Mario Bautista humbles Vinicius Oliveira, forces tap at UFC Fight Night

Mario Bautista sent a clear message to the rest of the men’s bantamweight division, and it was that he should not be dismissed as a top contender in the weight class.

Bautista became the first fighter to submit Vinicius Oliveira, securing a rear-naked choke submission in the second round, as he returned to the win column in a major way Saturday in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Oliveira had described Bautista as a boring fighter in the days leading up to the event; however, the Brazilian was on the backfoot and playing defence for most of the fight.

Saturday’s 135-pound contest marked the first UFC main event for both men. It was Bautista’s 14th UFC appearance and Oliveira’s fifth. Bautista entered the weekend as the No. 9 contender at bantamweight, and he will maintain his spot in the top 10. Oliveira, who began his UFC career 4-0, had risen to No. 11, but he faded quickly against Bautista and needs work before he can rise any further in the rankings.

Bautista had an eight-fight winning streak snapped in October when he lost a decision to Umar Nurmagomedov. He was outwrestled that day, but against Oliveira, Bautista put his own high-level grappling skills to good use.

After reversing Oliveira with a nifty sweep late in the second round, Bautista took top position before smoothly passing to side control. He inflicted some ground-and-pound from a crucifix position and eventually took Oliveira’s back, where he quickly locked in the fight-finishing choke.

Bautista hadn’t earned a stoppage victory in nearly three years.

The 32-year-old American who trains out of the MMA Lab in Arizona is 11-3 in the UFC overall since 2019, with a notable past win over former UFC champion Jose Aldo.

Following his win over Oliveira, Bautista challenged No. 4-ranked Cory Sandhagen to a rematch.

Bautista explained to reporters during the week that although he was fully focused on Oliveira, a future rematch with Sandhagen was something that interested him. Bautista had accepted his 2019 UFC debut on short notice against Sandhagen, who ended up submitting Bautista with a first-round armbar, and Bautista has wanted to avenge that loss ever since.

Sandhagen is coming off a loss to Merab Dvalishvili in their 2025 title fight this past October and does not yet have his next opponent lined up.

Kyoji Horiguchi positioned himself for a potential future flyweight title shot by beating Amir Albazi via decision in the co-main event to extend his unbeaten streak to eight in a row.

Horiguchi made a triumphant return to the UFC in November after nine years competing in different organizations. The Japanese star went 7-1 in the UFC from 2013 to 2016, with his only loss being to former longtime champ Demetrious Johnson in their UFC 186 main event title fight. Horiguchi became a champion across multiple organizations during his time outside the UFC and is unbeaten in his past seven fights since 2022.

Horiguchi, who submitted Tagir Ulanbekov 2.5 months ago, has shown in his two recent UFC wins that he is still a threat in the 125-pound division at age 35. He called for a shot at reigning champion Joshua Van following his win over Albazi, who had only fought twice in the past three years but still entered the event ranked as the No. 6 contender in the division.

Jailton Almeida’s stock continued to tank.

The 34-year-old Brazilian heavyweight needed an impressive performance this weekend since he was coming off a lacklustre split decision loss to Alexander Volkov in October. However, Almeida ended up in yet another slog of a bout and lost an uneventful unanimous decision to Rizvan Kuniev.

Almeida had been considered a clear-cut future title challenger and began his UFC career 6-0, but he has had mixed results since the end of 2023 and has failed to break into the top tier of title contenders. Almeida is 2-3 in his past five and was held without a takedown for the first time in his 11 UFC appearances.

Kuniev, a 33-year-old from Dagestan, Russia, pushed No. 4-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes to a split decision in his UFC debut in June. Kuniev entered the weekend unranked, but he can expect that to change since Almeida was the No. 6 contender in the division prior to his second consecutive loss.

Dustin Jacoby opened the main card with another eye-opening performance. The 37-year-old from Colorado has finished three consecutive opponents by KO/TKO after putting away Julius Walker in the second round of their 205-pound meeting. 

Jacoby hurt Walker early in Round 2 and was relentless until the referee eventually halted the match, after which Jacoby campaigned for a spot on the anticipated June card at the White House.

Michał Oleksiejczuk and Marc-Andre Barriault lived up to their reputations as the middleweight brawlers went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes of non-stop offence.

When all was said and done, the pair traded 222 combined strikes, and Oleksiejczuk emerged victorious after all three judges scored the 185-pound contest two rounds to one. Oleksiejczuk landed more in each round and set a new personal record for most significant strikes landed in a fight with 143.

Poland’s Oleksiejczuk mixed up his head and body strikes as he peppered the Canadian from his southpaw stance. The speed and pressure from Oleksiejczuk gave Barriault trouble early and often, but Barriault had more success as the fight progressed and Oleksiejczuk’s pace slowed.

Quebec’s Barriault, who turns 36 later this month, has lost two in a row after going 1-1 in 2025 by knocking out Bruno Silva in Montreal in May, but lost a Fight of the Night to Sharabutdin Magomedov in July.

Oleksiejczuk, 30, has won three in a row and was coming off consecutive first-round stoppage wins over Sedriques Dumas and Gerald Meerschaert.

Farid Basharat kept his professional mixed martial arts record intact, but only just barely. Basharat improved to 15-0 thanks to coming out on the right side of a split decision against Jean Matsumoto.

Basharat, 28, is 6-0 at the UFC level since debuting in 2023 and said after his win he wants to start facing top-ranked contenders in the 135-pound division. Five of his six wins in the UFC have been via decision. Basharat’s older brother, Javid, won a decision earlier in the night on the preliminary card.