HERMANSSON vs SCOTT
European middleweights clashed in the Octagon at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City Saturday night, with Norway’s Jack Hermansson scoring a first-round stoppage of England’s Brad Scott that earned “The Joker” his second consecutive knockout win.
Looking to implement his ground game, Hermansson got his wish with a takedown in the second minute, and from there, Scott had no answers, as he was flattened out and then subjected to a series of unanswered ground strikes that left referee Bladimir Puga no choice but to stop the fight at the 3:50 mark of round one.
ORTIZ vs SANDOVAL
No. 12-ranked flyweight contender Dustin Ortiz scored the fastest finish in UFC flyweight history, stopping Hector Sandoval in 15 seconds.
Sandoval was looking to brawl as the bout began, and while he caught Ortiz with a couple hard shots, the equalizer was Ortiz’ right hand, which put Sandoval to a knee. Another right followed and the Uruapan native hit the deck face first. Three more hammerfists followed and referee Jerin Valel called a stop to the fight.
Franklin, Tennessee’s Ortiz moves to 17-7 with the win; Sandoval falls to 14-4.
YAHYA vs BRIONES
Bantamweight submission wizard Rani Yahya showed off his ground game once again when he faced Henry Briones, forcing the Mexico native to tap out in the first round.
Yahya got it to the mat in the opening mat and quickly went hunting for submissions, first a choke, then a kimura, and it was the kimura that hit paydirt, with Briones tapping out at the 2:01 mark.
Brasilia’s Yahya moves to 24-9 with 1 NC; Tijuana’s Briones falls to 19-7-1.
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QUINONEZ vs RIVAS
In a meeting of former TUF Latin America cast mates, Jose Quinonez shut out Diego Rivas over three rounds.
All three judges saw the bantamweight bout 30-27.
Quinonez (7-2) was in control from the start and he never yielded that control to Chile’s Rivas (7-1), who was fighting for the first time since a 2016 bout with cancer.
Primarily using a slick stick and move attack, Zacatecas’ Quinonez did show off some impressive ground-and-pound work in the second, and in the third, his ground defense was sharp as he held off Rivas’ last attempts at turning the fight around.
MORALES vs SANCHEZ
Highly touted Team Alpha Male product Joseph Morales lived up to the hype in his UFC debut submitting fellow debutant Roberto Sanchez in a clash of unbeaten flyweight prospects.
Sanchez got a takedown 30 seconds into the fight and was able to control the action there until the midway point of the round, when Morales rose and then knocked Sanchez down with a left-right. Morales chased after the knockout, but he ended up winning the fight on the ground, as he sunk in a rear naked choke that forced Sanchez to tap out at 3:56 of round one.
Sacramento’s Morales improves to 9-0; Houston’s Sanchez falls to 7-1.
RINALDI vs HERRERA
Lightweight veteran Jordan Rinaldi picked up his first UFC win in the opener, quickly submitting Alvaro Herrera.
Rinaldi nearly got caught himself as he went to the mat after getting briefly rocked. But after the Charlotte product escaped a choke by Herrera, he sunk in his own Von Flue choke that produced a tap out at 2:01 of the opening frame.
Rinaldi moves to 13-5 with the win, Guadalajara’s Herrera falls to 9-5
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