Arnold Allen held the line on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Allen earned a one-sided unanimous-decision win over Melquizael Costa (50-45 x2, 49-46). Allen showed the streaking Costa that there are levels to the game and that he is still one of the top 145-pounders in the promotion.
The fight capped a solid card that was mostly overshadowed by MVP MMA 1 on Netflix. Here is a look at all of the results, highlights and bonus winners.
- Event: UFC Fight Night 276 / UFC Vegas 117 — Allen vs. Costa
- Date: Saturday, May 16, 2026
- Venue: Meta APEX, Las Vegas
- Broadcast: Paramount+
- Main Event: Arnold Allen def. Melquizael Costa via UD (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Co-Main Event: Choi Doo-ho def. Daniel Santos via TKO (punches), R2 4:29
- Bonus Total: Six fighters earned $100,000 each (Fight of the Night and two Performance of the Night awards) plus five $25,000 finish bonuses
Who Won UFC Vegas 117’s $100,000 Bonus Awards?
Three $100,000 awards went out after the card. The Fight of the Night was the co-main event featherweight war between Choi Doo-ho and Daniel Santos, with both fighters cashing the $100K bonus. After Santos took the first round, “The Korean Superboy” closed Round 2 with the TKO finish to extend his win streak to three.
Choi is an undeniable all-action fighter.
The two Performance of the Night awards went to Juan Diaz and Alice Ardelean. Diaz submitted Malcolm Wellmaker via rear-naked choke at 4:08 of Round 2 in his promotional debut, and Ardelean pulled off the first-ever Capsule Lock submission in UFC history against Polyana Viana on the prelims.
How Did Arnold Allen Beat Melquizael Costa?
The story of the fight wasn’t just Allen’s striking , it was mostly his wrestling. Allen went a perfect 7-for-7 on takedown attempts and used his straight left hand to consistently win exchanges on the feet against the streaking Brazilian. That was a bit surprising because there was some thought Costa could win some exchanges on the feet. However, the combination of damage in the pocket and control time on the canvas built up to a near-shutout card.
The win is a critical bounce-back for Allen, who had dropped three of his last four going into this fight against Max Holloway, Movsar Evloev and Jean Silva. Costa entered on a six-fight winning streak with four finishes, including a recent stoppage of Dan Ige, but Allen’s experience in five-round main events proved to be the difference at the level Costa hadn’t seen before.
What Were The Full UFC Vegas 117 Results?
Main Card (Paramount+):
- Featherweight: Arnold Allen def. Melquizael Costa via UD (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Featherweight: Choi Doo-ho def. Daniel Santos via TKO (punches), R2 4:29
- Bantamweight: Juan Diaz def. Malcolm Wellmaker via submission (rear-naked choke), R2 4:08
- 205-pound catchweight: Modestas Bukauskas def. Christian Edwards via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bantamweight: Bernardo Sopaj def. Timmy Cuamba via submission (rear-naked choke), R2 2:25
- Welterweight: Khaos Williams def. Nikolay Veretennikov via TKO (punches), R1 3:31
Prelims (Paramount+):
- Light Heavyweight: Ivan Erslan def. Tuco Tokkos via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lightweight: Tommy Gantt def. Artur Minev via TKO (punches), R2 2:51
- Women’s Bantamweight: Ketlen Vieira def. Jacqueline Cavalcanti via UD (29-28 x3)
- Middleweight: Cody Brundage def. Andre Petroski via TKO (punches), R2 0:44
- Women’s Strawweight: Alice Ardelean def. Polyana Viana via verbal submission (Capsule Lock), R2 4:36
- Flyweight: Luis Gurule def. Daniel Barez via UD (30-27 x3)
- Women’s Strawweight: Nicolle Caliari def. Shauna Bannon via submission (arm-triangle choke), R3 3:08
Which Highlights Stood Out On The Undercard?
The undercard delivered multiple finishes worth flagging. Cody Brundage’s 44-second R2 knockout over Andre Petroski was the fastest of the night, and Khaos Williams returned to form by detonating a right hand on Nikolay Veretennikov for a vintage first-round TKO. Tommy Gantt’s UFC debut win over Artur Minev rounded out an impressive run of finishes for the Dana White’s Contender Series alumni on the card.
Five fighters earned $25,000 finish bonuses on top of the three $100K awards: Bernardo Sopaj, Khaos Williams, Tommy Gantt, Cody Brundage and Nicolle Caliari. That gave UFC Vegas 117 eight total fighters cashing bonus checks, which is the kind of post-event payout that backs up Allen’s claim that this card was deeper than the MVP MMA 1 noise on Netflix made it look.
What’s Next For Arnold Allen After UFC Vegas 117?
Allen’s win likely positions him for another top-10 matchup at 145 pounds. He had been losing decisions to elite-level opponents over the past two years, but the dominant performance against Costa — combined with his proven Performance of the Night history against names like Calvin Kattar and Dan Hooker — keeps him firmly in the title-picture conversation.
The featherweight division is in flux heading into the summer, and Allen is now back in line for the kind of high-stakes bout that could vault him back into immediate title contention. A matchup with another top-10 contender feels like the obvious next step, and Allen has earned the right to ask for one.
