Fights? Fights. Let’s skip the usual pleasantries where we would
normally yammer on about the UFC-slash-Meta Apex cards, the overall
perceived decline in quality of events and get right to it. We have
13 fights to cover, with six on the main card even though five
seems like a more reasonable number. Two bantamweights who cannot
afford another defeat toe the line in the card opener, where Sygula
(7-2, 1-1 UFC) will try to go “Walking Dead” on “Zombie Girl”
Cachoeira (13-7, 5-7 UFC). Referee Keith Peterson takes charge of
the cage to start what hopefully is a nonsense-free evening, and
the ladies clap hands together. They get right after it, with Cachoeira marching forward and
busting Sygula in the face. The Polish woman fires right back, but
her right eye turns a shade red after a few impacts. Cachoeira sits
down on her right hand, headhunting and even managing to open a cut
on the right cheek of her foe’s face about 45 seconds in. They take
turns lashing out at one another, letting go with short bursts of
combinations largely all upstairs. Cachoeira gets the better of
them, but she too is showing some redness on her face from taking
fire. Cachoeira leaps forward with a right hand, and Sygula dances
out of the way and jabs her in the body with a kick. She follows
that with an overhand right, and Cachoeira frowns and resets. The
Brazilian counters with a right hand when absorbing a blow or two,
as Sygula regularly throws punches in bunches. Cachoeira kicks the
lead leg and then releases a hard right to the body, and Sygula
slips to the side and scores her own calf kick. Cachoeira puts some mustard into a big right hand, briefly shaking
her foe up but not slowing her one iota. Sygula is quick to get
right back being speedy combinations, and she busts open
Cachoeira’s nose with a volley. Cachoeira thumps the lead leg of
her adversary with a kick, and Sygula’s constant head shots are
marking up the Brazilian consistently. Cachoeira’s own offense
starts to diminish to single efforts, while Sygula strings them
together to decent effect. It results in a brief bull-matador
situation when Cachoeira swings for the fences while Sygula is more
content to touch and build on her successes. One instance of
significant success for the Polish fighter comes when she jabs and
opens up an overhand right that smears blood all over the face of
“Zombie Girl,” assisting her in embodying her nickname. Sygula
touches her with the jab and nearly fills the room with uppercuts,
landing a heavy one that jacks Cachoeira’s jaw and chaining a few
swings after it until the horn sounds. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Sygula

When Sygula is about to offer a glove touch to start the round, she
pulls it back when seeing that Cachoeira is recoiling her right
hand about to fire it. Sygula pecks and pokes with her jab early,
forcing some swelling on Cachoeira’s left cheek and being the much
quicker of the two. Cachoeira sells out with a charging right, and
Sygula is two feet away before the Brazilian can swing her fist. It
does not take long for the peppering jab of the Polish woman to
bloody up Cachoeira’s nose, but as she stands and trades, she gains
confidence and starts to stand in the pocket further. Cachoeira
welcomes this and busts her in the chops with a huge right hand,
and Sygula has to take a quick count of her teeth and gets back to
her preferred distance strategy of staying out of range. She looses
a front kick to the sternum, and gets countered as her mouthpiece
flops out of her mouth. Peterson allows her to replace it without
issue, and they two get back to it within seconds. Seeing her kick
game is working, Sygula pushes out further front kicks to the
midsection, and this long distance runaround works until Cachoeira
pins her down and beans her with two clubbing fists. Cachoeira’s blows have marked up Sygula’s face fairly quickly, as
both ladies are leaking from their noses and more than willing to
trade. Sygula connects with a few punches and grazes with a knee,
and Cachoeira stumbles off-balance and falls to the floor. Sygula
lets her back up so she can stick that jab in her face, and she
allows Cachoeira to load up so she can prod away with speedy,
straight counters. Cachoeira puts big arc into her swings, while
Sygula’s numbers like dwarf hers and the damage shows. Cachoeira’s
nose is dripping crimson fluid on the mat as she tries to chase
down the woman who once trained out of FitFabric Shark Top Team,
and she pays it no mind and continues to swing for the bleachers.
She gets Sygula’s attention with her reckless charges and hurled
strikes, but she is paying for it much of the time. As Cachoeira
coils back a big right, the horn blares. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Sygula

After 10 minutes of slugging and getting drilled in the face,
Cachoeira is all smiles for the last period. Her smile walks
directly into a right hand from her opponent, and although she
counters, it is her nose that immediately starts to bleed from the
connect. Sygula’s jab stifles Cachoeira, forcing the Brazilian to
whiff while she is having target practice out there. Cachoeira
looks for scooping uppercuts and one-hitter quitters, but Sygula is
able to see them coming and stay beyond the end of them. Cachoeira
calms herself down to stick out a few straight punches that
actually score, but it does not take long for her to have the right
hand lobbed and whizzing past her foe’s face. Cachoeira sinks in a
low kick, strafing to the left to avoid the expected counter, and
she clips Sygula with a hooking left hand on the way out. Sygula
ducks a whopper of a right hand and pins her jab in the Brazilian’s
face, with swelling and blood making her look every bit of her
“Zombie Girl” signature. When Cachoeira lands another low kick, Sygula reaches down for it,
signaling she is not liking taking that kick as she goes for a
feeble takedown shot. Cachoeira pushes her away and keeps slugging,
and she dings Sygula a few times but takes her fair share of
offense as well. Sygula brings up body kicks and jabs the horror
show of the Brazilian’s nose, and Cachoeira continues to move ever
forward. Sygula uses this against her by intercepting her with jabs
and front kicks, and Cachoeira starts to get desperate and run
through the offense. She expects that she will get hit, but hopes
that her power will be the difference maker. Sygula backpedals in a
hurry, with Cachoeira emptying her energy tank with a constant
stream of telegraphed overhand rights that would make Roy Nelson
blush. Sygula trips when looking to escape, and she uses her
upkicks to defend her from the worst of what Cachoeira lobs at her
towards the end. Cachoeira drops down a big punch or two while
leaking blood all over Sygula, and the match comes to a close. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula (30-27 Sygula) Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-9 Cachoeira (29-28 Sygula) Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Sygula (30-27
Sygula)

In a de facto four-woman bantamweight tournament, this bout and the
next might set the stage for a new contender in the division
starved for fresh challengers. Alekseeva (5-2, 1-1 UFC), nicknamed
“Russian Ronda,” may only have one armbar on her ledger, but maybe
she can pick up her second tonight. She battles Fitfabric
representative Sygula (6-2, 0-1 UFC) out of Poland, who also posts
exactly one armbar on her resume. It should be noted that both of
these two, as well as the upcoming Darya Zheleznyakova, have lost
to Melissa Mullins in the past, so a rematch could be in order if
Mullins prevails. The bantamweights touch ‘em up as referee Lukasz
Bosacki watches on. Alekseeva Sygula is quick to engage, with a low
kick and a right hand over the top. Alekseeva tries to check a kick
by lifting her leg up, so Sygula drills it on the other side and
then follows with another overhand right. A huge right hand hurts
Alekseeva, and Sygula uses Alekseeva’s momentum against her by
blasting her in the face with her fists. Alekseeva’s responses have
marked up Sygula’s face as well, especially her right cheek, but
the overhand right from Sygula has been the best weapon thus far.
Alekseeva walks through a few punches to tag Sygula with her own
right hook. Sygula strings punches into low kicks, while Alekseeva
flails and swings without concern of landing or not. Sygula wraps a
right hand over the guard, and Alekseeva is tough but taking
punishment. Sygula mixes things up with a pushing front kick, and
she prods out a jab and a right hook, her most effect combo. Sygula
dances out of the way of Alekseeva’s responses, striking more
cleanly and accurately for the most part while Alekseeva is all
about haymakers. Sygula comes up short on an elbow but still
connects with her low kick, and Alekseeva’s leg shows a foot-shaped
welt on the inside and outside. Sygula stays out of range from the
attacks, darting in to nail Alekseeva with a left and a right
before zipping away. Alekseeva stabs straight punches to the body,
but her blows with arcs on them are less-than-accurate. Sygula
bears down on her opponent, and she finishes a combo with a front
kick, toes extended, that connects squarely to Alekseeva’s groin.
Mitchell calls the foul—women can take groin shots too—and
Alekseeva bounces around and recovers after about 35 seconds.
Sygula does not come out slowly when they restart, rifling off a
combination and dodging the looping counters. Alekseeva goes to the
body with a kick, and Sygula stands in the pocket and trades just
long enough before taking fire. The horn sounds. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Christian Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Sygula

Sygula picks up right where she left off, with aggression and
active offense. Sygula does not go for broke, instead finding her
openings and letting them go. Alekseeva, meanwhile, swings for the
bleachers. A solid right hand to the body from Alekseeva surprises
Sygula, who backs off in a hurry, and Alekseeva gives chase and
tries to lay into her. The Polish fighter hurries away, and she
lets rip an inside low kick that slams square into Alekseeva’s
groin. Alekseeva immediately drops to her knees in pain, and a
disappointed Bosacki calls time. Alekseeva tries to hurry back, and
Bosacki tells her she needs to take as long as she needs. He goes
over to Sygula to issue a hard warning, but does not deduct a
point, because again, rules are meant to be broken in MMA. After
somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 seconds, the ladies get back to
throwing down, and Alekseeva is angry and looking for violence.
Sygula stays light on her feet, hopping to and fro to not take much
damage. The Polish woman bounds in with a left hand, and she
springs away when Alekseeva loops two right hands at her. Alekseeva
pushes the pace, backing Sygula off, but most of her winging shots
miss the mark. Sygula pushes forward momentarily behind a one-two,
and she pecks out a few jabs. Alekseeva swings and mostly misses,
skimming the top of the forehead as her winging punches lose some
of their sting. Sygula catches her at the end of a one-two, and
Alekseeva frowns and aims a hammerfist at Sygula’s knee. Sygula
clips Alekseeva when Alekseeva marches her down, and Alekseeva may
land back but her nose gets busted open in exchanges. Sygula goes
from body to head indiscriminately, stopping Alekseeva in her
tracks for a moment. Alekseeva gathers her thoughts and spins with
two kicks that miss the mark, while Sygula counters her right
before the bell. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Christian Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Sygula Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Sygula

The final round opens up with Sygula attacking almost immediately,
pushing out a front kick and trying her luck at an overhand right.
Sygula walks into a front kick, and Alekseeva snaps her head back
with a follow-up left hand. Alekseeva gears up for violence,
swinging her shin to the midsection and crashing forward in pursuit
of a body lock takedown. Alekseeva keeps it high and tight, jamming
Sygula with knees. Sygula explodes out of the tie-up, and
Alekseeva’s body language is not great as blood trickles from her
nose and she takes several deep breaths. Sygula chains a number of
punches together up top, and she stuns Alekseeva to her core with a
standing back fist. Alekseeva bends over but does not go down, and
Sygula attacks to try to finish the fight. Sygula unleashes punches
in bunches until the two tie up, in which she changes levels and
drags “Russian Ronda” to the mat. Sygula lands comfortably in half
guard, where she smothers her opponent and grinds her out.
Alekseeva bucks but gives up full mount in the process, and Sygula
gladly claims it with a minute left. Sygula does not posture up,
instead staying chest-to-chest to ride out the fight. She drops
down a few punches and elbows to punctuate the round, and finally
sitting up to rain down blows until the final horn blares. Sygula
stands and raises her arms in the air, while the defeated Alekseeva
remains on her knees in disappointment as the two go the
distance. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Sygula (30-27 Sygula) Christian Laporte scores the round: 10-8 Sygula (30-26 Sygula) Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Sygula (30-27 Sygula)

A lot has been said about this UFC Vegas 100 card, one that has
transformed significantly on fight week and diminished in the eyes
of most spectators. They’re not wrong, but they are viewing it in
the incorrect lens: rather than a standalone slate of combat, it
should be considered the early, distant appetizers to UFC 309 next
week. That might help. The first of this palate-warming platter of
matchups comes outside of standard weight classes, because Mullins
(6-1, 1-1 UFC) could not hit the 136-pound limit properly. She
surrenders 20% of her earnings to debuting Polishwoman Sygula (6-1,
0-0 UFC) in an all-Euro battle of *bantamweights. Referee Chris
Tognoni will keep things on the up-and-up going forward, and he
clocks the ladies in as they bump fists. Sygula paws out a few
punches and a kick while Mullins walks her down, and she gets off
another leg kick as she finds suitable targets. Sygula’s reach
advantage allows her to peck at her opponent in the early going,
with Mullins unwilling to pull the trigger in the first minute
beyond some range-finders. A half-hearted body kick comes from the
woman from Poland, and she lets her hands go behind it. A stern
left hand marks up Mullins’ right cheek, who walks forward and
pitches uppercuts. Sygula jabs the head and body, springing away
from a low kick and jumping forward to deposit one and wing a right
hand. The two clash together, resulting in a body lock takedown
attempt for Sygula. She hunts for trips and tries to get her foe
down, but Mullins keeps her balance by hopping back and forth to
put her back to the cage. Mullins turns Sygula’s momentum against
her, hitting a head-and-arm throw to dump Sygula on her head, but
Sygula is able to climb back to her feet and wrap her arms around
Mullins’ waist. Mullins turns the tables, spinning around and
pulling off a trip to put Sygula on her back. Mullins lands in half
guard, with the Brit maintaining top control rather than looking
for anything significantly offensive. Mullins steps over to
three-quarter mount to land a single strike, and Sygula drags her
back to half guard. Mullins opens up with a few short right hands
on the forehead, and when the 10-second clapper sounds, she leaps
into mount and pummels Sygula with punches and elbows. As Sygula
turns to her stomach, she gets elbowed in the back of the head, and
the round ends. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Mullins Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Mullins Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Mullins

The women clap hands before engaging, and Sygula wants to trade and
trade she does almost immediately. Sygula strings a few punch
combinations together, but all this does is open her up to
grappling. Mullins ties her up and completes an easy body lock
takedown, and this time, she is in mount almost immediately.
Mullins drops down a 12-6 elbow—it’s legal, don’t forget—and she
starts slugging away. Sygula turns over, and Mullins controls her right arm to take away
a shield. Mullins jackhammers her downed opponent with left hand
after unanswered left hand, and the damage begins to mount as she
busts Sygula’s nose open. Tognoni implores Sygula to fight back,
and Mullins pours it on knowing the finish is right around the
corner. Her powerful, effective left hands finish the job, and
Tognoni has no choice but to wave the fight off. Mullins, who is thrilled to bounce back from her first loss in big
way, hurries to her corner and breakdances.

Klaudia Sygula

Fight History

Fighter Skills Radar

Key Insights

Striking Profile

Key Insights

Grappling Profile

Key Insights

Conclusions Summary