Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the UFC octagon for the first time. For eight athletes, Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 15 event marked that special moment in their career.
Check out this week’s rookie report to see what kind of first impression those fighters made on the sport’s biggest stage from Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China.
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Karol Rosa and Lara Procopio
Division: Women’s bantamweight
Result: Karol Rosa def. Lara Procopio via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Record: Karol Rosa (12-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Grade: C
Record: Lara Procopio (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Grade: D
Kicking off the night in China, newcomers Rosa and Procopio deserve credit for setting the tone for the night with a very quick pace from start to finish. Both women were happy to engage in the center of the cage and rifle off punches in rapid fashion, which is what fans certainly want to see.
That said, neither woman showed particularly effective work on the feet. Rosa had the heavier shots, stunning her opponent briefly on a handful of occasions, but she was never able to really capitalize on the moments. She also showed some real holes in her own standup work, leaving her head stationary for nearly the full 15 minutes. Meanwhile, it was clear Procopio wanted the fight on the floor, but she had no real ability to get it there. A few dives at the legs were all she really could muster, and Rosa was never in any real danger.
The two women did combine for a new UFC women’s bantamweight record of 335 significant strikes, so the action was enough to entertain along the way, but both women have some real work to do should they hope to feature at the top of the division.
Heili Alateng and Danaa Batgerel
Division: Bantamweight
Result: Heili Alateng def. Danaa Batgerel via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Record: Heili Alateng (13-7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Grade: C+
Record: Danaa Batgerel (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Grade: C+
At first glance, Alateng is certainly a well-built bantamweight that shows power when he lets his hands go. Unfortunately for him in this matchup, He didn’t do that quite enough to really impress.
Alateng sat heavy on his strikes and landed a few clean right hands, and a man with a lesser chin than Batgerel likely would have been felled. But adding together strikes in combinations would have likely earned Alateng greater success. For his part, Batgerel was quite busy with his hands, actually throwing sine 269 total strikes over the course of the 15-minute affair, but landing at just a 44 percent rate and never really striking fear with his work.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Alateng didn’t turn to his wrestling until very late in the contest, though it ultimately secured him the win. Batgerel didn’t show much ability in his takedown defense, but he was certainly scrappy. A mystery point deduction in the third round led to seemingly one-sided scores of 29-27, though it was actually a little closer than that, and the two men were awarded the evening’s “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Was it fun? It was. But I just didn’t see anything that particularly stood out among these two athletes. Symbolic of the developing Chines market, these two Asian fighters were certainly spirited, but neither looks primed to shoot up the ranks right now.
Da Un Jung and Khadis Ibragimov
Division: Light heavyweight
Result: Da Un Jung def. Khadis Ibragimov via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 2:00
Record: Da Un Jung (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Grade: C
Record: Khadis Ibragimov (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Grade: D
To be fair, Ibragimov stepped into this fight on short notice, which may have played a role in his approach to the contest, storming Jung from the opening bell and just wailing away with punches. While some of them did land, Jung covered well and survived the relentless barrage, and once he peeked out from behind his gloves, he saw an exhausted Ibragimov on the other side of the cage. The tide took a very sudden and very clear turn.
Ibragimov was dangerous as the fight wore on, making it clear a wrong move would be punished with a power shot. But he was too tired to put together any combinations or bother with any setups.
Meanwhile, Jung didn’t exactly look like a world-beater, but he did do what was needed to walk away with a finish, basically just reaching up and grabbing the neck of an opponent who had lost the ability to defend and squeezing until he got the finish. It certainly wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was good, sloppy, 205-pound action. Perhaps extended preparation will draw a better result next time out for each of these men, who didn’t look quite ready for the bright lights just yet.
Jun Yong Park
Division: Middleweight
Result: Anthony Hernandez def. Jun Yong Park via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 4:39
Record: (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Grade: C+
Jun Yong Park doesn’t immediately strike me as a future UFC champion, but I do believe he will prove a tough out more often than not. Blessed with a good chin, Park certainly relies on, not bothering much with evasive movement and instead simply trying to fire off big punches whenever possible, regardless of which direction he’s moving at the time.
Park appears to possess suitable power without much wind-up, and he’s definitely willing to take one to give one, making him fun to watch, even if that’s not the wisest longterm gameplan. Stiff jabs helped lead the way, and he’s happy to bring the cross behind it.
Park definitely needs to work on his defensive wrestling, showing a decent ability to work back to his feet once brought to the floor but very little skill in terms of preventing a visit to the canvas in the first place.
In short, if Park is matched against a fellow striker next time out, he’ll likely be able to deliver a rousing contest. If he faces someone that can walk through his blows and bring the fight to the floor, he’ll likely meet a similar fate as he did against Hernandez.
Mizuki Inoue
Division: Women’s flyweight
Result: Mizuki Inoue def. Wu Yanan via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Record: (14-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Grade: A-
While it may have been her first UFC outing, Mizuki Inoue is certainly no stranger to hardcore MMA fans, boasting past clashes with UFC veterans Alexa Grasso, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Bec Rawlings, among others. Still, Inoue stepped into the cage on Saturday with an incredibly tough assignment, moving up from strawweight to 125 pounds. That task was made even more difficult when opponent Wu Yanan missed weight by three pounds.
When the two met in the center of the octagon, it was clear Inoue was the far smaller fighter. Still, she used incredible head movement to slip punches, as well as a quick pace and forward movement to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm and set the pace from the opening bell. Inoue stuffed a few takedown attempts along the way and simply showed overall better awareness from start to finish.
Yanan picked up the pace late and took the final round on the MMA Junkie card, but overall, the fight seemed more one-sided than the judges’ scores would seem to indicate. When considering Inoue was competing on short notice, it makes her performance all the more impressive. She’s going to be one to watch when she moves back to strawweight next time out.
