Alice Pereira continued to make a name for herself in the Octagon with another dominant performance, forcing Darya Zhelezniakova to quit on her stool after a punishing opening round at UFC Vegas 122.

The 20-year-old Brazilian faced the Russian veteran in a women’s bantamweight bout on Saturday at the META APEX in Las Vegas, coming out aggressively before taking the fight to the ground.

“Golden Girl” controlled the action from top position and unleashed vicious ground-and-pound late in the round, opening a deep cut across Zhelezniakova’s forehead and leaving her face covered in blood.

Although Zhelezniakova survived until the end of the round, she told officials she could not continue when asked before the second. The contest was stopped, handing Pereira a first-round TKO victory at the five-minute mark.

MMA Community Reacts To Alice Pereira’s Brutal TKO Victory

Alice Pereira’s dominant performance against Darya Zhelezniakova at UFC Vegas 122 earned widespread praise across the MMA community, with fighters and pundits alike weighing in online to applaud the 20-year-old Brazilian’s ruthless display inside the Octagon.

Pereira improved to 8-1 in her professional MMA career and 2-1 in the UFC, recording her second consecutive finish in the promotion. “Golden Girl” suffered a split-decision defeat to Montse Rendon in her promotional debut at Noche UFC in 2025, which remains the only loss of her career.

She responded with a brutal knockout victory over Hailey Cowan earlier this year before following it up with the stoppage of “Iron Lady”.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 04: Alice Pereira of Brazil reacts after a knockout victory against Hailey Cowan in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on April 04, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Zhelezniakova, meanwhile, fell to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the UFC, suffering her second consecutive defeat after losing to Melissa Croden in her previous outing.