Grabbing cage helps Romero stay unbeaten

Yoel Romero took a huge step forward in the middleweight division, but it might have been aided by holding himself up.

Romero improved to 7-0 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a split-decision victory over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza on the main card of UFC 194 at MGM Grand on Saturday night.

The win was aided by a key sequence during the second round when Romero grabbed on to the cage to prevent a sure takedown by Souza, one of the best ground fighters in mixed martial arts.

Instead of taking a point, referee Marc Goddard stood the fighters back up and issued Romero a warning. A point deduction alone would have made the fight a draw. Souza, however, lost the opportunity to secure a good position, which could have won him the round, and in turn, the fight.

Romero's best work came in the first round when he dropped Souza with a spinning back fist and landed several big elbows on the ground, nearly stopping the fight.

The win puts him in position to possibly get the next shot at the middleweight title.

"I am ready," Romero said. "I am ready for everybody."

Veteran welterweight Demian Maia dominated Gunnar Nelson in a matchup of grapplers that essentially turned into a jiu-jitsu match. While both entered the cage as decorated black belts in the discipline, Maia delivered a jiu-jitsu clinic to Nelson.

"I'm very happy with my performance. There were a couple of small mistakes but overall I think the scores from the judges showed how dominant I was," Maia said after winning all three rounds, including several 10-8 scores. "My jiu-jitsu is very good and anytime I'm able to show what my coaches and my team are capable of doing, I really enjoy it."

Featherweight Max Holloway earned his eighth straight victory with a unanimous decision over Jeremy Stephens that kicked off the pay-per-view card.

Holloway was looking for more, however.

"In order to get to the top of the division you have to stick out. I saw what Frankie Edgar did last night and he put on a great performance and I was trying to match him," Holloway said. "I feel good, I got the win, but it wasn't pretty. I think the fight started slow because Jeremy and I have so much respect for one another."

Bantamweight star Urijah Faber almost certainly secured another title shot with a unanimous decision over Frankie Saenz. Faber appeared to have Saenz in serious trouble during the second round, but couldn't finish. All three rounds were close other than the big flurry by Faber.

"That fight took me back to my hardest wrestling practices at UC Davis. Your head would be pounding and your chest is throbbing, you feel like you can't give another ounce but you have to," Faber said. "Just a great back-and-forth fight against a guy that had seven straight victories."

Faber has a history with both Dominick Cruz and champion T.J. Dillashaw, who will fight for the belt next month.

Despite losing in all three of his UFC title fights, Faber believes he has earned the right to fight the winner. Should that be Dillashaw, a protege of Faber who recently left his gym in Sacramento, Calif., the fight is almost a certainty to happen.

"Him or Dominick," Faber said. "Either one."

Women's strawweight prospect Tecia Torres remained unbeaten and improved to 3-0 in the UFC with a unanimous decision over late replacement Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger.

"I'm happy with this win. With this fight, I feel like I made my mark. I'm just going to get better," said Torres, who has yet to finish an opponent in seven pro fights. "Hopefully, I'll get a top-10 or top-five opponent. I think with maybe two more wins we can talk about title contention. But I want to improve a little bit."

Welterweight Warlley Alves made quick work of Colby Covington in a matchup of unbeaten welterweights. Alves locked in a guillotine choke and forced Covington to submit 1:26 into the first round.

Leonardo Santos pulled off the biggest upset of the night, knocking out Las Vegan Kevin Lee 3:26 into the opening round.

Lee, a minus-600 favorite, was knocked down by a punch and absorbed a barrage of right hands as he tried to rise to his feet. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight as Lee focused on standing up instead of defending punches. He immediately shouted his disapproval as McCarthy stepped in.

Court McGee, Yancy Medeiros and Magomed Mustafaev were winners on the unaired portion of the preliminary card.

— Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him: @adamhilllvrj