A total rout. Considered one of the most spectacular fighters on the planet, Morgan Charrière did not have time to put on a show this Sunday at APEX in Las Vegas. Opposed to the Brazilian nugget Melquizael Costa (25-7) in the -66 kg (featherweight) category, the 30-year-old Frenchman suffered his worst defeat since entering the UFC in 2023.
Indeed, “The Last Pirate” lost in the first round, suffering a rear leg high-kick launched by his Brazilian rival after only 1 minute and 14 seconds of combat. Falling stiff in the middle of the cage, he suffered a terrible KO, his first since his debut in the American organization (21-12-1).
Charrière was an outsider
Charrière faced, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, one of the biggest challenges of his career, since he walked into the cage as an outsider, a situation he had not experienced in six fights in the UFC. Suffice to say that the native of Poissy (Yvelines) is likely to remember it. His opponent won his fifth consecutive victory, the fourth in 2025, and risks establishing himself as one of the fighters to watch in his weight category next year.
For the Frenchman, it will be a question of recovering from this quick defeat, he being used to epic and bloody duels which earned him four bonuses in five fights to reward his commitment and his showmanship. This time, Charrière did not receive a bonus for achieving the “performance of the evening” or the “fight of the evening”. Will it be able to bounce back in 2026?
