UFC London star survives horror cut to go 9-0 against Charles Oliveira's protégé
03/22/2025 04:21 PM
Flyweights set the standard for the rest of the card in a clash between two of the division’s most exciting prospects.
The UFC London prelims are yet to blow the roof off of the O2 Arena on Saturday night but two all-action flyweights looked to change that.
Several underdog victories took place earlier on in the night with Kaue Fernandez kicking off the card with a big win over Guram Kutateladze.
Higher up the card, Mick Parkin lost his undefeated record following a defeat to Marcin Tybura as yet another perfect resume received its first blemish in 2025.
In a matchup that many highlighted as a potential fight of the night contender, Lone’er Kavanagh dug deep to move to 9-0 in his second UFC outing.
Lone’er Kavanagh beats Charles Oliveira’s teammate Felipe dos Santos via decision
With Felipe dos Santos at 24-years-old and Lone’er Kavanagh at 25, the two exciting flyweight competitors could have easily met for the first time much later in their promising careers.
Instead, their paths crossed in London on March 22 where they produced a great contest over three rounds that showed what both men are capable of.
Dos Santos, who trains out of Chute Boxe with Charles Oliveira, started the fight well and took the opening stanza on all three scorecards having landed the most impactful shots of the round.
Kavanagh responded brilliantly in the second, making a statement with some huge ground and pound strikes but he did receive some damage in response during his top control.
Dos Santos’ elbows from the bottom opened up a cut in the hairline of his opponent that immediately started to pour blood down Kavanagh’s face, leaving him with a crimson mask by the end of the round.
This didn’t distract the undefeated fighter who continued his momentum into the third, out-landing his opponent to secure the unanimous decision victory whilst Dos Santos failed to rally in his fourth outing, leaving him with a UFC record of 1-3 which doesn’t reflect his skill level.
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Lone’er Kavanagh fought like a 25-year-old veteran
Anyone who has seen Lone’er Kavanagh fight before knows that the 25-year-old has a dangerous combination of speed and power on the feet.
However, after losing the first round against Felipe dos Santos, he switched up his approach and recorded over 6:30 of control time to swing the fight in his favor.
Whilst dos Santos has shown that he has the potential to fight at a high level in this division, Kavanagh’s performance displayed exactly what it takes to compete with the best flyweights in the world.
Things weren’t going his way but he was able to find an alternate path to victory for the ninth win of his pro career.
