Mario Bautista secures submission victory in main-event debut

Bantamweight Mario Bautista passed his first UFC main-event test with flying colors, securing a second-round rear-naked-choke submission against Vinicius Oliveira of Brazil to cap a six-fight UFC Vegas 113 main card on Saturday.

Bautista (17-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) earned his first submission win since March 2023, which also came by the same method. Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) had not lost since July 2022.

"I met the top of that level and it rubbed off on me tonight," Bautista said following the stoppage win.

The co-headliner saw flyweight Kyoji Horiguchi's productive striking make the difference, as the Japanese fighter won a unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 against Iraq's Amir Albazi to increase his flyweight winning streak to five in a row and his overall winning streak to seven.

After his second convincing victory in less than four months' time, Horiguchi (36-5 MMA, 9-1 UFC) made it clear he wants a flyweight title shot after beating Albazi (17-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in his first fight since November of 2024.

Russian heavyweight Rizvan Kuniev's clinch work was enough to outlast Jailton Almeida of Brazil and win a unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. Kuniev (13-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is not currently in the UFC heavyweight rankings, handed Almeida (22-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC), who entered as the No. 6 heavyweight contender, his second straight loss.

Middleweights Michal Oleksiejczuk of Poland and Marc-Andre Barriault of Canada brought the META Apex to their feet as both men left all their energy in the Octagon. After two closely contested rounds, Oleksiejczuk (22-9 MMA, 10-7, 1 NC UFC) was able to secure a unanimous decision, winning 29-28 on all three judges' scorecards.

Oleksiejczuk has now won three in a row, while Barriault (17-11 MMA, 6-10, 1 NC UFC) has dropped five of his last six despite nearly finishing Oleksiejczuk in Round 2 by a would-be TKO.

Bantamweight Farid Basharat of Afghanistan remained undefeated with a split-decision win against Brazil's Jean Matsumoto, taking the cards 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

In the decisive third round, Basharat (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) traded blows with Matsumoto (17-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), losing in total strikes (111-95) but winning in significant strikes (80-76) and striking accuracy (55.2% to 42.2%).

Light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby opened Saturday's main card in impressive fashion with a second-round KO/TKO against former college basketball player Julius Walker to increase his KO/TKO streak to three. Jacoby (22-9-1 MMA, 10-6-1 UFC) called for a fight at the White House in June, while Walker (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) failed to secure his second consecutive win.

-Field Level Media