Fight of the Night: Chris Curtis vs Roman Kopylov
Middleweight strikes went back-and-forth for 14 minutes and 59 thrilling seconds as Chris Curtis and Roman Kopylov locked horns.
Although Kopylov was able to land his fair share of heavy shots, particularly in the first round, Curtis’ pressure and composure started to wear on the Russian. Curtis seemed to damage Kopylov regularly with his jab and lead hook, but Kopylov kept scoring heavy leg kicks as well. The third round saw more of the same until Kopylov uncorked a high kick that dropped Curtis in the waning seconds. Kopylov refused to follow-up, but the referee saw enough to wave the fight off in the last second.
Performance Of The Night Bonuses
Performance Of The Night: Cesar Almeida
Brazil’s Cesar Almeida scored an early frontrunner for Knockout of the Year with his stunning comeback effort against Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Alhassan got out in front early, dropping Almeida and hunted another quick knockout, but Almeida regained his composure quickly. When Alhassan tried to corral Almeida against the fence, Almeida rolled with the shots before uncorking a left hand that sent Alhassan crashing to the canvas unconscious.
Performance Of The Night: Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern not only got revenge for her first professional loss, but she kicked off what she hopes is a run toward title contention in 2025 with a smart effort in her fourth career main event.
-Dern and Ribas went back-and-forth with takedowns and scrambles in the first couple of rounds, but Dern got to her bread-and-butter in the third round. After she swept Ribas on the ground, Dern attacked her countrywoman’s arm, staying patient before snatching the armbar as the final seconds of the third round ticked away.
After the win, Dern laid out her intentions to fight someone above her in the rankings as she pursues her first title shot.
Morocco
