History was made Saturday when the husband-and-wife combo of Mark and [autotag]Montana De La Rosa[/autotag] became the first married couple ever to compete on the same UFC card.
And while Mark came up short in his preliminary fight at UFC on ESPN+ 25, Montana (11-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) earned redemption for the duo during her main-card flyweight bout against [autotag]Mara Romero Borella[/autotag].
In the process, Montana demonstrated she is high on a short list of potential challengers to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Montana used a superior grappling game to overwhelm her opponent and earn a unanimous decision at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M. The judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board.
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Borella (12-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) had her best effort in the first round as she scored a takedown and earned top position. But by midway, Montana had reversed position, taken the fight back to the feet, and climbed into a backpack position on the standing Borella, which was enough for her to take the round.
In the second, Montana controlled the action on the ground as she relentlessly improved her position and sought openings for submission attempts, which, to Borella’s credit, were fended off.
The final round opened with Borella trying to keep things standing, but she ate a right hand for her trouble, which knocked her to the mat. Montana worked for the finish and had her opponent in a head-and-arm choke when time expired.
Montana now has won five of her last six fights. It was her first decision victory in the UFC after earning decisions in her first three. Borella has lost two in a row and three of her past four.
After a week in which the fact a married couple was fighting on the same card garnered attention, Montana acknowledged it was a challenge, but she was glad to have the experience.
“It feels great. It was hard, but it was well worth it,” she said.
In the evening’s opening contest, Mark (11-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) was defeated in the second round by Raulian Paiva, who earned his first UFC victory. The flyweight matchup was pretty much a straight boxing match most of the way, and Mark may have gotten the edge in a back-and-forth opening round. But Paiva (19-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) picked up the pace in the second, began landing, and finished things via a big right hand with 18 seconds remaining in the second round. It was Mark’s third straight loss.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 25 results include:
- Montana De La Rosa def. Mara Romero Borella via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Brok Weaver def. Kazula Vargas via disqualification (illegal Knee) – Round 1, 4:02
- Ray Borg def. Rogerio Bontorin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
- Lando Vannata def. Yancy Medeiros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Daniel Rodriguez def. Tim Means via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:37
- John Dodson def. Nathaniel Wood via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:16
- Scott Holtzman def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Devin Clark def. Dequan Townsend via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Casey Kenney via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 29-28)
- Macy Chiasson def. Shanna Young via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Raulian Paiva def. Mark De La Rosa via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:42
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