Action starts at 8 pm ET
In a pivotal welterweight battle featuring two of the sport’s toughest, Robbie Lawler and Rafael Dos Anjos delivered on the promise of their matchup. Content to stand and trade for two full rounds, it was RDA coming away with more strikes, including a sustained flurry that kept Lawler against the fence, where it might have ended had Lawler not gotten a hand up. Both fighters began to visibly tire in the third, with Lawler sustaining two extended takedowns and RDA taking some body damage against the fence. Despite not being able to duck some heavy swings from Lawler, it was RDA who continued to win the strike battle, and landed a brutal knee to Lawler’s head as time expired in the fourth. Gassed but still striking into the final round, both fighters displayed the grit and the chin that has become their collective trademark. In the end it was RDA’s strikes that won the day and sealed the decision win. Official result: Dos Anjos defeats Lawler by unanimous decision (50-45).THEY SAID IT:
Rafael Do Anjos: “I am so happy. I have been doing this for so long and tonight was a real pleasure. Robbie Lawler is a legend and my hands are hurting. I was confident in my conditioning. I feel like he had a very tough head so I started working the body. I feel like I’ve gotten better and I credit my coaches. In my opinion, I just beat the toughest guy in the division and I think I’ve earned the title shot. I am 3-0 in this division and a former champion. I have earned my shot at Tyron Woodley and I will be champion of this division.”
Josh Emmett controlled this bout from the start, eluding several jabs from Lamas and landing several solid overhand rights. It was a brutal left to the chin, however, that KO’d Lamas and kept him on the mat for an uncomfortable amount of time following the fight. Official result: Emmett defeats Lamas by KO, 1st round, 4:33THEY SAID IT:
Josh Emmett: “I shocked the world… well, the world except my coaches, teammates, friends and family. They know how hard I’ve worked to get to this point and none of them are surprised but I certainly understand the magnitude of what just happened. That’s why I feel so bad about missing weight. All through wrestling in school, college and all my fights, I’ve never missed weight. It will never happen again and I apologize. The fight was fought at my pace. I was waiting to pick my shot. That is an exchange that I drill all the time so it came natural but I had to find it first. I studied a lot of tape with my coaches and Urijah [Faber] and we tried to watch for patterns. My goal is to be the best in the world and I want to fight for the title. I know I may need another fight first but, I’m just saying, I have no problem with going to Hawaii if Max Holloway needs an opponent. Otherwise, I’ll fight anybody the UFC puts in front of me.”
Low leg kicks worked early for Ponzinibbio, but when he switched to pressure, Perry made him pay with a couple right hands that briefly knocked Ponzinibbio to the mat. Both fighters stood and traded for the entire second round with momentum swinging back and forth, bloodying each others’s faces, with the edge going to Ponzinibbio. Despite plenty of damage from both fighters, Ponzinibbio crashed Perry hard to the mat three times in the third round, and it was good enough for the decision win in a fight absolutely nobody thought would go the distance. Official result Ponzinibbio defeats Perry by UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
In a first round that looked like it was going to belong to Cirkunov after delivering some brutal combinations early, the veteran Teixeira scored a takedown and Cirkunov somehow managed to survive a choke attempt, Teixeira’s punches from the top sealed the TKO victory. Official result: Teixeira def Cirkunov, TKO, First Round 2:45THEY SAID IT:
Glover Teixeira: “I felt his punches and I didn’t think much of the power. There was a good one that stunned me a bit but nothing too serious. I think people underestimate my jiu-jitsu and wrestling because they know I have the knockout power but grappling is a real passion for me. So, once I grabbed him, I was able to take the top position and flatten him out. Next, I want [Daniel] Cormier. I am the next in line for whoever wins that fight. If Gustafsson wasn’t injured, he would be the next in line, but I am the one here and I’ll be ready for whoever wins the fight between Cormier and Volkan Oezdemir.”
Action starts at 5pm ET
Both fighters seemed content to stand and trade at a patient pace in the first round, with the edge going to Blachowicz and his well-timed leg kicks. Blachowicz took his opponent to the mat three times in the second round, with the second doing the most visible damage. Cannonier pressed forward throughout the third round, although the strategy had him eating as well as delivering pinches. Blachowicz scored another takedown in the final minute in the round, delivering a few more blows to seal the unanimous decision win. Official result: Blachowicz def Cannonier by UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)THEY SAID IT:
Jan Blachowicz : “Things went very well for me tonight. I was able to land a lot more strikes and did a lot more damage. That’s because I tried to push him into fighting my style. There are things that I would’ve liked to do better. I should’ve thrown more right hands and I probably would’ve finished the fight but he’s a very dangerous fighter with a lot of power so you have to be careful. Fighting someone like him, everything can change in one punch. I am going to go home and spend the holidays with my family, then I want to fight on the London card. I heard that Michael Bisping wants to retire in London so maybe he will want to do it at light heavyweight against me.”
From the jump, this was a pure brawl with Steward delivering damage with his hands and Marquez returning the favor with a series of knees and elbows to the head. Both fighters took a stultifying amount of head damage in the short time they were in The Octagon before Marquez was able to sneak in a guillotine choke that not only got Stewart to tap, but kept him on the ground for several minutes following the fight. As is his practice, Marquez kneeled on the mat until Stewart was able to get back to his feet. Official result: Marquez def Stewart by SUB, 2nd Round, 2:42
It was one round told in two chapters. Laprise overcame an early knockdown and near-TKO to return the favor to Bofando, dropping him to the mat and finishing him with some furious ground and pound. Third win of the night for the Canadians. Official result: Laprise def. Bofando, TKO first round, 4:10.THEY SAID IT:
Chad Laprise:“It feels amazing to be here in Canada and get a great win like that. He caught me early but I knew how to neutralize him on the ground and eventually came back and got the finish. My gameplan was to stay away from him as much as I could and that’s why. He’s a powerful fighter. Now, I’m going to go home and celebrate the holidays with my family but my goal is to be back in the Octagon by late winter or spring. Names don’t matter to me… I’ll fight whoever Sean Shelby tells me is next. That is three straight knockouts though and I’ll be looking to make it four.”
The second win for the home country of Canada tonight as Taleb drops Danny Roberts with a stunning head kick-elbow combination for the KO. Official result: Taleb def Roberts by KO, first round, :59.THEY SAID IT:
Nordine Taleb: “This was the exact plan we envisioned. I worked on that throughout my entire camp so it was beautiful to see it play out. I hope for the Performance of the Night bonus. I think I earned it. I knew I needed to make a statement tonight because I am not the type of fighter to make up a character. I just want to show up and put on a great show for the fans. I was considering moving to middleweight but I felt great there tonight. Now, I will go home and enjoy the holidays before I plot what is next for me.”
Some early movement as the fighters feel each other out is interrupted by an eye poke against Trujillo that stops the first round a couple minutes as he recovers. As action resumes, fighters trade jabs in the center of the mat, with Makdessi landing the harder shots and dropping Trujillo. Makdessi remains standing until Trujillo gets back to his feet and the exchanges resume until the round is stopped yet again, this time from a groin kick by Makdessi on Trujillo. An overhand right by Trujillo punctuates the end of the first round. Second round features some even kicks and punch exchanges at the center of The Octagon until Trujillo appears to be sustaining more damage and moving to the outside. Makdessi steadily marches down on Trujillo landing plenty of head shots. The third round starts with some aggression by Trujillo, landing some shots until Makdessi’s counter knocks him to the mat. Makdessi continues to walk down Trujillo, landing punches automatically, but eating plenty in the process. Trujillo gets Makdessi against the fence but is unable to jab or get Makdessi to the mat. Both fighters are visibly wounded, and continue engaging with Makdessi landing plenty of leg kicks before the buzzer. Official result: John Makdessi def. Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)THEY SAID IT:
John Makdessi: “I was surprised that he stayed so composed but that was the only surprise tonight. It was all hard work with Duke Roufus and my new team. I wanted to change some things, create more dynamic striking and that’s what we did. My approach was rooted in old-school point karate and I think it went very well. I don’t have any names in mind for my next opponent, that’s all up to the coaches. We will go back, start working and figure out who makes the most sense.”
Fight begins with a lot of movement from both fighters, Di Chirico attempting serveal body kicks, landing a few. Bamgbose patiently awaits his opportunity for strikes and dots his opponent’s right eye with a jab. The movement continues with both fighters being selective about taking shots, and Bamgbose surving a takedown attempt at the buzzer. The second round continues with more movement and Di Chirico attempting engagement, landing a few head shots on Bamgbose and eventually getting him against the fence where he lands a knee to Bamgbose’s head that results in a KO.THEY SAID IT:
Alessio Di Chirico : “It was an incredible moment to finish the fight that way. I knew that I needed to make a statement. I was just looking for the right moment out there and, when I found it, I ended the fight. I just want to keep getting better and finish the fights I take to show where I belong. It does not matter who the opponent is.”
Mein was the aggressor early, marching down Silva until Silva put him on the fence. As the fight moved around The Octagon, both fighters kept mostly to their feet while standing and trading, with Mein connecting on the majority of his shots, drawing blood on Silva’s forehead. In round two, Mein got the better of a takedown, landing a flurry of elbows from the top position. Mein kept the pressure on, landing occasional shots and thwarting Silva’s attempts to get back to his feet until the final seconds of the round. The third round saw Silva landing a few head shots in an attempt to make up for the previous rounds before another takedown that saw Mein repeat his attack from the top, landing a series of body shots on Silva, while escaping several choke attempts. Mein secured a choke in the waning seconds, but not long enough to successfully submit Silva before the buzzer.THEY SAID IT:
Jordan Mein : “It feels great to be back in the win column, especially doing that here in Canada. [Silva] is a very tough guy and I was surprised by how strong he was but I knew I had done a lot more in there so I felt confident I had the win. Everything felt like it came together. I want to get back in the gym and keep getting better. I want to always fight like I did tonight. I left it all in the cage and I need to do that in every fight. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and I can’t wait to be back in the Octagon.”
