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UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till never ceased to amaze as a top contender took another step closer to a title shot, a debutant made a statement and a flawless performance turned a promising fighter into the man to beat.
Derek Brunson took center stage on Saturday with a third-round submission win over fellow ranked middleweight contender Darren Till.
Brunson dominated the outing from the start. He displayed a lethal ground-and-pound game to claim a favorable result two minutes, 13 seconds into round three with a rear-naked choke.
Till did have his moments in the fight, but he failed to defend Brunson's takedown attempts. A damaged eye didn't support his cause either. Brunson, who is on a five-fight winning streak, called out the last man to beat him and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after the victory.
No.13-ranked heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall brushed aside Sergey Spivak in style. He used some elbows and punches to seal a first-round TKO win in the co-main event clash of UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till.
Aspinall opened the bout with some quick jabs and pushed his opponent into the cage. He then took total control and inflicted a few more heavy blows. A knee to the body and an elbow to the head from Aspinall took Spivak to the ground and he was unable to recover from it. The fight was over in just two minutes and 30 seconds.
Lightweight MMA sensation Paddy Pimblett opened the main card at UFC Vegas 36 with a splendid performance to beat Luigi Vendramini in his promotional debut.
Vendramini was initially all over Pimblett, but the Liverpool-based fighter mounted a comeback and shocked his rival with hard right-hand strikes before eventually winning. Immediately after the bout, Pimblett's countrywoman Molly McCann, who won her flyweight bout against Ji Yeon Kim in the prelims, joined in the celebrations.
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till main card results:
Derek Brunson def. Darren Till via submission [rear-naked choke] (2:13 of Round 3)
Tom Aspinall def. Sergey Spivak via TKO (2:30 of Round 1)
Alex Morono def. David Zawada via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Khalil Rountree Jr. def. Modestas Bukauskas via TKO (2:30 of Round 2)
Paddy Pimblett def. Luigi Vendramini via TKO (4:25 of Round 1)
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till prelims results:
Molly McCann def. Ji Yeon Kim via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Jack Shore def. Liudvik Sholinian via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Julian Erosa def. Charles Jourdain via submission [D'Arce choke] (2:56 of Round 3)
Marc-Andre Barriault def. Dalcha Lungiambula via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27 x 1)
