Mario Bautista is seeking to re-enter the top-five at bantamweight and get back into the title picture, defeating Vinicius Oliveira in the main event of UFC Vegas 113.
Oliveira had control early in the opening round, keeping Bautista against the fence for a couple of minutes as the two worked a clinch battle. Bautista, however, scored a takedown late in the round, with Oliveira seemingly comfortable with doing work from the guard.
Bautista scored another takedown nearly right away in the second round, adding another one quickly and staying on top of Oliveira in spite of the latter quickly returning to his feet each time. Another takedown from Bautista on a gassed Oliveira kept him down for the rest of the round.
Bautista rained down ground-and-pound in the final minute before looking for a kimura. As Oliveira looked to defend, Bautista used the kimura lock to transition to the back, locking up a tight rear-naked choke for the submission victory.
Mario Bautista Submits Vinicius Oliveira At UFC Vegas 113
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Bautista rebounds from his UFC 321 loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, a fight that snapped an eight-fight win streak. That streak saw Bautista score wins over the likes of Jose Aldo, Patchy Mix, and Ricky Simon.
Oliveira sees a six-fight win streak snapped with this loss, his first in the Octagon. He had not dropped an MMA fight since losing to Ali Taleb in UAE Warriors in July 2022.
