Inside an action-packed UFC Fight Night in KC: Knockouts, hometown heroes & more
TKO isn’t just the name of the media conglomerate behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship; it’s what most fans wanted to see when the mixed martial artists visited Kansas City on Saturday, April 26. Early on, they got what they wanted.
Kicks, punches, submissions, takedowns and knockouts were on the menu at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City. Out of 14 bouts, seven ended by referee stoppage, including a counter right hand by bantamweight fighter Malcolm Wellmaker with 1 minute, 59 seconds left in the first round to knock out Cameron Saaiman.
The punch in the preliminary fight earned one of the loudest reactions of the night from the T-Mobile Center crowd, and Wellmaker took note of it in his post-match interview.
“He gave me what I wanted so I gave y’all what y’all wanted,” Wellmaker said. “I hope y’all are happy.”
Fans were treated to more than five hours of fights from various weight classes, and they were able to see different styles in action. Fast and furious featherweights earned cheers for their quick victories, while the highly anticipated main event welterweight bout between No. 7 Ian Machado Garry vs. No. 13 Carlos Prates kept the crowd’s attention in a highly anticipated bout by chopping away and waiting for an opening.
The roar of the crowd
Baxter Springs, Kansas, native Eric Trease said there’s nothing like a UFC crowd. When one fan yells out a “woo,” hundreds of others join in succession, creating a rush from the floor to the upper level. The second a fighter hits the ground after a big punch, the crowd stands up and shouts in hopes of seeing a knockout.
Eric Trease has been to every UFC event in Kansas City alongside his son, Brant Trease. Eric Trease said that when somebody gets rocked with a punch, you can feel the energy of the crowd and the electricity in the air.
“You can hear the punches in the crowd and that’s electric, but when someone takes someone down and slams them on the mat, it goes through the entire arena,” Brant Trease said. “And when you see a 5’ guy take down a 6’ guy, it’s like oh my gosh, this is crazy that that can happen.”
The crowd would chant their favorite fighter’s name while they were in the middle of the action and “ooo” and “ahh” at the sound of every cross punch or checked leg kick. And every replay highlighting a huge blow only got louder as the production crew showed a different angle.
The fighting aspect is what got New York City resident Alexandre Souza interested in the sport. Hailing from Manaus in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, he traveled to Kansas City for the first time to watch fellow countryman Carlos Prates in the main event against Ian Machado Garry.
Hometown heroes
Fans were also interested in other matches on the card, including a couple of fighters who cut their teeth in Kansas City.
The Missouri area and the Midwest region were well represented on UFC’s fight card. A bout on the preliminary card featuring Evan Elder versus Gauge Young, two fighters from Missouri, saw the crowd root for both before Elder claimed victory by the judge’s unanimous decision after three rounds.
However, the biggest reaction of the night belonged to Kansas City’s own lightweight fighter, David Onama. Donning red and yellow trunks in his bout against No. 12 Giga Chikadze, the up-and-coming fighter was surrounded by a crowd who turned this into a home game.
“Let’s go David” chants started immediately after the first and second rounds began and later on, the crowd started doing the Chiefs’ tomahawk chop to support their hometown hero. Excitement built in the air after each of the three takedowns he landed in the three-round bout.
In what UFC commentator Paul Felder called the biggest fight of his career, Onama won by unanimous decision. He gave credit to the Kansas City crowd for keeping him going.
“Kansas City, make some noise,” Onama shouted post-fight.
Happy retirement?
One of the two headlining events of April 26’s fight card featured a men’s light heavyweight fight between No. 15 Anthony Smith and Zhang Mingyang. Smith, who’s from Omaha, Nebraska, and fought quite a bit in the Kansas City area before reaching the UFC, said this fight would be his 60th and last of his career.
Siblings Diego Venacio and Johana Escudero from Overland Park are big fans of the UFC and even bigger fans of the retiring fighter known as “Lionheart.” Escudero was inspired to learn taekwondo by watching UFC with her older brother since early as 1 year old.
The light heavyweight fighter’s bouts were a staple in their household, and while they always go to UFC events when they come to Kansas City, seeing his last fight in person played a huge role in spending their Saturday night downtown.
“We are just fans of the sport, but Smith retiring tonight caught our eye because I can’t believe we’ve been watching him for years and we can’t believe he picked Kansas City to retire,” Venacio said. “He’s from Nebraska, so not too far from us and pretty much a hometown boy for us.”
Venacio, Escudero and the rest of the Kansas City crowd didn’t get the result they wanted: Mingyang earned a technical knockout victory in a bloody first round.
“Hey Kansas City, how do you feel?” Mingyang said afterward. “I know you don’t know who I am, but if you don’t know, now you do.”
“Father Time wins tonight,” Smith said. “I want to thank every single one of you guys, especially the Midwest. I made a home here in Kansas City.”
Smith ends his professional career at 38-22.
‘Kansas City got spoiled’
UFC president and CEO Dana White said the sold-out event drew 15,984 attendees. The gate for the event was $2.2 million, which set a T-Mobile Center record for a sporting event, he said.
“I think that Kansas City got spoiled tonight,” he said. “This card was so good, every fight was incredible, mostly finishes.”
“Kansas City is an awesome city. The people here are great; I really like this town. The energy in that place was awesome all night.”
Which UFC fighters won in Kansas City?
Fans saw 14 total fights over six hours at T-Mobile Center for UFC Fight Night. The winning combatants are highlighted in bold:
- Women’s bantamweight fight: Joselyne Edwards vs No. 14 Chelsea Chandler (first round TKO)
- Men’s featherweight fight: Timmy Cuamba vs. Robert Romero (second round TKO)
- Women’s strawweight fight: Jaqueline Amorim vs. Polyana Viana (second round submission)
- Men’s bantamweight fight: Malcom Wellmaker vs. Cameron Saaiman (first round knockout)
- Men’s bantamweight fight: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Alatengheilli (unanimous decision)
- Men’s featherweight fight: Chris Gutierrez vs. John Castaneda (split decision)
- Men’s lightweight fight: Evan Elder vs. Gauge Young (unanimous decision)
- Men’s flyweight fight: Matt Schnell vs. Jimmy Flick (unanimous decision)
- Men’s middleweight fight: Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz (first round TKO)
- Men’s welterweight fight: Randy Brown vs. Nicolas Dalby (second round knockout)
- Men’s middleweight fight: Abus Magomedov vs No. 14 Michel Pereira (unanimous decision)
- Men’s featherweight fight: David Onama vs No. 12 Giga Chikadze (unanimous decision)
- Men’s light heavyweight fight: Zhang Mingyang vs. No. 15 Anthony Smith (first round TKO)
- Men’s welterweight fight: No. 7 Ian Machado Garry vs. No. 13 Carlos Prates (unanimous decision)
This story was originally published April 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM.
