Rookie Report Card: Grading all Octagon newcomers UFC London post-mortem

You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!

Two rookies debuted across the pond yesterday (Sat., March 22, 2025) at UFC London inside the O2 arena in London, England. The UFC newbies went 1-1.

Now that the dust has settled let’s grade their respective performances below.

Alexia Thainara

On ten days’ notice, Brazil’s Alexia Thainara went into enemy territory and took out Molly McCann with absolute ease with a first-round submission win (watch highlights).

“Burguesinha” looked incredible in her debut and made quite an impression both in and outside the Octagon (she took like 87 hours to walk to the cage). She wasn’t afraid to trade with McCann and even clipped “Meatball” a few times.

But ultimately, her grappling shined, and continues to warn future opponents not to go to the floor with her.

Thainara is an intriguing prospect at Strawweight and someone to keep an eye on.

Grade: A+

Andrey Pulyaev

While Thainara had a great debut, Middleweight prospect Andrey Pulyaev’s debut was on the absolute opposite side of the spectrum.

The Russian fighter lost a unanimous decision to Christian Leroy Duncan, and it was a horribly dull fight – just a lot of cage clinching and faints.

Pulyaev’s debut was ultra-stinky. I guess he gets some points for going all three rounds with Duncan, but other than that, nothing he did was notable.

I wasn’t high on him when he received a contract on Contender Series, and he ultimately proved me right.

It just feels like Pulyaev will go 0-3 and receive his walking papers.

Time will tell, though.

Grade: D-

For complete UFC London results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.