Jiu-Jitsu fans were in for a treat when Chase Hooper fought in Saturday night’s prelims at UFC Vegas 55, as he earned himself a $50K bonus and a TKO victory.
Of course, Hooper’s jiu-jitsu is always clean but his ability to use it in a mixed martial arts setting continues to improve tremendously and promises a bright future for the 22-year old fighter. On Saturday night, he took on a formidable opponent in Felipe Colares who has never been finished.
Hooper was quick to bring the fight straight to the ground within the first 15-seconds, and his advantage in the grappling department was clearly dominant. He continuously scrambled for positions and put Colares in trouble, not just attacking submissions but also effective ground and pound. By the end of round 1, Colares was left completely gassed out.
Hooper capitalized by continuing his onslaught until he was able to get the finish via ground and pound midway through the 3rd round. He was awarded a $50K bonus for Performance of the night.
The 100% finish rate in the Octagon remains intact ?
— UFC (@ufc) May 21, 2022
[ @Chase_Hooper | #UFCVegas55 ] pic.twitter.com/7RLAsauVXW
What a performance for @Chase_Hooper 2.0 ? #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/qP0omW8UmW
— UFC (@ufc) May 21, 2022
The other bonuses of the night went to Michel Perieia, Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Chidi Njokuani.
Pereira and Ponzinibbio earned Fight of the Night and $50K each in what could possibly be a Fight of the Year contender come December. The welterweight sluggers battled for 3-rounds and Periera barely came out with the split decision victory, with both fighters taking heavy damage by the end of the fight. In total, there were 216 strikes landed between the two.
Gonna need some ice packs after this brawl ? #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/fo0kMFiiOo
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 22, 2022
Njokuani earned his bonus with a KO over his opponent with just :02 left in the 1st round. The striker is mostly known for his kickboxing and muay thai, but took the opportunity to display his jiu-jitsu in the fight and earned a submission attempt from a d’arce choke. In his post fight interview with DC, Njokuani was eager to take note, “I got some jiu-jitsu, you saw me trying some s—.â€
THAT ELBOW WAS NASTY ? #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/vtpOZ0Ee8Q
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 22, 2022
The full fight replay can be streamed on ESPN +.
// MAIN CARD //
Ketlen Vieira def. Holly Holm via split decision
Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via split decision
Chidi Njokuani def. Duško Todorović via KO
Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana via unanimous decision
Jun Yong Park def. Eryk Anders via split decision
// PRELIMS //
Joseph Holmes def. Alen Amedovski via sub (RNC)
Jailton Almeida def. Parker Porter via sub (RNC)
Uroš Medić def. Omar Morales via TKO
Jonathan Martinez def. Vince Morales via unanimous decision
Chase Hooper def. Felipe Colares via TKO
Sam Hughes def. Elise Reed via TKO
