Mario Bautista calls for Cory Sandhagen next after tapping out Vinicius Oliveira in UFC Vegas 113 main event

Mario Bautista had something to prove in the UFC Vegas 113 main event and he tore through Vinicius Oliveira inside two rounds to send a resounding message to the rest of the bantamweight division.

After his eight fight win streak was stopped in a decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in his previous outing, Bautista came back better than ever on Saturday as he dealt with an aggressive and explosive opponent in Oliveira. From the start, Bautista was in complete control on the feet and on the ground but his grappling really overwhelmed Oliveira, who struggled to stay off his back.

The end came after Bautista got caught up in a scramble searching for a submission and ultimately snatched the back to lock on a rear-naked choke, which forced Oliveira to tap immediately. The stoppage happened at 4:46 in the second round with Bautista getting the submission win.

“I think he seen my previous fight and thought that was a hole of mine,” Bautista said about Oliveira’s willingness to grappling with him. “I was able to use my wrestling to get the job done. That’s John Crouch jiu-jitsu right there. That crucifix. That’s awesome. I was looking for that kimura, took the back instead … [the rear naked choke] was locked in. I had it fully locked in. He wasn’t going anywhere.”

Some early striking exchanges gave way for Bautista to close the distance and work from the clinch before snatching a really slick takedown. Oliveira briefly looked for a submission attempt from the bottom but Bautista was quick to escape and maintain his top position on the canvas.

Bautista was aggressive with his ground and pound throwing haymakers and then dropping some vicious elbows. When he finally got a restart, Oliveira tried to explode with some strikes of his own but Bautista was quick to counter and bring him crashing back to the ground again.

As time ticked away in the second round, Oliveira was holding his hands to his side, already showing signs of exhaustion. That led to another scramble with Bautista landing on top and he was quick to shread Oliveira’s defense before throwing a barrage of submissions.

From a kimura and then transitioning to take the back, Bautista was attacking relentlessly before snatching a rear-naked choke that got locked on quick. A split second later, Oliveira was tapping out with a grimace on his face that told the whole story for the fight.

Despite a valiant effort against Nurmagomedov in 2025, Bautista still suffered a loss but he proved that he remains an elite bantamweight with his performance at UFC Vegas 113. Now he’s hoping to move back up the rankings while potentially avenging an earlier loss in his UFC career.

“I want to get back into the top five,” Bautista said. “I think the next person, Cory Sandhagen — give me that rematch. You’re in the way to the title for me. I need that rematch. Let’s get it done.”