Alateng Heili Edges John Castaneda by Split Decision at UFC Vegas 121
Alateng Heili left the Meta APEX with a split-decision win over John Castaneda on Saturday, taking the second preliminary bout of UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29.
The bantamweight fight went the full 15 minutes in Las Vegas. Alatengheili moved to 18-10-2. Castaneda fell to 21-9-1.
The result snapped a 17-month layoff for the 34-year-old from Inner Mongolia, whose last appearance was a unanimous-decision loss to Da’Mon Blackshear in April 2025. Castaneda had not won since UFC 295 in November 2023 and entered off a majority draw with Mark Vologdin in April.
The striking sheet leaned toward Castaneda. He landed 55 of 101 significant strikes at 54.5 percent, while Alatengheili connected on 28 of 115 at 24.3 percent.
Total strikes were closer. Alatengheili held a 63-59 edge on 151 attempts, and he was the only man to wrestle, finishing 3 of 8 takedowns. Castaneda attempted two submissions and never shot a takedown.
Neither fighter scored a knockdown. The numbers help explain why one judge saw the fight for Castaneda and why the other two did not.
The first round stayed at range. Castaneda mixed stance and kicked the lead leg, while Alatengheili answered with the jab and straight rights rather than matching the kicking volume.
The pace rose in the second. Castaneda stayed on the outside and showed a spinning back fist after a fake level change. Alatengheili walked him down, went to the body, and shot a takedown that did not hit the mat.
A brief delay opened the third when the cage door had not been locked, a problem Castaneda pointed out before the round started. Once the fight resumed, Alatengheili changed levels about a minute in and finished a takedown.
Castaneda got to a knee quickly, but Alatengheili stayed attached and drove knees into the thigh. Castaneda looked toward the referee for a stand-up that never came while the wrestler was still working.
He tried to roll free and could not break the hold. With just under 90 seconds left, Castaneda jumped a guillotine and used it to stand, then finished the fight on the feet.
That third-round control was the clearest difference on a card that otherwise featured cleaner striking from Castaneda. Two judges gave Alatengheili the round and the fight. The third judge scored it the other way.
The split will not surprise anyone who watched the output. Castaneda was the more accurate striker for two rounds. Alatengheili was the fighter who changed the geography of the bout when it mattered most.
The win puts Alatengheili back in the win column after the Blackshear loss and a long stretch on the sideline. He trains at Fight Ready and has now gone 6-3-1 inside the UFC, with most of those results going to the scorecards.
Castaneda’s recent run is harder to ignore. He has now gone four fights without a victory, a stretch that includes losses to Daniel Marcos and Chris Gutierrez, the Vologdin draw, and Saturday’s split.
At 34, with a 71-inch reach and a switch-stance kicking game, he still produces volume. The problem is that judges have not been giving him the close ones.
Saturday’s prelims had already opened with Yazmin Jauregui stopping Vanessa Demopoulos in 62 seconds. The card continues toward a five-round bantamweight main event between Raul Rosas Jr. and Raoni Barcelos.
For Alatengheili, the decision is a first step back after more than a year away. For Castaneda, it is another night that will be argued over the numbers as much as the winner.