Loma Lookboonmee claimed the third win of her UFC career in Las Vegas last night (local time). The Thai strawweight claimed a unanimous decision win over Sam Hughes at the Apex Centre.
Hughes looked to take the 25 year old down early in the fight but received a few knees to the midsection for her troubles before being swept herself. Loma found herself in side control but could not land any effective offence and eventually decided to stand back up.
The pattern repeated with Hughes shooting for a takedown a couple more times only for Loma to end up in top position on both occasions. At the start of the second stanza the American again tried to get the action down but found herself defending a guillotine attempt at they clinched against the cage.
Strong finish
They separated and Loma fired off a couple of leg kicks. Hughes was determined to get the fight down but repeatedly found herself being dominated in the clinch by the Muay Thai veteran.
Loma appeared to be ahead going into the third and final round and Hughes was on the front foot straightaway. The Thai landed kicks to the body and head but found herself on the receiving end of some quick jabs.
They clinched up and this time it was Loma who looked to get the fight to the floor. The Thai was getting the better of her opponent in the clinch but was clipped by a one two combination as Hughes tried to finish the fight strongly.
Break out the brooms 🧹
🇹🇠@LomaLookboonmee makes it a clean sweep from #UFCVegas25. pic.twitter.com/OE7jpFMvSL
— UFC (@ufc) May 2, 2021
Lacking confidence
Both celebrated at the final bell but it was Loma who took the decision with all three judges scoring the contest 29-28 in her favour. She improves to 6-2 while her opponent drops to 5-3.
She has been the distance in all four of her UFC fights, winning three of them. But despite having scored back to back victories in the octagon for the first time in her career Loma sounded disappointed,
“There wasn’t a lot that surprised me (in the fight) it was very similar to what my coaches told me but she kept pushing me against the cage. I don’t think I performed well (and) after a long break I wasn’t confident. For my next fight I need to be more confident in myself.”
"Overall I don't think I performed well."
Despite earning an unanimous decision victory, @LomaLookboonmee is determined to be better the next time she steps in the Octagon 🔊⬆️
All #UFCVegas25 Results ⬇️:
— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 2, 2021
Best of the rest
Former Rizin light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (13-2) headlined a UFC card for the first time. He took on Dominick Reyes (27-4-1.) The former was ranked at #5 while the latter was #2 making this contest a potential title eliminator.
It was Prochazka who underlined his title credentials with a brilliant spinning back elbow KO in the second round. Both men had their moments in a thrilling fight but it was the Czech fighter who walked away with a 12th successive win courtesy of a highlight reel finish.
UFC Vegas 25, Las Vegas, May 1st
Jiri Prochazka def. Dominick Reyes via KO (Spinning back elbow at 4:29 of R2
Giga Chikadze def. Cub Swanson via TKO (Punches) at 1:03 of R1
Ion Cutelaba vs. Dustin Jacoby ends in a Draw (Split)
Sean Strickland def. Krzysztof Jotko via Decision (Unanimous)
Merab Dvalishvili def. Cody Stamann via Decision (Unanimous)
Luana Pinheiro def. Randa Markos via DQ (Illegal strike) at 4:16 of R1
T.J. Brown def. Kai Kamaka via Decision (Split)
Luana Carolina def. Poliana Botelho via Decision (Split)
Loma Lookboonmee def. Sam Hughes via Decision (Unanimous)
Andreas Michailidis def. KB Bhullar via Decision (Unanimous)
Felipe Colares def. Luke Sanders via Decision (Unanimous)
