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Saturday night’s fights saw number four-ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira take on a rising star, the number six-ranked light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux. Teixeira was in need of a win to get back on track for a title shot having lost two straight, and Saint Preux wanted to keep an impressive two fight winning streak going in hopes of breaking into the title contention mix. The co-main event saw number five-ranked lightweight star Michael Johnson put his own quest for title contention on the line against the number twelve-ranked prospect Beneil Dariush. It was an exciting night of fights in Nashville, Tennessee, and fans were treated with a very exciting main event, and a very controversial co-main event.
The main card kicked off with a great back and forth flyweight fight between up-and comer Ray Borg and prospect Geane Herrera. Borg controlled the entire fight, even with Herrera threatening with various submissions for the duration of all three rounds. Borg took Herrera down at will, and successfully escaped every submission while landing brutal ground and pound. Herrera kept the fight entertaining with his submission attempts, but it was Borg who won by unanimous decision. Borg moves another step up the flyweight latter, while Herrera proved he can hang with top competition.
The second fight of the night featured a women’s bantamweight fight between Sara McMann and Amanda Nunes. McMann was looking to get back on track for another title shot, while Nunes wanted to make her own climb up the divisions latter. Nunes, being the underdog, stopped McMann’s takedown attempts, and landed heavy shots on the feet. Nunes found an opening and submitted McMann in the first round via rear-naked choke. It was a huge win for Nunes who trains out of American Top Team, and puts her in the title shot mix.
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The third fight of the night featured heavyweight prospects Jared Rosholt and Timothy Johnson. Rosholt, being the greatest heavyweight wrestler in Oklahoma State history, wanted to get the fight to the mat, and Johnson with the clear size advantage needed to keep the fight standing and look for heavy boxing combinations. Rosholt constantly pressured Johnson into the cage for the entire fight. When Johnson had room to break, he seemed too willing to play into Rosholt’s grappling game, constantly getting his position against the cage reversed by Rosholt. Johnson landed some big punches in the closing moments of the fight, which hurt Rosholt badly. Instead of trying to finish Rosholt standing, Johnson took him down which might have cost him the fight. Rosholt moved on to win by unanimous decision, and he’ll certainly get a step up in competition for his next fight. Johnson goes back to the drawing board, and will have some time to prove himself within the division.
The fourth fight on the main card saw number fifteen-ranked middleweight Derek Brunson take on Sam Alvey. Brunson wanted to keep moving up the middleweight ladder, while Alvey wanted to prove he should be one of the top middleweights in the world. Both guys have extremely heavy hands, and Alvey was coming off of three straight knockout wins. Brunson played right into Alvey’s game plan, trading punches on the feet with Alvey from the opening bell. Brunson landed several big shots on the feet which hurt Alvey. Just as it looked like Brunson was getting a little too careless with his combinations, he landed a big shot that turtled Alvey. He then followed it up with more unanswered punches on the ground causing referee Mario Yamasaki to step in and call the fight. It could be considered somewhat of an early stoppage, but Alvey was very wobbly after standing up. Look for Brunson to get a top ten-ranked opponent next, and Alvey to get somewhat of a step down in competition.
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The co-main event of the night saw the number five-ranked lightweight, and red-hot Michael Johnson take on rising prospect and number twelve-ranked Beneil Dariush, and it ended in big controversy. Johnson pushed the pace from the start landing very nice boxing combinations, and even dropping Dariush in the opening round. The second round saw more of the same as Johnson used great octagon control to cut Dariush off, and made him pay with big punches on the feet. The third round saw Dariush finally get into a rhythm as he landed some very nice counter punches when Johnson began to reach on his combinations. The first two rounds definitely saw Johnson do the most damage, and the third round could have gone either way. In the end, it was Dariush who got his hand raised, earning the split-decision win on the judge’s scorecards. Even Dariush was surprised by the decision, and Johnson was visibly upset seen storming out of the cage. Even UFC President Dana White expressed his disbelief in the fact that Dariush won the fight. Expect to see the same level of competition for Dariush in his next fight, and expect Johnson to get a top ten-ranked opponent.
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The main event of the night saw number four-ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira take on the number six-ranked light heavyweight in Ovince Saint Preux. Teixeira was looking to get back on track for another title shot having coming off two straight losses, and Saint Preux was looking to make his claim for being in the light-heavyweight title contention mix. Teixeira used great wrestling to take Saint Preux down at will, and used great ground and pound once he had Saint Preux down. Saint Preux utilized very hard body kicks, even hurting Teixeira with one early in the fight. Every time Saint Preux seemed to get something going, Teixeira would counter with a big takedown. The takedowns proved to be too much for Saint Preux, as Teixeira put Saint Preux to sleep in the third round with a rear-naked choke after Saint Preux refused to tap. Expect to see Teixeira get another top ten light heavyweight, and expect to see Saint Preux get another chance at high-level competition.
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