records in the UFC welterweight division for longevity, has now dropped back-to-back bouts and is just 3-5 over his past eight promotional appearances.
In the night’s co-main event, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder (18-2) overcame a game Gerald Meerschaert (37-18) to win his long-awaited Octagon debut.
After downing Meerschaert with a nasty combination in the closing seconds of the opening round, de Ridder secured a fight-ending arm-triangle choke at the 1:44 mark of the third frame to turn the tables on the UFC’s all-time middleweight submission leader and announce his presence under the UFC banner. Meerschaert found success on the feet in the early going of round one and won round two with a dogged commitment to top control, but de Ridder’s grappling wizardry was ultimately too much.
Afterward, de Ridder volunteered to jump onto UFC 309’s card if promotion officials need a late fill-in.
UFC Vegas 100 took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Catch up with all the action with Uncrowned’s UFC Vegas 100 results, highlights, and live blog below.
Main Card (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Carlos Prates def. Neil Magny via KO (punches) at 4:50 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Reinier de Ridder def. Gerald Meerschaert via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:44 of Round 3 | Watch finish
Gaston Bolanos def. Cortavious Romious via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Gillian Robertson def. Luana Pinheiro via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Dusko Todorovic TKO (strikes) at 2:41 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Preliminary Card (4 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Denise Gomes def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Elizeu Zaleski def. Zach Scroggin via TKO (strikes) at 1:15 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Charlie Radtke def. Matthew Semelsberger via TKO (punches) at :51 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Da’Mon Blackshear def. Cody Stamann via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:19 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Tresean Gore def. Antonio Trocoli via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:23 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Melissa Mullins def. Klaudia Sygula via TKO (punches) at 1:20 of Round 2 | Watch finish
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