UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Costa Recap: Full Results and Analysis
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Arnold Allen put together one of the most complete performances of his UFC career on Saturday night, outworking Melquizael Costa across five rounds at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas to take a unanimous decision and reaffirm his standing among featherweight's elite. The scorecards — 50-45 twice, 49-46 — matched what the cage showed: a systematic dismantling that gave Costa no clean answers for five rounds.
The card overdelivered. No title fight, no pound-for-pound headliner, but Choi Doo-ho and Daniel Santos produced the Fight of the Night in the co-main event, the prelims yielded five bonus-worthy finishes, and Alice Ardelean pulled off a calf slicer to earn Performance of the Night. Las Vegas got its money's worth.
Results
| Fight | Winner | Method | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa | Arnold Allen | Decision - Unanimous | 5 | 5:00 |
| Daniel Santos vs. Choi Doo-ho | Choi Doo-ho | TKO (Body Shot) | 2 | 4:29 |
| Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Juan Díaz | Juan Díaz | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 4:08 |
| Modestas Bukauskas vs. Christian Edwards | Modestas Bukauskas | Decision | 3 | 5:00 |
| Timothy Cuamba vs. Bernardo Sopaj | Bernardo Sopaj | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 2:25 |
| Khaos Williams vs. Nikolay Veretennikov | Khaos Williams | TKO (Punches) | 1 | 3:31 |
| George Tokkos vs. Ivan Erslan | Ivan Erslan | Decision - Unanimous | 3 | 5:00 |
| Thomas Gantt vs. Artur Minev | Thomas Gantt | TKO (Ground and Pound) | 2 | 2:51 |
| Ketlen Vieira vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti | Ketlen Vieira | Decision - Unanimous | 3 | 5:00 |
| Cody Brundage vs. Andre Petroski | Cody Brundage | TKO (Punches) | 2 | 0:44 |
| Polyana Viana vs. Alice Ardelean | Alice Ardelean | Submission (Calf Slicer) | 2 | 4:36 |
| Daniel Bárez vs. Luis Gurule | Luis Gurule | Decision - Unanimous | 3 | 5:00 |
| Shauna Bannon vs. Nicolle Caliari | Nicolle Caliari | Submission (Arm Triangle) | 3 | 3:08 |
Main Event: Allen Shuts Costa Out
Allen controlled the fight from the first exchange. His jab was the primary tool — accurate, consistent, disruptive enough to reset Costa every time the Brazilian tried to build momentum. Allen's takedown defense held throughout, which forced Costa to find his offense on the feet, and on the feet Allen was always a half-step ahead.
Costa came in off an impressive run and was expected to create real problems in the mid-rounds when the pace typically separates the two levels. It never materialized. Allen stayed disciplined through rounds three and four — the period when Costa was at his most dangerous — mixing level changes with sharp combinations to prevent the Brazilian from loading up. By the fifth round Allen was in complete control, and two of three judges had not seen a single round for Costa.
For Allen, this is another convincing win over a quality opponent. A ranked opponent and a meaningful next fight should follow.
Co-Main Event: Choi Finishes Santos in a War
Choi Doo-ho and Daniel Santos traded through one and a half competitive rounds before Choi found the decisive opening — a punch to the body that sent Santos to the canvas at 4:29 of round two. The referee called a stop and waved it off, awarding both fighters the Fight of the Night bonus at $100,000 each.
It was Choi's third consecutive finish. He absorbed real shots early, took the kind of exchanges that have historically put him in trouble, and answered with the body attack that finished it. The win re-establishes Choi as one of featherweight's most watchable and dangerous competitors.
Bonus Night
Performance of the Night went to Juan Díaz, who submitted Malcolm Wellmaker with a rear-naked choke at 4:08 of round two in his promotional debut, and Alice Ardelean, who finished Polyana Viana with a calf slicer in the strawweight prelim.
Five additional $25,000 finish bonuses went to Bernardo Sopaj (RNC over Timothy Cuamba), Khaos Williams (R1 TKO over Veretennikov), Thomas Gantt (R2 TKO over Minev), Cody Brundage (R2 TKO over Petroski in 44 seconds), and Nicolle Caliari (arm triangle over Shauna Bannon in the third).
Prelim Standouts
Khaos Williams needed 3:31 to put Nikolay Veretennikov away with punches, ending a two-fight losing skid and making a case for a ranked welterweight opponent next. Cody Brundage was faster, finishing Andre Petroski at the 0:44 mark of round two with punches — a middleweight start-to-finish that barely got underway before it was over.
Modestas Bukauskas returned to form at light heavyweight, landing two knockdowns and earning a split decision over Christian Edwards in a main card fight that required every round to settle. The Lithuanian's pressure and output were the difference on two of three cards.
In the women's prelims, Nicolle Caliari submitted Shauna Bannon with an arm triangle late in round three, and Ketlen Vieira controlled Jacqueline Cavalcanti over 15 minutes for a unanimous decision in the bantamweight division. Thomas Gantt and Alice Ardelean capped the prelim card with stoppages that earned bonus money and gave the Las Vegas crowd a finishing show to close the night.