English
EspañolRyan Gandra wasted little time sending a message to the middleweight division in his first UFC spotlight.
The 30-year-olf from Brazil only needed 41 seconds to find the knockout against Jose Daniel Medina in the featured preliminary bout at a UFC Fight Night event Saturday in Mexico City.
Gandra earned a UFC contract with a first-round knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series in August and handed Medina yet another loss at Arena CDMX.
Medina is now 0-4 at the UFC level. The rugged fighter from Bolivia also got into the UFC through the Contender Series even though he also lost his DWCS appearance.
The prelims kicked off with a pair of first-round finishes. UFC newcomer Damian Pinas made quick work of Wes Schultz in the prelim opener. Pinas is also a Contender Series graduate like Gandra.
The 23-year-old from Aruba nailed Schultz with a series of one-twos until landing the finishing blows at the midway point of the opening round to improve to 9-1 in MMA.
Francis Marshall needed less than three minutes to find a rear-naked choke and force a tap from fellow featherweight Erik Silva. Marshall hadn’t fought since a contested decision loss to Mairon Santos one year ago. Silva dropped to 0-3 in the UFC with all three of his losses coming inside three rounds.
-
-
Get the skills to pay the bills
Skilled Trades College is where hands-on training meets real-world opportunity, helping students build in-demand skills and take the next step toward lasting careers in the trades.
Another fighter who failed to pick up his first UFC win was Kris Moutinho who dropped a decision to Cristian Quinonez. Moutinho is now 0-4 in the UFC across his two stints with the organization. Quinonez hadn’t fought in two years and hadn’t won since 2022 but snapped a two-fight losing streak.
In other preliminary action, Ailin Perez extended her winning streak to six with a decision over Macy Chiasson who has lost her past three outings all by decision.
Javier Reyes stopped Douglas Silva de Andrade with one second remaining in the first round of their featherweight contest.
Regina Tarin made good on her short-notice UFC debut, winning a unanimous decision over Ernesta Kareckaite. The 21-year-old fighting out of Distrito Federal, Mexico accepted the bout just three days prior to the event and improved to 8-0 as a pro. Her and Kareckaite swung to the final bell with each woman landing and absorbing at least 125 total strikes throughout the 15-minute bout.
Tarin replaced Sofia Montenegro, who ironically replaced Tarin on a Dana White’s Contender Series card this past September, indicating Tarin has already been on the UFC’s radar prior to this week.
