RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Viviane Araujo made the most of her Octagon debut on Saturday night.
The Pancrase strawweight champion agreed to replace Melissa Gatto against bantamweight Talita Bernardo on four days’ notice at UFC 237 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and dominated the action before delivering a vicious one-punch knockout in the third round.
Fresh off an “impressive debut” in the UFC, a finish she considers one of the five best knockouts in women’s bantamweight history, Araujo doesn’t know where she stands in the strawweight rankings, but would love to make her return to 115 pounds against a ranked opponent.