Latino Contenders Set New Standards at UFC 290

The UFC capped off its international fight week with its final event UFC 290 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event featured 13 different fights with 26 fighters from across the globe. Latino and Hispanic fighters were on full display as nine different fighters competed this past weekend. From the early prelims to the main event there was plenty of Latino representation.

Let’s see how they fared this past weekend.

Early Prelims
UFC 290 kicked off with Esteban “El Gringo” Ribovics vs Kamuela Kirk. The 27-year-old Ribovics is from Argentina and has had a successful UFC career so far. With an 11-1 record the lightweight fighter looked to stay hot on Saturday night. Both fighters would share blows and go the full length of the fight and leaving it in the judge’s hand to decide a winner. The ruling went in favor of Ribovics securing the 12th win of his career. Six of those wins came by knockout and five by submission. All judges scored 29-28 Ribovics.

The flyweight fight in the early prelims featured Australian Shannon Ross taking on Mexican Jesus Aguilar. 17 seconds is all it took to find a winner in this matchup. A strong right-handed punch from Aguilar to the face of Ross was the move to end the fight. 27-year-old Aguilar is known as a submission fighter as he has six wins via submission and before Saturday night has never knocked anyone out. The Mexican native improves to a 9-2 record in his UFC career.

The final fight of the early prelims was between Brazilian Vitor Petrino and Polish fighter Marcin Prachnio. 34-year-old Prachnio came into the fight with a 16-7 record compared to Petrino who is 25 years old and only fought in eight UFC fights before Saturday night giving Prachnio the experience advantage. Despite having less experience Petrino came away victorious. The Brazilian won via an arm and head choke submission in the third round. Marking Petrino’s first victory in submission and extending his undefeated record to 9-0. This fight would close out the early prelims.

Prelims

The second fight of the prelims featured the sole women’s match of the day. Mexican fighter Yazmin Jauregui faced Brazilian Denis Gomes in the strawweight division. Both fighters possessed impressive records, with Jauregui boasting a 10-0-0 record, including seven knockouts, and Gomes holding a 7-1-0 record with six knockouts. Gomes quickly took control of the fight, delivering a powerful punch to Jauregui’s head just 20 seconds into the first round. The blow knocked Jauregui to the ground, and Gomes followed up with multiple punches to the head, leading the referee to call the fight and awarding Gomes the win via TKO. Gomes improved his record to 8-2, while Jauregui’s record fell to 10-1-0. Gomes achieved an upset victory and a memorable moment in Las Vegas. Both fighters, under the age of 24, represent the future of the sport.

In the catch-weight fight, Japanese fighter Tatsuro Tiara faced Mexican Edgar Chairez. Throughout the fight, Taira dominated Chairez, outperforming him in total strikes (81.8%), significant strike percentage (78.3%), and takedowns (2-0). Despite being outmatched, the 27-year-old Chairez managed to survive the three rounds. The judges ultimately declared Tiara as the winner. The 23-year-old Japanese fighter continued his dominance in the UFC, maintaining an unblemished record of 14-0, while Chairez’s record fell to 10-5.

Main Card Final

The flyweight title fight took place between 29-year-old Mexican Brandon Moreno and 33-year-old Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja. This epic match lasted five rounds before a winner was determined. Both fighters anxiously awaited the judges’ scores. The scores from the three judges were as follows: Ben Cartlidge scored 49-46 in favor of Moreno, Derek Cleary scored 48-47 in favor of Pantoja, and Junichiro Kamijo scored 48-47 in favor of Pantoja as well. Consequently, Pantoja emerged as the new flyweight champion of the world through a split decision. Pantoja, overwhelmed by joy, dropped to his knees in shock after raising his hand momentarily to signify his victory. He was soon awarded his new belt.

“I worked so hard for that… my wife, my kids, I worked so hard for them… I can touch it now, I can feel it now,” said Pantoja during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Moreno aims to bounce back in his next fight, holding a record of 21-7-2, while Pantoja celebrates his championship victory with a record of 26-5.