Luana Carolina wasn’t leaving the UFC APEX on a bad note.
Despite missing weight for her UFC Vegas 85 bout with Julija Stoliarenko, Carolina still walked out with her hand raised after finishing Stoliarenko with ground strikes in the final seconds of their fight.
Watch the knockout finish below.
Luana Carolina stops Julija Stoliarenko with just seconds left in the fight #UFCVegas85
(via @espnmma) pic.twitter.com/urqrLzaeUF
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 3, 2024
It looked like the bout was sure to go to the scorecards and Carolina seemed to be headed to a decision win, but she sealed the deal by taking advantage of poor defense on Stoliarenko’s part. As Stoliarenko rose from the mat following a grappling exchange, she left herself open to a hard punch from Carolina that rocked her. The Brazilian flyweight followed her to the mat and finished with ground-and-pound at the 4:52 mark of the third.
Carolina weighed in at 129 pounds for the flyweight encounter, three pounds over the limit, and Stoliarenko’s team stated they would only accept the bout if Carolina could cut down to 128 pounds. On a second weigh-in attempt, Carolina hit 128 and the bout was on, with Carolina forfeiting 20 percent of her show purse.
That penalty likely won’t sting for long as Carolina has now won two straight fights and four of her past six.
Stoliarenko falls to 2-6 inside the octagon.