Brendan Allen (27, USA) defeated Andre Muniz (33, Brazil), ranked 11th in the UFC middleweight ranking, and won four consecutive victories. 

In the UFC Fight Night: Muniz vs. Allen main event held at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on the 26th (Korean time), Allen defeated Muniz with a rear naked choke submission at 4:25 in the third round. 

Allen became one of the best middleweight jiu-jitsu fighters by accepting a submission from Muniz, who had a submission victory over Brazilian BJJ World Champion Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza. 

“I knew Muniz was going to take me down,” Allen said in the post-fight interview. I wanted to show that I could stop it, and when I was taken down, I immediately succeeded in reversing the position with a reverse,” he said, expressing satisfaction with winning in the main battlefield of Muniz. 

After finishing 11th place Muniz, Allen is guaranteed to re-enter the middleweight rankings. About his next opponent, Allen said, “I want to fight everyone in the middleweight division,” but “I want to do a rematch with Sean Strickland (31, USA) or Chris Curtis (35, USA), who gave him a KO.” 

Originally, the main event was scheduled to be a light heavyweight match between Nikita Krylov (30, Ukraine) and Ryan Spann (31, USA), but it was canceled due to Krylov’s health problems. 

Meanwhile, Tatiana Suarez (32, USA), who returned to the UFC Octagon after four years, declared a challenge for the strawweight title after a successful comeback. 

Suárez finished with a rear-naked choke at 2 minutes and 51 seconds of the second round of Montana Delarosa (28, USA) in the main card flyweight match. 

It was a moment I had been waiting for so long. Suarez, who was expected to be the next UFC strawweight champion, suffered a serious neck disc injury after his last fight in June 2019. He tried to return in 2021 after two years of rehabilitation, but again suffered an injury that severed both the posterior cruciate ligaments in his knee. He spent another year and a half in rehab. 

Suárez, who finally returned, started betting a wrestling fight from the beginning, just like the nickname ‘Woman Khabib’. It wasn’t as easy as before as she moved up her weight class. She blocked several takedowns from Derarosa Suárez, also a former wrestler. However, she continued to try, and in the first minute of the match, she landed a single leg takedown and moved ahead. 

She took De La Rosa to the ground with a head-and-arms throw right after the start of the second round as well. Dera Rosa got back up, but this time Suárez grabbed her by the neck in a standing situation and put a guillotine choke on her. Deraros eventually hit her tab and surrendered. 

“I am very happy,” Suárez said in an interview after the game. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time. She couldn’t fight all this time. It was really hard not being able to do what I love the most. I know what it feels like to lose a dream. That’s why I didn’t want to lose my dream again,” she said while crying. 

Suarez lost his first dream. Having already won two bronze medals at the World Championships in freestyle wrestling at the young age of 19, Suárez was gearing up for the 2012 Olympics. Then, when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, he gave up his Olympic gold medal dreams. 

After he completed grueling chemotherapy, he entered mixed martial arts (MMA). He won the 23rd season of The Ultimate Fighter, winning 8 consecutive victories, and also defeated former champion Carla Esparza (35, USA). Sooner or later, injuries broke out one after another in a situation where it seemed possible to challenge for the title.  메이저놀이터

However, Suárez, who could not lose his second dream, made his comeback after a difficult rehabilitation. 

Suárez said: “I’m really happy to be able to tell people who are going through a tough time to keep their heads up because things are going to be alright. I lived with positivity in my heart. My mother, who raised me alone, taught me.” 

Finally, Suárez declared that he would become the strawweight champion. As it is his comeback after 4 years, Suárez wanted to avoid excessive weight loss and test himself. Now that he has passed the test, he intends to return to his original weight class and compete. 

“I’m going for the strawweight title,” Suárez said. I will lower the weight again. I will do what I can. I will become a world champion,” he boasted.