Carlos Prates is for real. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
The UFC officially has a new — and ferocious — welterweight contender. Matched against Neil Magny for his first UFC main event, Carlos Prates passed Saturday's test with flying colors, knocking out the record-setting veteran with a brutal punching assault in the closing seconds of round one at UFC Vegas 100.
Prates (21-6) first dropped Magny (29-13) with a snapping right hand, then floored him again for good with a left hand that caught Magny on the temple and sent the American crashing to the mat unconscious. The sequence capped off what's been a stellar rookie year for Prates in the UFC — a top prospect out of the Fighting Nerds gym who rose up through Contender Series, the Brazilian has now rattled off four consecutive first- or second-round knockouts to kick off his Octagon career.
Following his victory, Prates, 31, called out ranked contenders Jack Della Maddalena and Geoff Neal, and also made it clear that he wants to fight next in Australia, where his daughter lives.
When asked about the root of his thunderous punching power, Prates answered with a smirk, “I cannot say, because it’s secret."
Magny, 37, the holder of countless records in the UFC welterweight division for longevity, has now dropped back-to-back bouts and is just 3-5 over his past eight promotional appearances.
In the night’s co-main event, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder (18-2) overcame a game Gerald Meerschaert (37-18) to win his long-awaited Octagon debut.
After downing Meerschaert with a nasty combination in the closing seconds of the opening round, de Ridder secured a fight-ending arm-triangle choke at the 1:44 mark of the third frame to turn the tables on the UFC’s all-time middleweight submission leader and announce his presence under the UFC banner. Meerschaert found success on the feet in the early going of round one and won round two with a dogged commitment to top control, but de Ridder’s grappling wizardry was ultimately too much.
Afterward, de Ridder volunteered to jump onto UFC 309's card if promotion officials need a late fill-in.
UFC Vegas 100 took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Catch up with all the action with Uncrowned's UFC Vegas 100 results, highlights, and live blog below.
Main Card (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Carlos Prates def. Neil Magny via KO (punches) at 4:50 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Reinier de Ridder def. Gerald Meerschaert via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:44 of Round 3 | Watch finish
Carlos Prates def. Neil Magny via KO (punches) at 4:50 of Round 1
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Post-fight
Magny is back up and walking around. Good to see. That was scary for a second.
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates - Round 1
Here we go, Main event time. Let's see if welterweight's new hotness can get past the GOATkeeper. Referee Mark Smith is our third man in the cage. They decline a glove touch for this one. Spicy. And we're off. Magny circles, jabs his way inside, then immediately grabs a leg in pursuit of a takedown. Nice reversal by Prates — he lands in top control inside Magny's guard. Prates stands and they reset. Smacking left hand connects for Magny. Magny closes the distance and pushes Prates up against the fence. He's again hunting for a single-leg takedown here. Prates fends it off again. They reset to the center.
Long left hand from Prates, who defends a lazy takedown attempt. OHHHH! Prates drops Magny with a right hand! Magny is back up. Prates takes his time but Magny is hurt. Magny grabs for a desperation single-leg. Prates breaks free but then dives into the clinch. They release again and Magny looks to have recovered.
OH MY LORD. I spoke too soon, y'all. Prates just demolished this man. That was ridiculous. Magny is out cold. It wasn't even a clean shot. Left hand was the punch that did it. Sheesh.
Drake Riggs
Main event up next! Prediction
170lbs.: Neil Magny (+550) vs. Carlos Prates (-800)
Magny attempting to turn back a fresh contender is nothing new for the "GOATkeeper."
Optically and historically, Magny (29-12) is set up nicely to get the upset against Prates. "The Haitian Sensation" has alternated wins and losses in his last eight, entering this bout off an August knockout loss to Michael Morales. Additionally, Magny is an unheralded cardio king and the main event rounds are foreign territory to Prates.
Ultimately, that won't matter as Prates is seasoned enough (20-6). The Sao Paulo native fought overseas in ONE Warrior Series before landing stateside to win his way through LFA and Contender Series.
Prates, 31, has been a devastator of epic proportions on his current 10-fight winning streak (3-0 in UFC). "The Nightmare" is living up to his nickname, knocking out the likes of Li Jingliang, Charles Radtke and Trevin Giles in the Octagon thus far. He's a dangerous striker with sneaky grappling abilities, but the latter won't be needed against Magny.
The 37-year-old veteran's defense has faded dramatically in the twilight of his career and his chin reflects that against these younger power strikers. Magny's best hope is to survive the first three rounds and drag Prates into deep water.
This is the type of test Prates needs to determine whether or not he's a legitimate contender. I expect him to pass.
Reinier de Ridder volunteers to fill in for next Saturday's UFC 309 card in New York if the promotion needs him. Already a company man.
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Official result
Reinier de Ridder def. Gerald Meerschaert via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:44 of Round 3.
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder - Round 3
This one is almost certainly tied at one apiece heading into these final five minutes. Meerschaert instantly closes the distance and ties up along the fence. RDR finally breaks free and defends a slow Meerschaert takedown attempt. RDR tosses Meerschaert to the floor with a takedown of his own and a scramble ensues.
The pace has slowed significantly here. RDR takes back control, then floats into full mount. He's hunting for his own arm-triangle choke. OH WOW. Meerschaert went night-night! He's totally asleep. Good lord, that had to be a nasty squeeze. RDR submits the submission master in his UFC debut.
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder - Round 2
Wild swing of momentum there in the final seconds of round one. Let's see if Meerschaert can recover. They both come out firing. RDR pushes Meerschaert against the fence and trips him to the floor, landing in half guard. We take a bit of a break here. Meerschaert explodes and climbs to his feet, then unloads a nasty series of rights and lefts. Big takedown for Meerschaert, who works into half guard. RDR fends off an arm-triangle choke then reclaims his guard. Meerschaert seems content to look kinda-sorta busy and just ride this round out on top.
RDR starts throwing punches and submission attempts from the bottom. Meerschaert just cannot get around RDR's legs. RDR finally escapes, scrambles to his feet, then immediately drags Meerschaert to the floor and goes to work from top position. Meerschaert reverses.
10-9 Meerschaert. (19-19.)
Shaheen Al-Shatti
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder - Round 1
Here we go y'all. The long-awaited UFC debut of former two-division ONE champion Reinier de Ridder. We're going to shorthand him to RDR moving forward to make this simpler. Mike Beltran is our referee. Let's do this. RDR starts aggressive. He's stalking, Meerschaert playing defense. Meerschaert lunges forward and cracks RDR with a stiff hook. Oh, that was a nice early shot. RDR closes the distances and changes levels, dragging Meerschaert to the floor. Meerschaert sweeps and quickly retakes his feet. Three-punch combination from Meerschaert clips the UFC newcomer. Body kick from RDR. Oh, Meerschaert tags him again. RDR looking rough on the feet right now.
Meerschaert shucks off another takedown with ease. RDR fires out a couple long jabs. RDR dives low and secures a takedown along the fence. Meerschaert immediately kicks him off and stands. RDR shoots in again but can't get this one. RDR attempts another takedown but again fails. Big left hand from RDR! Meerschaert ties up but eats another swarm of heavy shots! OH, RDR TAGS HIM WITH A HUGE LEFT!! Meerschaert is down! Oh man, saved by the bell.
10-9 RDR.
Drake Riggs
Co-main event time! Prediction
185lbs.: Gerald Meerschaert (+240) vs. Reinier de Ridder (-300)
Reinier de Ridder's UFC debut coming on this card alone is a slap in the face. Getting slotted below the co-main event is even more offensive. Thankfully, he rightfully has the respect of the oddsmakers.
The former 205 and 225-pound ONE Championship titleholder has been one of the best fighters outside UFC since his 16-0 undefeated winning streak began building in said promotion five years ago. Outside of back-to-back borderline criminal pairings with the uber-talented heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin, "RDR" has been perfect in his 17-2 career.
De Ridder is one of the best submission artists in MMA with 11 victories on the mat. Arguably the most impressive of the bunch has been his inverted triangle against Vitaly Bigdash in 2022, a Submission of the Year contender. Primarily, the Dutch grappler has been a choke artist, sleeping or forcing his foes to tap in nine of those wins.
Gerald Meerschaert gives de Ridder an incredibly fun stylistic matchup to introduce him to the UFC audience. "GM3" is the all-time leader in UFC middleweight submissions with 11. His 12 overall finishes are also a divisional record.
I say it every time Meerschaert fights, but the guy is the definition of kill or be killed. He's only fought to a decision in seven out of 54 fights (37-17). There isn't much Meerschaert hasn't seen. Against de Ridder, we'll see some incredible scrambles and groundwork.
From a purely technical standpoint, de Ridder is a notch above. He'll be the second behind Jack Hermansson to submit "GM3."
115lbs.: Luana Pinheiro (+300) vs. Gillian Robertson (-400)
Regarding submission experts, we also have the women's multi-recordholder Gillian Robertson at UFC Vegas 100.
Like Meerschaert, Robertson has been speed-running her way into the history books at flyweight. Despite returning to strawweight last year, she's remained consistent and holds the overall finishes (7) and submissions (7) records for a woman in the promotion, period.
Very green at the time, I never would have expected the "TUF 26" alum to have the 22-fight career (14-8) she's had. Still just 29, a win over Luana Pinheiro would be Robertson's third straight at 115 pounds.
I'm not sure where things went wrong for Pinheiro. The Judo black belt entered the promotion through the Contender Series and scored finishes left and right to get there. While she was mostly submitting opponents, Pinheiro's hands and power were displayed in the process. Things started on the wrong foot (literally) when she won her UFC debut via up-kick DQ and an eventual split decision win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez showed glaring worries.
Pinheiro, 30, has almost entirely abandoned her Judo base, and if she can't succeed in grappling instances, her gas tank fades rapidly down the stretch. Robertson is always seeking submissions and is as dangerous as they come when on top. However, this matchup is favorable for her whether on top or bottom thanks to Pinheiro's strength and cardio depletion as fights prolong.
The fight within the fight will come down to who gets on top first. That's Robertson more often than not and she'll do so again to extend her record likely by armbar.
Pick: Robertson
Uncrowned Staff
Official result
Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Dusko Todorovic TKO (strikes) at 2:41 of Round 1
Drake Riggs
Main card is rolling!
185lbs.: Mansur Abdul-Malik (-375) vs. Duško Todorović (+300)
Mansur Abdul-Malik is set to shine at UFC Vegas 100.
The undefeated 6-0 prospect was one of the bright spots of this last Contender Series season. Abdul-Malik, 27, has been a cannon, finishing all his opponents with strikes standing or on the ground. Unfortunately for Dusko Todorovic, this is the exact matchup that's caused him trouble in the UFC.
Todorovic, 30, has shown promise against favorable opponents. However, more explosive strikers like Christian Leroy Duncan, Chidi Njokuani and Punahele Soriano have chinned him relatively easily. The 12-4 Todorovic's willingness to trade will be his downfall when he does so again vs. Abdul-Malik.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (-700) def. Zack Scroggin (+500)
Matthew Semelsberger (+140) def. Charles Radtke (-165)
Da'Mon Blackshear (-300) def. Cody Stamann (+230)
Tresean Gore (-175) def. Antonio Trócoli (+145)
Melissa Mullins (-250) def. Klaudia Syguła (+200)
Uncrowned Staff
UFC Vegas 100 kicks off at the top of the hour!
UFC celebrates its 100th trip to the UFC APEX for a UFC Fight Night event tonight, kicking off at 4 p.m. ET. Longtime welterweight veteran Neil Magny takes on up-and-coming talent Carlos Prates in the night's main event. Our own Ben Fowlkes dove deep into the pros and cons of how the UFC APEX has changed the sport over these past 100 events, and what the future of the APEX could look like moving forward.
Keep it locked to Uncrowned all night for UFC Vegas 100 live results and highlights, as well as a live blog of the top two fights: Magny vs. Prates and former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder making his Octagon debut against Gerald Meerschaert.
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