UFC Chile prelim results and highlights: Benitez slam KO’s Bandenay, Puelles pulls off miracle win

Closing out the UFC Chile Prelims, Michel Prazeres returned to the welterweight division to take on a very game Zak Cummings. The entire fight was basically a grind, sprinkled in with moments of back and forth punching exchanges, but when the dust settled, it was Prazeres who walked away with the split decision. The UFC’s #12 flyweight Alexandre Pantoja let his hands go for three rounds to earn a decision win over the #7 Brandon Moreno. Pantoja is now 2-0 against Moreno, first defeating him on TUF 24 back in 2016.

Poliana Botelho made short work of Syuri Kondo, dropping her foe with a lethal body kick before following up with a few ground strikes to seal the deal. In what was a fantastic finish, Gabriel Benitez just beast-mode slammed his way out of an armbar attempt, knocking out Humberto Bandenay in just 39 seconds into the opening round.

Closing out the Fight Pass portion of the prelims, Enrique Barzola deployed a takedown-heavy rinse and repeat game that earned him a unanimous nod over Brandon Davis, picking up a 30-26 on two of the scorecards. Frankie Saenz successfully mixed up his striking and takedowns en route to a dominant decision win over Enrique Briones, even earning a 30-26 on one of the judge’s scorecard. The UFC Chile card kicked off with a crazy come from behind victory. Just when Claudio Puelles was on the heels of defeat, he somehow managed to push aside being rocked long enough to pull out a third round kneebar on Felipe Silva.

FS1 Prelims:

Michel Prazeres def. Zak Cummings by split decision (29-28 x2,28-29): Welterweight

Cummins did a good job of fending off the initial takedown attempts from his opponent, but Prazeres was tenacious and found a way to put Cummins on his back. The referee didn’t appreciate the pace of Prazeres on the ground, so he stood the athletes back up. Back on the feet, an inadvertent clash of heads cause a cut around the left eye of Cummins.

Prazeres closed the distance right away to kick off the second round, and in a brief moment of space, Cummins landed some inside shots that opened up a cut around the right eye of Prazeres. The crowd boo’d a bit for all of the clinching going on, and as if the fighters tried to appease the audience, they both opted to stand and kickbox for a bit. The second the bout returned to the clinch against the cage, the crowd started again with the boo’ing. The referee stepped in to break them apart, and the welterweights traded leather for the closing moments of the round.

A slow paced kickboxing bout occurred in the final round, until around the midpoint when the wall grind continued. Cummins scored with a solid body kick, causing Prazeres to shoot in. Cummins stuffed the initial takedown attempt, but Prazeres continued to drive and put his opponent on his back.

This could be the most exciting moment of the 2nd round:

Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Moreno by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26 x2): Flyweight

Pantoja showed up a bit more tight than Moreno did in the opening round, exploiting several lapses in striking defense. The pressure was so much at one point that Moreno literally ran away from Pantoja. Moreno was leaking from the face going into the 2nd frame, while the confidence of Pantoja was sky high.

Moreno continued to throw away in the second round, but also continued to be hittable. Pantoja scored multiple times with flush shots, and Moreno ate them and continued to return fire himself, just not connecting as much or as clean. A big left hand wobbled Moreno in the final 30 seconds, but Pantoja was unable to finish before time ran out.

Pantoja opened up the final frame with a crowd-pleasing front kick to the face of Moreno, but the toughness of Moreno held up. The rest of the round saw more of the same, with Moreno continuing to throw, and land for that matter, but still getting hit more cleanly and with more oomf.

Pantoja showed up hungry:

This shot from Pantoja might have busted the nose of Moreno:

There was a lot of swinging going on in this one:

Poliana Botelho def. Syuri Kondo by TKO at :33 of round 1: Strawweight

Botelho came out aggressive, launching a heavy kick to the midsection of her opposition, causing Kondo to backpedal in agony and squat to the mat. Botelho landed about six ground strikes before the referee stepped in and waved off the bout.

This bout was over before it even started:

Somewhere, Bas Rutten is smiling:

Gabriel Benitez def. Humberto Bandenay by KO at :39 of round 1: Featherweight

Benitez opened the bout with a gigantic uppercut that dropped Bandenay right away. From his back, Bandenay locked up a super tight armbar, but Benitez slammed his way out of the hold, which left Bandenay all sorts of dazed. A few follow up ground strikes and Bandenay was rendered unconscious. That was nuts!

Watch Benitez handle business:

A big uppercut jump started this fight:

Fight Pass Prelims:

Enrique Barzola def. Brandon Davis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26 x2): Featherweight

A heavy low kick dropped Davis down to the mat, and the grind of Barzola ensued. Up and down and up and down Davis went, as Barzola got his rag dolling on, including a crowd-pleasing slam. Davis found some separation and started cracking a bit with his hands, and even found top position before the round expired.

Barzola quickly returned to the grind in the second round, giving his opponent zero space and forcing him to wear his weight. Davis did fight off a guillotine attempt, but gave up another big slamming takedown in the process, allowing Barzola to control the rest of the round.

The final frame was fought in open space for almost three whole minutes before Barzola shot in and restarted his tenacious grind. Once the distance was closed, it pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the round, as Davis had very few answers for the control of Barzola.

Air Barzola:

Look at these warriors going after it at the end of the first round:

Frankie Saenz def. Henry Briones by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26): Bantamweight

Saenz scored early with some sneaky boxing combos to the head and body before scoring a takedown at about the midpoint of the opening round. Briones did return to his feet once Saenz attacked a guillotine, and landed a couple of solid punches before the round expired.

Both athletes came out looking to land their hands, but it was Saenz who landed a crisp right that briefly dropped Briones. Saenz landed a few more punches on the feet before taking the bout down to the ground, but Briones successfully got back up. They both battled it with their striking, but the left eye of Briones was pretty busted up there at the end of the second stanza.

As soon as the final round started, an accidental low blow caused a brief halt to the action. Saenz routinely found success whenever he would close the distance and instantly throw a punch or a knee. He even picked up a takedown that he kept for a substantial amount of time to finish up the bout in his classic grinding style.

Saenz said have a seat:

Check out Briones coming alive there at the end of the opening round:

Claudio Puelles def. Felipe Silva by submission (Kneebar) at 2:23 of round 3: Lightweight

Puelles picked up a takedown about a minute into the first round, and after fending off a brief triangle attempt, he dropped back for a guillotine followed by a leg lock attack. Silva scrambled out of harms way and back to his feet, but struggled to keep the fight standing as Puelles looked to grapple.

Silva continued with his forward pressure in the second stanza, being the more aggressive fighter. With a bout 90 seconds remaining in the round, Silva turned up the volume, causing Puelles to drop down to the ground. Combination ground strikes landed over and over again, but the toughness of Puelles was front and center and he survived.

Silva landed a humongous right hand that floored Puelles within the first minute of the final round, and then allowed his opponent to return to his feet. Puelles was hurt again from the hands of Silva, but this time, Silva followed him down to the floor. Puelles was down but not out, pulling out a slick kneebar that forced Silva to tap out. What a wild comeback!

Take a look at this miraculous come from behind kneebar to steal victory from the jaws of defeat:

It was like everything that Silva threw was hurting his opponent:

Look at Silva picking up the pace in the 2nd round:

Silva came out hot in the opening round: