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UFC Newcomer Starches Opponent With Brutal KO After Violent UFC Vegas 114 Fight

"Manumito" put the UFC lightweight division on notice with his impressive debut.
Drew Beaupre|
(Zuffa LLC)

The first knockout of the night at UFC Vegas 114 came courtesy of a fighter making his highly-anticipated UFC debut.

Taking place in between UFC 326 and next weekend’s UFC Fight Night card in London, England, UFC Vegas 114 features ranked action in both the main and co-main events, as the card will close out with a featherweight matchup between Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos after Amanda Lemos and Gillian Robertson square off in a strawweight contest.

One of the more intriguing prelim bouts for hardcore fans was the lightweight tilt between Bolaji Oki and Manoel Sousa, who was making his promotional debut after winning a UFC contract with a third-round finish on Dana White’s Contender Series last August.

Manoel Sousa Scores Vicious Knockout In UFC Debut

Boasting a 12-1 record that includes wins in CFFC, the LFA, Bellator, and the PFL to go along with his impressive victory on DWCS, Sousa was a sizeable favorite to get things done in his formal UFC debut against Oki.

The Brazilian got off to a hot start when he appeared to hurt his fellow DWCS contract winner with strikes, but Oki did well to rally and land some big shots of his own to set up what turned into easily the most action-packed fight of UFC Vegas 114 up to that point.

Sousa was able to turned things back up during the third round, and with less than a minute to go in the fight “Manumito” put Oki flat on his back by the cage and knew right away that there was no need to dive in and land any follow-up punches on the ground.

12 Out Of Sousa's 14 Wins Have Come Via Finish

The knockout-win was an emphatic way for Sousa to make his UFC debut, and the Brazilian’s arrival in the UFC feels like it’s been a long time coming given the success that he’s experienced outside of the promotion.

Following a brief amateur career that saw him go 3-0 at the beginning of 2019, Sousa made his professional debut later that year and stopped four-straight opponents in a six-month span. The fourth win during that run came against current top-ranked UFC lightweight contender Mauricio Ruffy, and Sousa ended up winning his first nine fights via finish before he took a split decision over Paulo Henrique Laia on PFL Challenger Series in 2023.

Cristian Perez vs. Manoel Sousa.
Manoel Sousa before his DWCS fight with Cristian Perez. | (Ken Hathaway/MMA Junkie)

The 28-year-old made the move to Bellator in 2024 and scored a first-round knockout in his debut before suffering his first loss to Archie Colgan in a battle between undefeated lightweights. A win over Lucas Barros at LFA 205 last year secured Sousa’s spot on DWCS, and fans will be eagerly awaiting news of his next fight following the Brazilian’s impressive debut at UFC Vegas 114.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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