Fight fans were treated to a wonderful evening of high-octane MMA action at the UFC on Fox 15 event on Saturday night.
In the main event, former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold produced a phenomenal performance against former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida.
Rockhold thrusted himself into the title frame by submitting the UFC legend halfway through the second round after rocking him with numerous punches and elbows and the ground. The winner of Weidman vs Belfort awaits.
Rockhold’s fellow middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza also made a case for himself being handed a title shot in the co-main event. The Brazilian made light work of Yoel Romero’s late replacement Chris Camozi and eventually forced the tap with an armbar.
Remember Max Holloway? He took by far the biggest scalp of his career on Saturday night by finishing top-ranked featherweight Cub Swanson. The young Hawaiian fighter locked in a guillotine choke in the final stanza to grab the victory and a lucrative Performance of the Night bonus.
Ovince Saint Preux had a tough time dealing with Patrick Cummins’ takedowns in their preliminary card bout. However, he managed to unload a holy haymaker from hell to get the early finish against the man who once claimed to make Daniel Cormier cry.
OSP landed a beautiful uppercut on the button to send his opponent crashing down to the canvas and followed it up with a barrage of punches to earn the TKO win.
Gian Villante handed Corey Anderson his first professional loss with perhaps the knockout of the night. He countered a wild punch from the man with the unfortunate “Beastin’ 25/8” moniker with a powerful overhand right.
The solid strike landed flush on the button and caused Anderson to stagger backwards towards the fence, where Villante followed and pummelled him until the ref had seen enough.
Rising star Aljamain Sterling maintained his pristine professional record with a stellar submission over veteran fighter Takeya Mazugaki on the opening fight of the prelims. Sterling secured a rare arm-triangle from the bottom to get the win.
Tim Means also showed that he means business with the other arm-triangle choke finish on the card against George Sullivan.
