Brady Hiestand submits Rinya Nakamura on UFC return after two-year absence

Brady Hiestand returned from a two-year absence with a submission victory over Rinya Nakamura at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on September 26. According to UFC's official preliminary-card report, Hiestand finished the bantamweight contest with a rear-naked choke at 4:07 of the second round, recording his fourth consecutive win and third successive finish.

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The 27-year-old had not competed since defeating Garret Armfield in June 2024. Against Nakamura, he sought grappling exchanges from the opening stages and threatened with an anaconda choke early in round two. Later in the round, Hiestand took Nakamura's back and secured the submission. The former Ultimate Fighter finalist then called for a ranked opponent for his next appearance, although the report did not announce a matchup.

Hiestand's victory concluded the preliminary programme at Meta APEX, where several other returning fighters also earned stoppage wins. Montel Jackson defeated Ricky Simon by TKO at 2:39 of the second round, reversing the outcome of their 2018 meeting. Simon had handed Jackson his first professional defeat when Jackson made his UFC debut. In the rematch, Jackson dropped Simon with a punching combination before following him to the canvas to finish.

Christian Edwards earned his first UFC victory by stopping Rodolfo Bellato at 1:47 of round three. After both men had successful moments in the opening two rounds, Edwards landed the decisive left hook in the third. His previous UFC appearance had ended in a split-decision loss to Modestas Bukauskas in May after he accepted that fight on short notice.

The card also featured first-round finishes for Elves Brener and Yazmin Jauregui. Brener stopped Josiah Harrell with strikes at 4:14, landing a right hook after defending a takedown attempt. Jauregui, making her first appearance in two years, overwhelmed Vanessa Demopoulos with punches for a TKO at 1:02. That result improved Jauregui's UFC record to 5-2.

Two preliminary bouts went to the judges. Rodolfo Vieira defeated Robert Bryczek by unanimous decision, with all three scorecards reading 30-27, to move to 12-5 overall and 7-5 in the UFC. Alatengheili took a split decision over John Castaneda, winning on two 29-28 cards while the third judge scored the fight 29-28 for Castaneda.