UFC Fight Night 240 Prelims: Alex Morono Outmaneuvers Court McGee in Las Vegas

Alex Morono did just enough to skate by inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division.

The longtime Fortis MMA rep rebounded from his Oct. 7 defeat to Joaquin Buckley with a workmanlike unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 winner Court McGee in the featured UFC Fight Night 240 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Morono (24-9, 13-6 UFC) carried all three scorecards by 29-28 margins.

McGee (21-13, 10-12 UFC) stayed busy and spent a significant chunk of time in top position in the second round but had no real answer for the speed disadvantage with which he was faced. Morono peppered him with one-twos, threw in the occasional spinning attack and made multiple passes at submission attempts, including a tight guillotine in the middle stanza. McGee executed a takedown in the waning seconds of Round 3, but by then, the decision was lost.

Meanwhile, Kotwica MMA Team product Lukasz Brzeski experienced his first taste of success inside the Octagon, as he outlasted former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Valter Walker to a unanimous decision in a three-round heavyweight confrontation. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Brzeski (9-4-1, 1-3 UFC).

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Walker (11-1, 0-1 UFC) leaned heavily on takedowns and positional control but managed to produce almost no meaningful offense outside of a few unsuccessful submission attempts. Brzeski carved up the Brazilian newcomer in the standup exchanges, calling upon ringing uppercuts, occasional combos, a steady jab and stinging leg kicks. Walker climbed to full mount in the third round but squandered the position and ended up in a series of scrambles where neither man made much progress.

The victory snapped Brzeski’s three-fight losing streak.

Further down the undercard, Jean Matsumoto kept his perfect professional record intact when he took care of Dan Argueta with a guillotine choke in the second round of their bantamweight affair. Matsumoto (15-0, 1-0 UFC) drew the curtain 4:59 into Round 2.

Argueta (9-2, 1-2 UFC) controlled a significant portion of the bout with clinches and takedowns, moving to full mount for a brief time in the first round. However, his persistence strained his cardio and slowed him down just enough to create some vulnerability. Matsumoto pieced together punching combinations, mixed in a few leg kicks and countered effectively to keep his head above water. He triggered a scramble late in Round 2, bit down on an arm-in guillotine and tightened his squeeze, forcing Argueta to tap an instant before he appeared to lose consciousness.

Matsumoto, 24, has delivered nine of his 15 wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

Elsewhere, undefeated Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Cesar Almeida disposed of Dylan Budka with punches in the second round of their middleweight pairing. A short-notice replacement for Josh Fremd, the overmatched Budka (7-3, 0-1 UFC) succumbed to blows 2:13 into Round 2.

Almeida (5-0, 1-0 UFC) conceded a few takedowns but made his counterpart pay with damage and energy. A visibly depleted Budka closed the distance in the second round and attacked the hips, only to be met with a series of elbows to the side of the head. The Demolition Fight Team export collapsed at the base of the cage, turtled in a defensive position and absorbed a series of unanswered punches that necessitated the stoppage.

The 36-year-old Almeida has finished four of his first five opponents.

Finally, French muay thai stylist Nora Cornolle put away previously unbeaten Team Renegade rep Melissa Mullins with a brutal knee strike to the body and follow-up head kicks in the second round of their women’s bantamweight tilt. Cornolle (8-1, 2-0 UFC) brought it to a close 3:06 into Round 2. Both participants missed weight for the match: Mullins by two pounds, Cornolle by two and a half pounds.

Mullins (6-1, 1-1 UFC) pursued a largely aimless clinch and executed a takedown in the first round, only to get stonewalled on the ground. Cornolle trapped the ex-gymnastics coach on the feet in the middle stanza, buried a knee into her breadbasket and prompted her retreat. Two head kicks connected next and drove Mullins to the canvas, where she ate a few punches before referee Chris Tognoni could arrive on the scene.

Cornolle, 34, has rattled off eight consecutive victories.

In other action, Norma Dumont (11-2, 7-2 UFC) took a unanimous verdict from the returning Germaine de Randamie (10-5, 7-3 UFC) in a three-round women’s bantamweight scrap, sweeping the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks across the board; and Astra Fight Team’s Victor Hugo Silva (25-4, 1-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to 14 fights with a unanimous decision over Nova Uniao standout Pedro Falcao (16-4, 0-1 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight pairing, drawing 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 scores from the cageside judges.