Felipe Negão uses grappling to defeat Levi Rodrigues Jr. by knockout at UFC Oklahoma City.

Felipe Negão after his victory at UFC Oklahoma . Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.

PUBLICITY:

In the only all-green duel of the night, Felipe Negão put on a show and defeated Levi Rodrigues by technical knockout in the second round during the preliminary card of UFC Oklahoma City on Saturday night (18), in a duel valid for the light heavyweight division (up to 93 kg). With the result, the Bahia native recovered from his defeat to Mario Pinto in his debut and secured his first fight in the biggest MMA event in the world.

Felipe Negão capitalized on the falls.

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The two fighters started the fight feinting a lot, with Rodrigues dominating the center of the octagon and attempting low kicks, while Franco used quick jabs. Both engaged in more open exchanges initially, but neither managed to make a significant impact. Negão went for a grappling fight and secured a good takedown from the clinch, which Rodrigues quickly recovered, returning to his feet. Faster, Felipe landed a good right straight, but was almost knocked out after being hit by strong punches from Levi. Negão secured another good takedown, and this time began landing powerful elbows from mount.

Felipe returned to the same strategy in the following round. He once again secured a takedown and transitioned to mount in the early moments of the round. He landed powerful elbows from above, forcing the referee to stop the fight when the clock showed one minute and 40 seconds. Levi was furious about the stoppage, even abruptly disengaging from the referee immediately after the fight ended.

Felipe Franco ’s first UFC victory 👏

He gets the TKO stoppage win in RD2!

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— UFC (@ufc) July 18, 2026

Undefeated fighter dominates opponent using grappling.

Ezra Elliott in victory at UFC Oklahoma City. Photo: Reproduction/X.

In the featherweight division (up to 65,7 kg), Ezra Elliott dominated Damien Anderson and won by unanimous decision in the fourth fight of the night. The American remained undefeated, now with eight wins as a professional. The triumph also overshadowed the fact that the athlete did not make the category limit at the weigh-in last Friday (17).

Despite struggling on his feet in the opening seconds, Elliott dominated most of the first round by using his grappling to secure takedowns against the cage and frustrate his opponent's isometric game. He maintained this strategy in the following round, threatening to finish the fight with submissions on several occasions.

Elliott remained dominant in the final round, and despite his best efforts to end the fight somehow, the duel came to an end through regulation time. All judges scored the fight in favor of Ezra Elliott.

Night's favorite puts on a show.

In the third fight of the preliminary card, Alden Coria confirmed his status as the night's top favorite by defeating Stewart Nicoll via unanimous decision in a flyweight bout (up to 56,7 kg). With this result, the 28-year-old secured his second victory in the UFC, establishing himself as one of the division's prospects and demanding a ranked opponent in his next fight.

Very comfortable, Coria dominated the center of the octagon from the start of the fight and began attacking his rival with strong punches, mainly uppercuts . Nicoll managed takedowns both in the middle and at the end of the first round, but ended up being reversed in both scenarios and losing his best positions.

The two exchanged interesting blows on their feet in the following round, interspersed with high-amplitude takedowns by Nicoll and quick ground transitions by Coria. In the final round, Alden returned to being the aggressor and began to use precise jabs to his opponent's face. Thirsty for a quick victory, Coria went on the offensive looking for submissions with chokes, especially in the final minutes. However, he was unable to finish the fight.

At the end of the 15 minutes, all the judges scored the victory for Coria. One scored it 29 to 28, while the other two saw it 30 to 27.

Results from UFC Oklahoma City

MAIN CARD

Middleweight (up to 83,9 kg): Dricus Du Plessis defeated Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)

Middleweight (up to 83,9 kg): Christian Leroy Duncan defeated Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Chase Hooper defeated Mitch Ramirez by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:15 of round 1.

Strawweight (up to 52,1 kg): Fatima Kline defeated Tabatha Ricci by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Tommy McMillen defeated Alberto Montes by technical knockout (punches) at 3:29 of round 3.

PRELIMINARY CARD 

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Jose Miguel Delgado defeated Austin Bashi by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani defeated Seok Hyeon Ko by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Light heavyweight (up to 92,9 kg): Felipe Negão defeated Levi Rodrigues Jr. by technical knockout (punches) at 1:40 of round 2.

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Ezra Elliott defeated Damien Anderson by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Alden Coria defeated Stewart Nicoll by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg): RJ Harris defeated Alvin Hines by technical knockout (punches) at 1:40 of round 1.

Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Dione Barbosa defeated Anna Melisano by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:04 of round 1.

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