Loopy Godinez walked out of the Meta Apex on Saturday night with a nose full of blood and a unanimous decision win over Ketlen Souza, taking all three cards 29-28 on the UFC Vegas 122 main card.
The whole thing came down to Round 1. Godinez clearly won the third, Souza clearly won the second, and every judge handed the opener to Godinez. Aaron Bronsteter pointed out on X that Godinez started that round strong and Souza seemed to pull away in the back half, just not by enough to swing it. Before the cards were even read, he posted that he was “Interested to see the scorecards here.” So was everybody else watching.
The fight was booked at strawweight and turned into a catchweight bout when Souza came in one pound heavy at Friday’s weigh-ins, which made her ineligible for a performance bonus, according to MMA Weekly. One pound is a weird amount to miss by. The obvious question was how much the cut took out of her, and Cageside Press noted that it didn’t seem to bother her much at all.
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How it played out
Godinez had the better early minutes, landing leg kicks, right hands and a knee that backed Souza up, per MMA Weekly’s round-by-round. She kept trying to punch her way into a takedown and couldn’t find one. Souza answered with a spinning back fist, started timing Godinez late in the round and showed basically zero respect for the incoming shots, absorbing them and walking forward. By the horn, Godinez was bleeding from the nose.
Round 2 belonged to Souza. She came out more aggressive, stuffed a takedown and reversed it, pinned Godinez against the fence and started landing uppercuts late. Godinez did connect with a wild overhand right to the side of Souza’s head. Souza ate that one too.
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Souza opened the third hot with punches and elbows in the center of the cage, and for a minute it looked like the Brazilian might take the whole thing. Then Godinez finally got her takedown, settled into closed guard and went to work with punches and elbows for most of the round. Souza never really tried to stand. Godinez didn’t have much left in the tank up top, and Souza kicked her off in the final seconds, but the round was already banked.
Where this leaves them
Godinez came in ranked No. 8 and coming off a loss to Tatiana Suarez, so this was a fight she needed. The UFC promoted it with “Rankings on the line in this one,” and she kept her spot in the conversation. Souza entered unranked and riding a two-fight win streak, and the streak is over, though her stock probably isn’t.
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My take: Godinez got the W, and a W after a loss is the whole job. But a top-10 strawweight getting outgunned on the feet for long stretches by an unranked opponent, and needing 10 rounds’ worth of trying to land one takedown, is not the film you send to the matchmakers. Souza walked through clean power shots, stuffed the wrestling for two rounds and lost a fight that could have gone either way. If she makes weight next time, somebody ranked is getting a real problem.
