UFC Vegas 51 results and recap: Belal Muhammad dominates Vincente Luque over five rounds for decision win

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Las Vegas, April 17: Belal Muhammad avenged TKO loss from six years ago with a dominant victory over Vincente Luque in the headliner of UFC Vegas 51: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 event that took place on Saturday (April 16) night at the Apex facility in Las Vegas.

In the main event, No. 5 ranked welterweight contender Vicente Luque tested out his striking against strong wrestler No. 6 ranked Belal Muhammad.

As has been the trending case at the top echelons of the sport, wrestling proved to be the winning factor as Muhammad used it to gain the edge and dominate control time across five rounds.

With victory coming by way of a unanimous decision, Muhammad said, "This is the hump I had to get over: he knocked me out, he beat me. I had to think about that my whole camp.

"I respect the guy. I knew it was going to be one of my hardest challenges, and now I'm ready. I showed that I can do it all: I can strike with the best, I can grapple with the best, and I can wrestle with the best."

In the co-main event, Dana White's Contender Series stand out middleweights Caio Borralho and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev delivered an exciting, high level performance.

Borralho mounted an excellent second round but threw an illegal knee when Omargadzhiev was grounded, and he couldn't continue. The bout was stopped and went to the scorecards, giving Borralho the win by unanimous decision.

Following the win, Borralho said, "I didn't want to win like this, but I was dominating the entire fight. I trained with Demian Maia for eight years, so when I get your back, you're not going to get out. I didn't see his, knee, so I'm sorry to everyone. This just my beginning."

Also on the main card, Bangers Andre Fialho and Miguel Baeza continued the welterweight slugfest with a back and forth four minutes, and it was Baeza who walked away with the victory by TKO late in the first round.

China's Wu Yanan and Mayra Bueno Silva earned the Fight of the Night award for their stylistically intriguing 3-round battle. Wu showed a marked improvement, but it wasn't enough to sway the judges who gave Buen the unanimous decision.

In the main card opener, Mounir Lazzez earned a decision win over Ange Loosa in a welterweight bout before Pat Sabatini followed with another decision win against TJ Laramie in a featherweight bout.

On the preliminary card, China's Alatengheili opened the event in perfect form when he entered the Octagon against Kevin Croom in their bantamweight bout, getting off his powerful overhand right and following up with punches to get the TKO in just 47 seconds.

Meanwhile, Drakkar Klose, Devin Clark and Rafa Garcia also claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts on the prelims that saw Pannie Kianzad, Martin Buday, Jordan Leavitt and Sam Hughes earn decision wins.

UFC Vegas 51: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 Final Results

Main Card

1. Welterweight bout: Belal Muhammad defeated Vicente Luque via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

2. Middleweight bout: Caio Borralho defeated Gadzhi Omargadzhiev via unanimous technical decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

3. Welterweight bout: Andre Fialho defeated Miguel Baeza via TKO (strikes) at 4:39 of the first round

4. Women's Bantamweight bout: Mayra Bueno Silva defeated Wu Yanan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

5. Featherweight bout: Pat Sabatini defeated TJ Laramie via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

6. Welterweight bout: Mounir Lazzez defeated Ange Loosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

1. Heavyweight bout: Devin Clark defeated William Knight via TKO (strikes) at 3:21 of the third round.

2. Women's Bantamweight bout: Pannie Kianzad defeated Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

3. Lightweight bout: Drakkar Klose defeated Brandon Jenkins via TKO (strikes) at :33 of the second round

4. Lightweight bout: Rafa Garcia defeated Jesse Ronson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:51 of round two

5. Heavyweight bout: Martin Buday defeated Chris Barnett via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

6. Lightweight bout: Jordan Leavitt defeated Trey Ogden via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

7. Women's Strawweight bout: Sam Hughes defeated Istela Nunes via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)

8. Bantamweight bout: Alatengheili defeated Kevin Croom via TKO at 0:47 of the first round