UFC VEGAS 41: COSTA VS VETTORI | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are BACK tonight – Sat, Oct 23rd, to breakdown the UFC Vegas 41 ‘Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori’ event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event. (SPOILERS...)

This afternoon the UFC brought us yet another (the 9th in a row actually) Fight Night card from the smaller octagon at the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, airing LIVE on ESPN+.

The UFC Vegas 41 event showcased top-ranked MW Championship foes, Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa, (No. 2), & ‘The Italian Dream’ Marvin Vettori, (No. 5). Neither combatant had fought since their defeats at the hands of Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 & UFC 253, respectively. The main event contest became a 205lbs catchweight/LHW bout just a few days ago, when “The Eraser” failed to make weight.

This brawl became an instant classic. Costa was warned about his hands more than once & had a point removed for an early eye-poke in the 2nd Rd. We got a solid 5 rds of action, pressure, blows, strikes & aggression from both men. After all of that, the judges decided Vettori was the unanimous victor, it was close, but this felt like the right call.

Prior to that, our LW Co-Main event today had Grant ‘KGD’ Dawson enter the Octagon on an 8-fight win streak against Rick/y ‘The Gladiator’ Glenn. In a solid back-n-forth effort from both men, it went the distance resulting in the judges deciding on a Majority Draw, which is always a major bummer for everyone involved.

On the 8-fight prelims card, our featured prelim won FOTN for the overall event -- Gregory Rodrigues proved victorious with a standing TKO via punches in the 2nd Rd over Jun Yong Park. Gregory hit Park with gigantic right hands, rocking him & sending him stumbling, took advantage of his foes weakness, followed it all up with a massive uppercut which put him to sleep standing.

Also, in our 4th bout of the night, we had Jai ‘The Black Country Banger’ Herbert strike the crap out of Khama ‘The Death Star’ Worthy over the course of about 2+1/2 mins or so - 1st Rd stoppage.

Overall, this massive 14-bout card saw 2 1st Rd finishes, 4 KO/TKO’s, 1 sub, & 8 decisions, 1 split. Plus, 1 majority draw. Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Alex Caceres & Marvin Vettori; FOTN honors went to Gregory Rodrigues vs Jun Yong Park.

Here’s a look at the fight card, updated fight records & results —
UFC Vegas 41: ‘PAULO COSTA VS MARVIN VETTORI’

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. OCT 23rd.
14. Marvin Vettori (18-4) DEF. Paulo Costa (13-2) — Unanimous Decision (48-46 x3) — *POTN BONUS: Vettori

13. Grant Dawson (17-1-1) vs. Ricky Glenn (22-6-2) — MAJORITY DRAW (29-28, 28-28)

12. Jessica-Rose Clark (11-6) DEF. Joselyne Edwards (10-4) — DEC, Unanimous (30-27 x2, 29-28)

11. Alex Caceres (19-12) DEF. Seung Woo Choi (10-4) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 3:31 of Rd 2, Total 8:31 — *POTN BONUS: Caceres

10. Francisco Trinaldo (27-8) DEF. Dwight Grant (11-4) — DEC, SPLIT (27-29, 29-27 x2)

9. Nick Negumereanu (11-1) vs. Ike Villanueva (18-13) — KO/TKO, Right Hook to Ground Strikes at 1:18 of Rd 1

ESPN+ PRELIMS
8. Gregory Rodrigues (11-3) DEF. Jun Yong Park (13-5) — KO/TKO, Punches (Standing TKO) at 3:13 of Rd 2, Total 8:13 — *FOTN BONUS

7. Mason Jones (11-1) DEF. David Onama (8-1) — DEC, Unanimous

6. Tabatha Ricci (6-1) vs. Maria Oliveira (12-5) — DEC, Unanimous

5. Jamie Pickett (12-6) DEF. Laureano Staropoli (9-5) — DEC, Unanimous

4. Jai Herbert (11-3) DEF. Khama Worthy (16-9) — KO/TKO, Hooks to Ground Strikes at 2:47 of Rd 1

3. Jeff Molina (10-2) DEF. Daniel da Silva (11-2) — KO/TKO, Counter Right to Ground Strikes at 0:46 of Rd 2, Total 5:46

2. Randa Markos (11-11) DEF. Livinha Souza (14-4) — DEC, Unanimous

1. Jonathan Martinez (14-4) DEF. Zviad Lazishvili (13-1) — DEC, Unanimous

Be sure to follow Zane - @TheZaneSimon & Eddie - @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.com/subscribe