UFC 295 Results and Recap: Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall Crowned Champions In Headliners

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New York, November 12: Alex Pereira finished Jiri Prochazka to win the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in UFC 295: Prochakza vs. Pereira pay-per-view, which took place at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday (November 12).

From start to finish, once again the historic MSG played host to a truly remarkable card of thrilling, emotional, technical fights. With two new divisional champions and a host of new prospects entering the rankings, 2024 is already set to build upon greatness.

The stacked card saw eight fights end in stoppages, while five went the distance with four ending in decision wins and one fight ending in a majority draw at the second highest grossing event in MSG.

While the undercard bout between Viacheslav Borshchev and Nazim Sadykhov bagged the fight of the night award on the night, the five victors on the main card were also given bonuses for their respective stoppage wins.

Headliners Pereira and Tom Aspinall as well as Jessica Andrade, Benoit Saint-Denis and Diego Lopes all walked away from the pay-per-view with an extra USD50K as performance bonus. Here is the recap and results from UFC 295:

UFC 295 Recap

The feeling in MSG was electric when two iconic warriors met in the Octagon: former UFC light heavyweight champion Prochazka and former middleweight champion Pereira in the main event.

Early doors of the light heavyweight fight, the Brazilian kickboxing phenom landed damaging leg kicks, so the Czech samurai opted for a flashy takedown and controlled on the canvas.

In the second round, Prochazka amped up his pressure and output, and Pereira adjusted, landing a combination while moving backwards, more punches on the ground, and the referee halted the fight.

Following the stoppage, Pereira said, "I landed a right hook and a left, he fell down on my legs - it was not a take down. So I don't think it was a bad stoppage. This means a lot for me to be in Madison Square Garden. It's an historical place for me.

"I'm not the kind of guy who calls people out, but there's a guy who rescued me and made me come to this fight, so I want to rescue him, too. Adesanya, come to light heavyweight. I don't know when Jamahal Hill will be back, but I want to be an active champion and I want to fight him soon."

In the co-main event, it took only a minute to decide the interim UFC heavyweight champion when #2 Sergei Pavlovich and No. 4 ranked Aspinall went toe-to-toe.

Pavlovich landed a stiff punch first, then Aspinall braved to stand in the pocket and landed a right-left-right that got him his hand raised with the KO victory.

After the first-round stoppage, Aspinall said, "If you ever get the chance to do something, and you're scared to do it, you should definitely do it because there's a chance it's going to pay off.

"I've never been as scared in my life as fighting this guy. But I've got a lot of power, too, and I believe in myself. This belt is dedicated to my father!"

Also on the main card, former champion Jéssica Andrade snapped her three-fight losing streak with a second-round stoppage win over Mackenzie Dern in the featured bout.

Plus, Benoit Saint Denis stopped Matt Frevola in just over a minute and a half in a light weight bout after Diego Lopes also took just 90 seconds to finish Pat Sabatini in the featherweight bout that opened the main card.

On the preliminary card, fight of night award winners Nazim Sadykhov and Viacheslav Borshchev fought to a majority draw before Mateusz Rebecki claimed a first-round submission win over Roosevelt Roberts.

Also on the prelims, Steve Erceg earned a unanimous decision win over Alessandro Costa in a flyweight bout after Loopy Godinez edged Tabatha Ricci for a split decision win in a women's strawweight bout.

In the early prelims, Myanmar-born Joshua Van proved that his star is indeed on the rise. The 22-year old flyweight remained undefeated in UFC and cemented his prospect status in a brilliantly technical, fast, and competitive fight with Dana White's Contender Series signee Kevin Borjas.

Plus, John Castaneda outworked Kyung Ho Kang in a catchweight bout after Jamall Emmers stopped Dennis Buzukja in the first-round of another catchweight bout on the card. Jared Gordon also claimed a first-round stoppage against Mark Madsen in a lightweight bout. Here are the final results:

UFC 295 Results

1. Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Alex Pereira defeats Jirií Prochazka by KO (elbows) at 4:08 of Round 2
2. Heavyweight Interim Championship Bout: Tom Aspinall defeats Sergei Pavlovich by TKO (strikes) at 1:09 of Round 1
3. Women's Strawweight Bout: Jessica Andrade defeats Mackenzie Dern by TKO (strikes) at 3:15 of Round 2
4. Lightweight Bout: Benoit Saint Denis defeats Matt Frevola by KO (head kick and punches) at 1:31 of Round 1
5. Featherweight Bout: Diego Lopes defeats Pat Sabatini by TKO (strikes) at 1:30 of Round 1
6. Flyweight Bout: Steve Erceg (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Alessandro Costa by Unanimous Decision
7. Women's Strawweight Bout: Loopy Godinez (29-28, 29-28) defeats Tabatha Ricci (30-27) by Split Decision
8. Catchweight (158 lb) Bout: Mateusz Rebecki defeats Roosevelt Roberts by verbal submission (armbar) at 3:08 of Round 1
9. Lightweight Bout: Nazim Sadykhov and Viacheslav Borshchev (29-28) fight to a majority draw (28-28, 28-28)
10. Lightweight Bout: Jared Gordon defeats Mark Madsen by TKO (strikes) at 4:42 of Round 1
11. Catchweight (138 lb) Bout: John Castaneda (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeats Kyung Ho Kang by Unanimous Decision
12. Flyweight Bout: Joshua Van (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Kevin Borjas by Unanimous Decision
13. Catchweight (147 lb) Bout: Jamall Emmers defeats Dennis Buzukja by TKO (strikes) at 0:49 of Round 1