It was a good night for a few fighters looking to put their stamp on their respective divisions at UFC Chile.
Kamaru Usman, ranked #7 at Welterweight, looked to make his presence felt against late replacement main eventer #5 Demian Maia, after original opponent Santiago Ponzinibbio was forced to withdraw from the event. A two-division title challenger, the elder Maia still proved too much for Usman to stop.
Usman still emerged victorious, stifling all of Maia's offensive attacks throughout the duration of the bout. It was a bit of a challenge for Usman to even get a top-10 opponent, as he claims several opponents rejected him. Likely launching himself into the top-5, he'll be hard to ignore moving forward.
#12 Tatiana Suarez picked up her sixth pro win at UFC Chile, although her record doesn't include her three impressive TUF victories. She outwrestled the once-hyped #9 Alexa Grasso to the mat and choked her senseless in short order. Suarez's wrestling -- world championship quality -- is a tool not many female fighters have.
Dom Reyes possibly launched himself into the top 15 in the UFC's light heavyweight division. He picked up a knockout victory over once-top-15 competitor Jared Cannonier after a fast and furious first round, that saw two disgusting uppercuts connect and dropped Cannonier. After the TKO, Reyes took to the microphone to call out #15 ranked Jordan Johnson. Reyes has won three UFC fights since last June.
Elsewhere on the show, #12 Alexandre Pantoja put himself way closer to the flyweight title picture by dominating his opponent in #7-ranked Brandon Moreno. This was actually the second time they'd faced off, as Pantoja also eliminated Moreno from a previous season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Fightful.com will have a full UFC Chile analysis blog, as well as a post-show podcast on Sunday.
