UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs Cutelaba Results

A knee by Nzechukwu rocked Cutelaba, and even when the Moldovan responded with a low kick, the Nigeria native wasn’t interested in a break. Instead, he kept the heat on his opponent, hurt him again, and after a series of unanswered blows, referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight. The official time was 1:02 of round two.

Nzechukwu moves to 11-3 with the win. Cutelaba falls to 16-9-1, 1 NC | Official Scorecards

Sherman had a good first round, digging kicks into his opponent’s legs and ending the round with a takedown. In between, Cortes Acosta began to find his rhythm, and he landed several solid blows on “The Vanilla Gorilla.”

Cortes Acosta wasted no time getting to work in the second, and he tagged Sherman with a series of hard shots. Sherman tried to shake everything off, but he couldn’t get out of the way of his foe’s punches. In the final minute, it looked like the fight was going to be stopped, but Sherman made it to the horn, and the gutsy Mississippi native survived the final five minutes as well, but this was Cortes Acosta’s night. | Official Scorecards

A spinning backfist by Salikhov stung Fialho in the second, and he kept the offense coming, with a spinning hook kick next. A right hand then jarred Fialho and the fight went to the mat, with Salikhov trying to end the bout with ground strikes, but the Portugal native weathered the storm and made it out of the round.

Salikhov wasn’t going to let it go to the judges, though, and after another spinning kick to the head early in the final round, referee Chris Tognoni had seen enough, and he halted the fight at the 1:03 mark.

Salikhov moves to 19-3 with the win. Fialho falls to 16-6, 1 NC. | Official Scorecards

Della Maddalena didn’t give Roberts a chance to breathe, feeding the veteran a steady diet of shots at long and close range. In the second minute, the Aussie scored a knockdown, but Roberts continued to hang tough. Roberts’ resilience didn’t deter Della Maddalena’s forward march, though, and after setting up his foe with body shots, he went upstairs, dropping and finishing the Brit. The time of referee Mark Smith’s stoppage was 3:24 of the first round.

Della Maddalena moves to 13-2 with the win. Roberts falls to 18-7. | Official Scorecards

Filled with a series of stoppages due to fouls, the bout appeared to be controlled by Zhumagulov due to a busy striking attack focusing on Johnson’s legs and body, but after another stoppage in the third due to a Johnson low blow, Zhumagulov was fatigued, and it gave Johnson a chance to surge down the stretch with the exception of a few moments when the St. Louis product bizarrely tried to stomp out the effects of a leg kick. | Official Scorecards

Moroz was busy with her strikes in the first round, but it was Maia countering perfectly with her right hand. Add in the Brazilian’s control in the clinch, and it was a clear frame for the veteran contender.

Adding urgency to her attack in the second, Moroz had more success, but Maia still couldn’t miss with the right hand, and her power was holding the edge over the activity level of the Ukrainian.

In the second minute of round three, Moroz briefly staggered Maia with a punch upstairs, but Maia wasn’t in danger for long, and the two proceeded to take turns trading shots until the final horn of an entertaining scrap. | Official Scorecards

There was more of the same in the second frame, but a takedown in the closing seconds by Johns may have gotten him the nod.

With the fight on the line in the third, both fighters upped their work rate for the final five minutes, each having their moments, but neither truly pulled away, leaving the result up to the judges. | Official Scorecards

Turcios took the first round behind a swarming and active ground attack, and there was more the same in the second before Natividad got a takedown of his own in the second minute. Not surprisingly, Turcios scrambled his way out of trouble, but a left hook from the Hawaiian put him right back there briefly. Turcios cleared his head and fired off his own strikes before another Natividad takedown that ended up with Turcios in control.

Natividad went all in for a choke to start the third, and when they rose, it was a knee to the jaw that put more points on his scorecard. Turcios shook it all off and kept the pace high, and Natividad didn’t back down, but in the closing minute, Turcios got his opponent’s back and used his strikes to open up a rear naked choke. Natividad got free, but ate more ground strikes until the final horn sounded. | Official Scorecards

After some tactical standup to start the fight, Demopoulos took Oliveira down midway through the first round, and in the closing minute she got into mount and fired off some hard elbows and punches, putting a stamp on the round.

Demopoulos added to her lead in the second with a knockdown and more ground-and-pound, and while Oliveira had her moments early in the third, the “Lil’ Monster” scored another takedown and kept the Brazilian grounded until a little over a minute remained. In those closing moments, Oliveira emptied the tank, but Demopoulos made it to the final horn. | Official Scorecards

Hiestand drilled Garcia with a pair of kicks to the head early in round two and followed up with a takedown midway through the frame. Garcia was upright with a little over a minute to go, and he went on the attack with his standup game briefly before more grappling exchanges.

Getting the fight to the mat at the start of the final round, Hiestand took Garcia’s back and kept the position for the rest of the round, securing his first UFC victory in the process. | Official Scorecards

Silva landed a hard right hand early in round two, but Bleda took it well and went back to the clinch briefly. Once separated, Silva landed another right, Bleda again shaking it off before initiating another grappling exchange. Silva wasn’t going to the mat, though, and she fired off shots on her tiring foe.

In the third, Silva put the heat on, and after a spinning back kick to the jaw dropped Bleda, a follow-up barrage of strikes brought in referee Chris Tognoni to halt matters at 1:27 of the final round.

With the win, Silva moves to 14-5-1. Bleda falls to 6-1. | Official Scorecards