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#4. Aljamain Sterling's second round against Petr Yan
Petr Yan was expected to win in his rematch against Aljamain Sterling. 'No Mercy' lost his bantamweight title to Sterling after throwing an illegal knee in their UFC 259 meeting. The illegal strike would land flush and subsequently, a disqualification switched the title-holder from Yan to Sterling.
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The rematch had fans and fighters assuming that the Russian would pick up where he left off, which was dominating 'Funk Master'. That wasn't the case, however. Although the 29-year-old challenger is a notoriously slow starter, the first round was very close. Following this was one of Sterling's career-best rounds.
The champion took his opponent's back and couldn't help but smile as he knew that all the nay-sayers would be biting their nails as he got to work. Perfect back control had Yan in a constant uphill battle to advance position whilst defending submissions. Sterling even rained down some brutal ground and pound that lit up the Floridian crowd. As close as the the outcome was, it's worth noting that round two could've easily been a 10-8 round for Sterling. Regardless, the belt stayed with the New Yorker.
#3. Mackenzie Dern's second round vs. Tecia Torres
Following a ridiculously close first round, jiu jitsu expert Mackenzie Dern turned up the offense for a highly entertaining second round. Tecia Torres has only lost to the best of the division. Had she won against Dern, she would have had a great case for throwing her name into the next title fight. Dern, however, still feels that she needs one or two more fights before she should have a grab at the belt.
Knowing that Torres was on track for the title made Dern's performance and win all the better. As the second round began, the grappling phenom imposed her style of fight. A slick attempt at the kimura submission forced 'The Tiny Tornado' to focus solely on surviving the round rather than winning it.
The constant submission threat had the crowd on its feet for almost the entirety of the round. Although the finish never materialized, the round was quite the moral victory for Dern, showing that she's still threatening at this level of competition.
