What’s Hot:
Many had high hopes for Dern when the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist jumped into UFC’s Octagon six years ago. After all, she had shown promise in the minor leagues, jumping out to a perfect (5-0) record. She did start of great with two wins under UFC’s banner before running into Ribas in Oct. 2019, the first loss of her career in what was considered a huge upset at the time. Dern was able to bounce back to win four straight before running into yet another tough contender in Marina Rodriguez, who defeated her via unanimous decision in 2021. It was after that defeat when Dern’s inconsistencies really came to light, going a sub-par 3-4 since, which includes tough defeats to Yan Xiaonan and Jessica Andrade, who beat the submission guru from pillar to post thanks to an excellent display of striking. Dern snapped her two-fight skid in Aug. 2024 with a unanimous decision win over Loopy Godinez and now eyes her first back-to-back wins in four years against the first person to ever defeat her.
Since defeating Dern, Ribas has also been very inconsistent when it comes to getting back into the winner’s circle. She has alternated wins and losses over her last eight fights, with tough defeats to Maycee Barber, Rose Namajunas and the aforementioned Rodriguez along the way. Coming off a tough defeat at the hands of “Thug Rose,” Ribas is looking to bounce back and has the confidence she needs in her back pocket having already defeated Dern. That said, Dern has made improvements since their last meeting and will come in hungry for revenge and will attempt to use the momentum she has with her most recent win to push her through. A win for Dern won’t warrant a trilogy fight between the two, but I fully expect her to come out on top here in a closely-contested bout.
What’s Not:
Nurullo Aliev is undefeated (9-0), which includes winning his UFC debut fight in early 2023 by defeating Rafael Alves via majority decision. He’s been on the bench for nearly two years now, so it will be interesting to see just how much ring rust plays into the fight. The matchmaking here I don’t get because his opponent, Joe Solecki, is currently on a two-fight losing streak, so I would have liked to see matchmakers book Aliev against someone with a bit more upside, someone coming off a win (not back-to-back losses).
Original Card vs. Actual Card:
Preston Parsons was originally set to face Andreas Gustafsson at this event before Gustafsson withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Jacobe Smith, who will be making his UFC debut. Also, Nurullo Aliev and Yanal Ashmouz were set to throw down at 155 pounds before Ashmouz withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by Joe Solecki. Plus, Germaine de Randamie was in talks to face Jacqueline Cavalcanti on this card before “Iron Lady” decided to call it a career.
Injuries:
No injuries were reported for this event.
New Blood:
There are several newcomers on this card including Bruno Lopes, who will make his UFC debut against Magomed Gadzhiyasulov. Lopes is 13-1 so far in his MMA career, earning his way to the big show via the Contender Series by knocking out Mikheil Sazhiniani in Aug. 2024. He will have a tough challenge in his first fight because Gadzhiyasulov is undefeated at 9-0, which includes a win over Brendson Ribeiro in his own UFC debut.
Nicolle Caliari will look to make a splash in her UFC debut when she battles Ernesta Kareckaite. Caliari is currently on a four-fight win streak and is also a Contender Series winner, defeating Corinne Laframboise via submission last September. The Brazilian strawweight is 8-2 as a pro. As for Kareckaite, she came up short in her own UFC debut by losing to Dione Barbosa, so dropping her first two fights under the UFC banner wouldn’t exactly be ideal.
Smith agreed to step in for Gustafsson after he withdrew from his fight against Parsons. Smith is undefeated (9-0), winning his fight on Contender Series via second round technical knockout, his seventh win in that manner. As for Parsons, he has seen better days, going just 2-3 in his first five fights inside the Octagon.
Austin Bashi, 23, will make his UFC debut against Christian Rodriguez, puttung his 13-fight win streak on the line in the process. Of those 13 wins, eight have been finishes — three via knockout and five by submission. He submitted Dorian Ramos on Contender Series to earn his shot, and is now out to make a splash right away against Rodriguez, who saw his four-fight win streak go up in flames at the hands of Julian Erosa in his last fight, losing via submission with 10 seconds remaining in the first round.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Jose Johnson and Felipe Bunes will throw down in a Flyweight bout between two fighters coming off defeats. Johnson is coming off a loss at the hands of Asu Almabaev and is 1-2 in three fights under UFC’s banner. As for Bunes, he came up short in his UFC debut after getting knocked out by Joshua Van one year ago.
Thiago Moises has had a real rough strength of competition schedule when it comes to his UFC fights, facing off against the likes of Islam Makhachev, Beneil Dariush, King Green, and Benoit Saint Denis, so there really won’t be much that Trey Ogden will be able to throw at him that he hasn’t already seen before. Still, Moises needs to be on his toes because he can not afford another loss after coming up short against Ludovit Klein in his last outing.
Fatima Kline came into UFC’s ranks undefeated (6-0), but her debut didn’t go exactly as planned, suffering the first loss of her pro career at the hands of Jasmine Jasudavicius last summer. She will try to get the bad taste of defeat out of her mouth when she goes up against Victoria Dudakova, who is also coming off the first and only setback of her otherwise mint career at the hands of Sam Hughes five months ago.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Ihor Potieira is currently riding a two-fight losing streak and is 1-4 overall in his last five fights. All told, he is just 2-5 inside the Octagon, so if he loses his third straight it could be the end of the road for him as he welcomes Marco Tulio to the Octagon. The UFC rookie will put his eight-fight win streak on the line in his promotional debut. Tulio is yet another product of Contender Series, with eight of his 12 wins coming by way of impressive (technical) knockout.
LIVE! Stream UFC Vegas 101 On ESPN+
STRAWWEIGHT SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads back to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., Jan. 11, 2025, with an important 115-pound main event featuring jiu-jitsu phenom Mackenzie Dern, who looks to avenge her 2019 loss to Brazilian bruiser Amanda Ribas. In addition, longtime welterweight slugger Santiago Ponzinibbio returns to face off against “Mocambique” mauler Carlston Harris in UFC Vegas 101’s hard-hitting co-headliner.
Interest Level: 5.5/10
In the co-main event of the evening, Santiago Ponzinibbio will battle Carlston Harris. Ponzinibbio was at one time considered a legit threat to the title in the 170-pound division, but has fallen on rough times over the last few years. “Argentine Dagger” is coming off two straight defeats and is 1-4 in his last five fights. Granted, three of those fights have been razor-thin split decisions going the other way, but the fact remains: he needs a win badly here because while he won’t get cut based on his name value, he won’t be getting co-headlining slots moving forward. As for Harris, he is coming off a 90-second knockout loss to Kalinn Williams (see it here), snapping his two-fight win streak in the process. All told, he is 4-2 inside the Octagon, and a win over Ponzinibbio would be the biggest of his career.
Another matchup I was scratching my head at was the one between Cesar Almeida and Abdul Razak Alhassan. Almeida is 6-1 as a pro, 2-1 under the UFC banner, while Alhassan is a just 2-5-1 in his last seven fights and hasn’t won consecutive fights in eight years. The math simply isn’t adding up when we talking about level of success in the combat world, which is still mind-boggling to me that with such a robust roster matchmakers can’t find better matchups. Then again, records don’t matter once they are locked inside the cage.
Chris Curtis recently made headlines after admitting that he didn’t accept a fight against Alex Pereira because he knew that the path to victory was a very slim and arduous one, and because he accused his opponent of planting spies in his camp. “Action Man” will attempt to get back into the UFC win column when he takes on Roman Kopylov in a middleweight affair. Kopylov is coming off a split-decision win over the aforementioned Cesar Almeida, bringing his UFC record to 5-3.
Kicking off the main card is a 170-pound tilt between Punahele Soriano and Uros Medic. Soriano snapped his two-fight losing streak last summer by defeating Miguel Baeza via unanimous decision. He has an even 4-4 record inside the Octagon, but will look to go one up in the win column against Medic, who is 4-2 under the UFC banner and is coming off a TKO win over Tim Means (see it again here).
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC Vegas 101 Fight Card:
UFC Vegas 101 Main Event On ESPN+:
115 lbs.: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2
UFC Vegas 101 Main Card on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris
185 lbs.: Cesar Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
185 lbs.: Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
145 lbs.: Christian Rodriguez vs. Austin Bashi
170 lbs.: Punahele Soriano vs. Uros Medic
UFC Vegas 101 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes
185 lbs.: Marco Tulio vs. Ihor Potieria
155 lbs.: Thiago Moises vs. Trey Ogden
170 lbs.: Preston Parsons vs. Jacobe Smith
125 lbs.: Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Nicolle Caliari
205 lbs.: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes
115 lbs.: Fatima Kline vs. Victoria Dudakova
155 lbs.: Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Solecki
*Fight card, bout order and amount of fights remain subject to change.*
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 101 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 7 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 101: “Dern vs. Ribas 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
