Ramla Ali Wins Two Belts in Arlington, Adesanya Gets His Riyadh Date

The Short Version

• Ramla Ali beat Mikiah Kreps by split decision (97-92, 96-93, with one card 98-91 the other way) to win the vacant WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles in the MVPW 07 co-main event in Arlington.
• Alycia Baumgardner won every round on all three cards against Elif Nur Turhan, 100-90 three times, to take the IBF lightweight title in the main event.
• Irma Garcia unified the super flyweight titles at age 45, and Skye Nicolson kept her WBC super bantamweight belt on the same card.
• The UFC announced Israel Adesanya against Shara Magomedov for December 5 in Riyadh, with Ian Machado Garry against Yaroslav Amosov in the co-main event.

ARLINGTON, Texas —

Ramla Ali has been famous for a long time without owning the one thing fame was supposed to lead to. On Sunday night in Arlington, she got it — two belts at once. Ali beat Mikiah Kreps, her longtime sparring partner, by split decision in the co-main event of Most Valuable Promotions’ MVPW 07 card at College Park Center on ESPN, winning the vacant WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles. Two judges scored it 97-92 and 96-93 for Ali. The third had it 98-91 for Kreps, a card that will take some explaining.

Ali (12-2, 3 KOs) was the sharper fighter across ten rounds and scored the fight’s knockdown, catching Kreps with a hook that put her down. Kreps (11-1, 3 KOs) kept pressing and took her first professional loss in the closest fight of her career. Ali, 36, was the first woman to box for Somalia at an Olympic Games, and she broke down when the decision was read. She dedicated the win to her father, who died in May. “I did it for my dad, who was watching me and keeping me safe,” she said.

The dissenting scorecard deserves its own sentence. A judge watched Ali land the cleaner work, score a knockdown, and still gave Kreps nine of ten rounds. Split decisions happen in close fights. This one was close on two cards and a rout on the third, and the rout pointed the wrong way.

The main event was a shutout

The headliner carried no suspense at all. Alycia Baumgardner moved up to lightweight for the first time and won every round on every card against Elif Nur Turhan, taking the IBF title by unanimous decision, 100-90 on all three scorecards. Baumgardner (19-1, 7 KOs) already held the WBA, IBF and WBO belts at 130 pounds. Turhan (14-1, 8 KOs) lost for the first time, and it was not near.

Caroline Dubois watched from ringside. The WBC and WBO lightweight champion faces WBA champion Stephanie Han on February 20 in El Paso, and the winner is expected to meet Baumgardner in the spring with the undisputed lightweight championship at stake. Baumgardner said her next goal is exactly that: undisputed.

At 45, Irma Garcia took another belt home

The best story on the card might have worn the least gold into the ring. Irma Garcia, the IBF super flyweight champion from Mexico, outboxed WBA champion Nataly Delgado of Panama to unify the titles, 97-92 on all three cards. Garcia (27-5-1, 6 KOs) dropped Delgado late in the sixth round and nearly did it again in the final seconds. She took home the card’s Performance of the Night award.

Garcia is 45, a Mexico City police officer and attorney, and — per the ringside reports — boxing’s oldest reigning world champion. Delgado (21-8-2, 5 KOs) never found a way inside her footwork. Age is supposed to tax exactly the skills Garcia won with: distance, timing, patience. None of the tax showed up Sunday.

Skye Nicolson kept her WBC super bantamweight title in her MVP debut, beating Japan’s Miyo Yoshida by unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, 98-92). Yoshida, a champion in two divisions, moved up chasing a title in a third and spent the night reaching for a target that stayed a step too far away.

The opener brought the knockout

The ESPN portion of the card opened with violence. Albina Moldazhanova stopped Kirstie Bavington of England at 0:44 of the fourth round, a sustained attack finished by a left hook, to stay perfect at 6-0 with six knockouts. Moldazhanova is the first woman signed by manager Egis Klimas, whose stable has included Sergey Kovalev, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk. Afterward she asked for British three-division champion Terri Harper. On this evidence, that ask is not reaching.

The prelims produced the night’s other scorecard argument. Brittany Sims and Shera Mae Patricio fought for the WBA regular bantamweight belt and the mandatory challenger spot behind WBA champion Dina Thorslund, and the judges could not pick one: 100-90 for Sims, 97-93 for Patricio, 95-95 even — a split draw that settles nothing and probably books a rematch. Nayeli Rodriguez handed Nat Dove her first loss on split cards of 77-75, and Jocelyn Camarillo stayed unbeaten at 8-0 with a decision over Nazarena Serra.

Adesanya gets Riyadh

The UFC used Saturday’s UFC Vegas 124 broadcast to set its December date. Israel Adesanya will headline UFC Fight Night 295 against Shara Magomedov on December 5 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over five rounds. Adesanya, the former two-time middleweight champion, is ranked ninth and has lost four straight; his last win came in April 2023. Magomedov is 17-1 and ranked fifteenth.

The co-main event is also set for five rounds: Ian Machado Garry against former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov. Garry returns for the first time since his August loss to Islam Makhachev. MMA Mania notes the Riyadh card is the UFC’s final Fight Night of 2026, a week before the promotion closes its year in Las Vegas.

That closing stretch starts Saturday in New York, where Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit meet for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 334, with Kayla Harrison defending against Amanda Nunes in the co-main event. The full weekend slate stays on the Previously sports front.