UFC 248 Results

In the bantamweight opener, Mongolia’s Danaa Batgerel earned his first UFC victory, knocking out Guido Cannetti in the first round.
 
Both fighters were leaving nothing to chance in the opening stages of the fight, with each landed strike making an audible thump. But ultimately, it was Danaa hitting paydirt with a flush left hook that dropped Cannetti. The Argentina native attempted to cover up, but after a series of unanswered blows, referee Chris Tognoni had seen enough, stopping the fight at 3:01 of round one.
 
With the win, Danaa moves to 7-2. Cannetti falls to 8-6.

Danaa Batgerel finishes Guido Cannetti for his first UFC victory.

Georgia’s Giga Chikadze won a hard-fought three-round split decision over Octagon newcomer Jamall Emmers in their featherweight bout.
 
Scores were 29-28 twice and 28-29 for Georgia’s Chikadze, now 9-1. Emmers falls to 17-5.
 
Chikadze scored a flash knockdown of Emmers with a right hand in the opening minute, and while the Californian rose, unhurt, the rest of the first round remained on the feet, where Chikadze maintained control from long range.
 
In the second minute of round two, Emmers got the fight where he wanted it, as he took Chikadze to the mat. Midway through the round, Chikadze reversed position and then got back to his feet, but an inadvertent eye poke by Chikadze brought a momentary halt to the action. Once the fight resumed, Chikadze stayed standing but was slowing down by the end of the frame.
 
With Chikadze’s fatigue playing a part, a confident Emmers stayed in the pocket with the decorated kickboxer in the third round and then added a takedown and some ground-and-pound that secured the round, but not the fight.

Hear what Giga Chikadze had to say after earning a victory at UFC 248.

Gerald Meerschaert settled his score with middleweight rival Deron Winn, winning by submission in the third round.
 
Meerschaert began the fight with kicks, one straying low and bringing a momentary halt to the action. When the fight resumed, Winn swept Meerschaert to the canvas but let him back up, preferring to do work on the feet, where he got off some solid shots when he got his foe against the fence. In between, Meerschaert calmly worked his striking attack, using his height and reach advantage well, but Winn did draw first blood when he cut Meerschaert under the right eye.
 
It was a big second round for Meerschaert, who simply outworked Winn for the middle five minutes, scoring with a variety of strikes as he pushed his foe backward.
 
Winn rocked Meerschaert with a right hand in the opening minute or round three, but wasn’t able to capitalize. Meerschaert returned the favor moments later, and as Winn stumbled to the mat, the Milwaukee veteran took his foe’s back and sunk in the rear naked choke that produced a tap at 2:13 of the final frame.
 
With the win, Meerschaert moves to 30-12. Winn falls to 6-2.

Gerald Meerschaert talks backstage after his victory at UFC 248.

Watch Gerald Meerschaert submit Deron Winn to earn his victory at UFC 248.

Rodolfo Vieira once again showed off his world-class ground game in his middleweight bout with Saparbeg Safarov, winning via first-round submission.
 
Vieira got staggered in the opening minute of bout, prompting a takedown by the Brazilian. Safarov jumped back up immediately, but Vieira, his left eye now cut and swollen shut, put him back down and took his back. Safarov tried to stay in the fight, but Vieira adjusted his position, got the Russian in a head and arm choke, and that was what it took to get the tap at 2:58 of the first round.
 
With the win, Rio de Janeiro’s Vieira moves to 7-0. Safarov, who was making his middleweight debut, falls to 9-2. 

Watch Rodolfo Vieira submit Saparbeg Safarov with an arm triangle during their UFC 248 middleweight fight.

Lightweight prospect Mark O. Madsen kept his unbeaten record intact, but he had to hold off a late charge from Austin Hubbard before taking a close, but unanimous, decision.
 
Madsen (10-0) got some pop from the crowd for his suplex of Hubbard (11-4) in the opening minute of the fight, and while Hubbard fought to get back to his feet, the Dane kept him locked up against the fence. Just before the midway point of the frame, Hubbard got loose, with a little over two minutes remaining, it was back to the mat. Hubbard made it upright before the horn, but it was a clear round for “The Olympian.”
 
There was more of the same for Madsen in round two, but in the third, Hubbard surged as Madsen fatigued. A knee in the opening minute rocked Madsen, and Hubbard kept the pressure on throughout, but he ran out of time, with the three-time Olympian taking the win by identical scores of 29-28.

After two years away from the Octagon, “Sugar” Sean O’Malley returned in style, stopping Jose Quinonez in the first round of their bantamweight matchup.
 
O’Malley opened with a front kick to the body that briefly put Quinonez on the deck, but “Teco” was unhurt and back in the pocket with the Arizonan. That proved to be a mistake for Quinonez, who soon got rocked with a right head kick. An uppercut followed as Quinonez looked for a takedown, and after some ground strikes, O’Malley had his third UFC win, with referee Dan Miragliotta stepping in at 2:02 of the opening frame.
 
With the win, O’Malley moves to 11-0. Quinonez falls to 9-4.

An emotional Sean O’Malley talks about becoming a star and his triumphant return at UFC 248.

Sean O’Malley returns to the Octagon and finishes Jose Quinonez in Round 1 at UFC 248.

Welterweights Alex Oliveira and Max Griffin brought the heat in the main card opener, with Oliveira snapping a three-fight losing streak with a win via split decision.
 
Scores were 29-28 twice and 28-29 for Oliveira, now 20-8-1 with 2 NC. Griffin falls to 15-8.
 
Griffin rattled Oliveira just before the midway point of the first round, but the Brazilian locked up immediately, leading to a trip to the mat that saw Griffin controlling matters from the top position. Oliveira made it back to his feet late, only to be on the receiving end of another takedown in the closing seconds.
 
Oliveira got off to a fast start in round two, and after some hard kicks to the leg, he landed with an uppercut that cut Griffin, prompting a visit from the Octagonside physician.  After being cleared to continue, Griffin showed an extra level of urgency, but that kind of fight is the one Oliveira craves, and he performed accordingly.
 
Looking to pull away in the third, Oliveira took Griffin to the mat in the second minute, and his ground strikes from the mount opened the cuts even more, but with two minutes to go, the gutsy Griffin reversed position and began unloading his own strikes, but it wasn’t enough to take the fight on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

It was a triumphant return for welterweight standout Neil Magny, who came back from 16 months on the sidelines to shut out China’s Li Jingliang over three rounds.
 
Scores were 30-27 across the board.
 
Li looked for a takedown in the second minute of the fight, but when he wasn’t able to keep Magny grounded, it was back to the feet, where “The Leech” briefly rocked Magny with a right hand. Magny took it well and scored his own takedown, but Li rose fairly quickly and the back and forth action continued until a late charge by Magny.
 
Magny’s workrate with his strikes and his grappling game was giving Li fits in round two, and in the final 30 seconds he fired off a barrage of strikes and ended the flurry with a takedown just before the horn.
 
Li remained game and he tried to make a run early in the final round, but Magny wasn’t going to give any ground, and it was another dominant frame for the Coloradan, who improves to 22-8. Beijing’s Li falls to 17-6.

Coming Up Later On ESPN+

Coming Up Later On ESPN+

Coming Up Later On ESPN+