Malcolm Wellmaker, Jose Ochoa get massive knockout wins at UFC Atlanta

Malcolm Wellmaker is a name to remember at 135 pounds.

The rising bantamweight star improved to 10-0 in professional mixed martial arts with a highlight first-round knockout of Kris Moutinho on the UFC Fight Night: Usman vs. Buckley prelims Saturday night in Atlanta.

Wellmaker is known for his knockout power and a unique ability to connect on check hooks. He earned a UFC contract in 2024 thanks to a right hook KO of Adam Bramhald on Dana White’s Contender Series and had a successful UFC debut in April with a two-minute KO of Cameron Saaiman using the same technique.

After peppering Moutinho early and often with low kicks and shots to the body, the 31-year-old from nearby Augusta, Ga., got the home crowd on its feet as he landed a right hook thrown from his hip that put Moutinho flat on his face midway through the opening round.

“My life is a dream,” an elated Wellmaker said in his post-fight interview at State Farm Arena. “I believe I have the power to put any bantamweight out, even if it’s the most notorious one for having a chin and that’s Kris Moutinho. I got that power, man.”

Moutinho gained notoriety for his infamous 2021 loss to Sean O’Malley during which he showed heart and tremendous durability in a short-notice appearance. Moutinho absorbed a whopping 230 significant strikes in his loss to O’Malley and was released by the UFC following a subsequent loss in 2022. He had gone on a five-fight winning streak on the regional circuit to earn a second chance in the UFC but he was the biggest underdog on the UFC Atlanta card.

Jose Ochoa also earned a major knockout victory by putting Cody Durden away early in the second round of their flyweight contest.

Ochoa, 24, used his speed advantage and heavy kicks to wear Durden down in the opening round and blitzed Durden at the beginning of the second, rocking him with a left hand and ending the fight with another left along the cage.

The youngster from Peru improved to 8-1 as a pro and rebounded from his first career loss, a competitive decision to standout Lone’er Kavanagh back in November. All of Ochoa’s wins have been by stoppage and all but one have come via KO/TKO.

The featured preliminary bout between Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato ended with an odd sequence.

Craig, who was moving back up to 205 pounds after a stint in the 185-pound division, landed an illegal upkick at the end of Round 1 that appeared to rock Bellato. The bout was called off but ended in a no-contest instead of a disqualification because the referee deemed the illegal strike was accidental.

Bellato complained to the referee as soon as the kick landed before then falling to his back and behaving as if he was knocked out.  

Either it was a bizarrely delayed knockout or Bellato was guilty of embellishment.

UFC lightweight star Justin Gaethje described the end of the fight as the “biggest flop in MMA history” in a social media post.

In other preliminary action, Philip Rowe picked up a massive come-from-behind victory over Ange Loosa in an entertaining back-and-forth welterweight scrap. With Loosa up two rounds to zero on all scorecards, Rowe took advantage of a fatiguing Loosa and snapped a two-fight skid thanks to a third-round technical knockout win. All 11 of Rowe’s pro wins have been by stoppage, while this was Loosa’s first stoppage loss.

Canada’s Jamey-Lyn Horth kicked off the action on the early prelims with a dominant 15-minute outing against Vanessa Demopoulos. Horth set a new personal record by landing 101 significant strikes en route to a clean sweep of the scorecards.

Michael Chiesa got his hand raised over Court McGee in a welterweight bout in a battle of past winners of The Ultimate Fighter, and Ricky Simon used wrestling and cage control to get the nod over fellow bantamweight Cameron Smotherman.