LAS VEGAS -- Former Cuban Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero might have a shot at another form of gold in the near future.
Romero (11-1) is the front-runner for a title shot at 185 pounds, following a split decision win against Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (22-4) on Saturday. The bout took place at UFC 194 inside MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Judges Glenn Trowbridge and Tony Weeks scored the fight for Romero, 29-27 and 29-28, respectively. Judge Lester Griffin had it 29-28 in favor of Souza. ESPN.com also scored it for Souza, 29-28.
"I am ready for everybody," Romero said. "I don't have a preference between Rockhold or Weidman next, there is no better style matchup. This is mixed martial arts so you have to be good at everything."
The highly anticipated fight, which was scheduled three different times in 2015 but fell through the first two due to injuries, nearly ended in the first round. Romero, who fights out of American Top Team, dropped Souza with a spinning back fist in the first. He cautiously went into the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt's guard and landed hard punches and elbows until the round came to an end.
A former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Souza appeared to recover in time for the second round. Surprisingly, Romero didn't look to go after Souza when the round started, despite him wobbling back to his corner after the first. Souza landed a few right hands in the round and shot several takedowns, all of which were stuffed. He missed out on a takedown midway through when Romero grabbed the fence and received a warning.
In the third, Souza appeared to put the fight away when he stunned Romero badly with right hands along the fence. As Romero tried to regain his wits, Souza dropped for a takedown and spent the rest of the round on top. Nevertheless, two judges still felt Romero did enough.
Souza suffers his first loss since 2011 and first ever in the UFC. Romero extends his win streak to seven, including a knockout over Lyoto Machida in June.
Welterweight Demian Maia (22-6) took Gunnar Nelson (14-2-1) to school on the mat, out-pointing his Icelandic opponent in what was expected to be a back-and-forth grappling affair. Judges scored the fight for Maia unanimously (30-26, 30-25, 30-25). Maia took Nelson down in every round, mostly with the single leg, and dominated position from there. He took Nelson's back multiple times and moved to full mount in the first round. Punches piled up for Maia from every position and he threatened to secure an armbar late in the first round.
"I'm very happy with my performance. There were a couple of small mistakes but overall I think the scores from the judges showed how dominant I was," Maia said. "We knew that Gunnar was going to be very, very tough because he asked for this fight. Anytime a guy asks to compete against you, they usually think they have the advantage. My jiu-jitsu is very good, and anytime I'm able to show what my coaches and my team are capable of doing, I really enjoy it. I'm very healthy coming out of this fight. Hopefully the fans enjoyed the bout and I look forward to doing it for them again soon."
A former middleweight title contender, Maia earns his fourth win in a row.
Featherweight contender Max Holloway (15-3), out of Waianae, Hawaii, brought his ridiculous UFC win streak to eight, defeating Jeremy Stephens (24-12) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). After mostly conservative first and second rounds in which Holloway utilized his reach advantage well, things picked up in the third. Holloway scored a takedown and took Stephens back, but Stephens closed well, stalking Holloway with punches.
"In order to get to the top of the division. you have to stick out," Holloway said. "I saw what Frankie Edgar did last night and he put on a great performance and I was trying to match him. I feel good, I got the win, but it wasn't pretty. I think the fight started slow because Jeremy and I have so much respect for one another. On the bright side, I got to show a little more of my game, show my wrestling a little bit. I don't know what's next, that's my manager's job. We'll sit down with Dana, Lorenzo and Sean Shelby and see what they want to do."
ESPN.com ranked Holloway the No. 6 featherweight in the world coming into the bout.
Three-time UFC bantamweight title challenger Urijah Faber (33-8) might be headed to his fourth crack at UFC gold after picking up a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over Frankie Saenz (11-3). Faber has Saenz badly hurt with standing elbows in the second round but couldn't quite get a finish. He avoided taking any heavy damage from Saenz, however, and out-worked him in the majority of scrambles.
"That fight took me back to my hardest practices at UC Davis wrestling," Faber said. "Your head would be pounding and your chest is throbbing, you feel like you can't give another ounce, but you have to. I'm very fatigued but I was able to get the win. I could hear him verbally hurt from a body shot I landed so I tried to pour on the punishment to the body. Then he caught me with a hard shot to the body and it took me a moment to recover. Just a great, back-and-forth fight against a guy that had seven straight victories."
He is a likely candidate to fight the winner of a bantamweight title fight against defending champion (and former Faber teammate) T.J. Dillashaw and Dominic Cruz on Jan. 17. "Either one," Faber said.
Female bantamweight Tecia Torres (7-0), of South Florida, cruised to a shutout decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over UFC newcomer and short-notice opponent Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (6-2). Torres' boxing set the tone on the feet and she scored several good takedowns that led to some effective ground and pound. Despite a few stalemates along the fence, the two traded hard shots in the final minute. Torres moves to 3-0 officially in the Octagon.
"I was preparing for 'Karate Hottie,' who I knew was good on the ground, so the only difference was height with Jocelyn," Torres said after the fight. "I didn't notice just how significant it was until we were in the clinch and I was on the tips of my toes trying to defend. As the rounds went on, I felt better and better. I'm happy with this win. With this fight, I feel like I made my mark. I'm just going to get better. Hopefully, I'll get a top-10 or top-5 opponent. I think with maybe two more wins, we can talk about title contention. But I want to improve a little bit."
Said Jones-Lybarger: "This was a dream come true. I took this fight on nine days' notice, but there was no way I was going to say no. Everything here is so organized and awesome. It was my first time fighting in the UFC and it was on the biggest card of the year. It was a little overwhelming, but I would do it all over again. I can't wait for another chance to get in there and do it again."