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The UFC 228 event kicked off with a lot of drama. After weeks of speculation, and avoiding questions, Darren Till not only cleared the required weight for his Championship Fight against Woodley, his weight was one pound less that he even had to lose. If that was not a statement of intent from the challenger, then there has not been a clearer statement made so far.
The drama was even more intensified when the Champion himself came up one pound higher than the required weight for the Championship bout at 171 pounds. Out came the towel, and thankfully for him after the second weigh-in, he made the weight at exactly 170 pounds.
The weigh-ins saw the co-main event for the night canceled, as Nicco Montano withdrew from proceedings, being admitted to the hospital for medical problems with her kidney. Valentina Shevchenko made a statement of her own as she made the weight, despite the absence of an opponent. Nicco Montano was stripped of the UFC Women's Flyweight Title. Due to the cancellation of the fight, the fight between John Dodson and Jimmie Rivera, which had been originally planned for the Prelims, made the move up to the main card of the night.
The night also featured, what was essentially a Number One Contenders fight between Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. The Featherweight fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and the replacement for Yair Rodriguez, Brandon Davis, also drew the attention of the fans, as Magomedsharipov was expected to demolish the comparatively untested Davis in the early going.
You can see the Weigh-ins recap here:
Before moving onto the detailed results from the Prelims and Main Card for the night, the results from the Early Preliminary Rounds are detailed below.
Undercard: Early Prelims UFC 228 Results -
#1 Jarred Brooks vs. Roberto Sanchez - Jarred Brooks defeated Roberto Sanchez by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
#2 Irene Aldana vs. Lucie Pudilova - Irene Aldana defeated Lucie Pudilova via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
#3 Jim Miller vs. Alex White - Jim Miller defeated Alex White via Submission (Rear Naked Choke - Round 1, 1 minute and 29 seconds)
#4 Diego Sanchez vs. Craig White - Diego Sanchez defeated Craig White via Unanimous Decision (30-27 *3)
Undercard: Prelims UFC 228 Results -
The Prelims for UFC 228 came after a fiery Early Prelims had already ignited the crowd. The Irene Aldana fight, as well as the Jim Miller fight, did not disappoint, as Jim Miller made history by becoming the first-ever UFC Fighter to have fought in 30 separate fights. This win also brought his own personal win record up to just one short of 30, with the record of 29-12.
Let us now dive into what happened in the Prelims for UFC 228.
#1 Charles Byrd vs. Darren Stewart - UFC 228 Results:
The Prelims kicked off with Charles Byrd taking on Darren Stewart early in the night. The night looked like a sure win for Byrd, as 'Kid Dynamite launched a flurry of attacks and strikes on Stewart early on in the night.
The second round looked like it would go in the same way, as Byrd dominated proceeding from early on. At one point it looked like things were over for Stewart as he struggled to either stop Byrd or even come up with a counter. However, when Darren Stewart did show up, there was no stopping him. He hit Byrd with a sudden elbow, staggering him. He followed up and continued the assault, with Byrd being unable to cover-up.
The fight ended when Stewart hit 'Kid Dynamite' with a right hand to the side of the head. Just like that, the fight was over 2 minutes and 17 seconds into the second round.
Results: Darren Stewart defeated Charles 'Kid Dynamite' Byrd via TKO (2nd Round, 2 minutes and 17 seconds).
#2 Geoff Neal vs. Frank Camacho - UFC 228 Results:
Geoff Neal and Frank Camacho squared off for the second fight of the prelims. Frank Camacho was the underdog for the fight, and the viewing audience soon found out why this was so.
Neal was fast out of his corner with a flurry, and his counter left head kick stopped any offence that Camacho was mounting in its tracks. Neal hit Camacho with vicious strikes at the end of the first round, but to everyone's surprise, Camacho survived.
His survival of the first round would not amount to much, however. In the second round, Neal not only stopped a Takedown, he hit Camacho with big punches, before ending him with a huge head kick 1 minute and 23 seconds into the second round. The fight was a pure show of class from Geoff Neal, as he dominated his opponent throughout.
Result: Geoff Neal defeated Frank Camacho via KO (2nd Round, 1 minute and 23 seconds)
#3 Aljamain Sterling vs. Cody Stamann - UFC 228 Results:
Aljamain 'Funk Master' Sterling faced off against Cody Stamann in the penultimate Prelim fight of the night. He looked strong with a few strikes, but his takedown attempt was blocked by Stamann.
Stamann and Sterling clinched up and both landed blows, but it was Stamann who ended the first round on a strong note, taking down Sterling.
The second round was a whole different story as Sterling pushed Stamann from the very beginning of the round. He looked like he had control of the proceedings, and Stamann struggled just to get to his feet, eating hard knees when he finally did. Sterling mounted him and hit him with hard shots, before locking in the Full Nelson.
He finally locked in the Kneebar from the back and forced Stamann to tap out.
Results: Aljamain Sterling defeated Cody Stamann via Submission (Kneebar, 2nd Round, 3 minutes and 42 seconds).
#4 Carla Esparza vs. Tatiana Suarez - UFC 228 Results:
Carla Esparza faced off against the favorite, Tatiana Suarez, in the final Prelim Fight of the night. Suarez towered over Esparza, and with her greater reach did not look like she was fighting in the Strawweight Category.
Tatiana Suarez gave a lesson in wrestling and grappling in the final fight of the night. She proved that there was no one else who could have been the favorite. She grounded and pounded Esparza, and bloodied her over her right eye due to elbows.
The second round saw Esparza put up better resistance, but it was to no avail. However, Suarez had her number and took her to the ground and controlled proceedings yet again with elbows and punches.
The third round saw a more tired Suarez try to make a dent, and she did exactly that. Only 30 seconds before the third round ran out, Suarez won with the TKO via elbows.
Result: Tatiana Suarez defeated Carla Esparza via TKO (3rd Round, 4 minutes and 33 seconds).
UFC 228 Main Card Results:
The Prelims were exciting with only 3 fight going to a decision out of eight, in both the Fight Pass and FX Prelims combined. The others ended in 3 Knock Outs, and 2 Submissions.
#1 Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Niko Price - UFC 228 Results:
Abdul Razak Alhassan and Niko Price had a quick fight to open up the main card on the UFC 228 Card in the Welterweight Division.
Abdul Razak Alhassan continued his first round knock out records at only 43 seconds of the very first round. He did not move back from Niko Price's attack and knocked him down with a left hook. He then hit three big blows to the face to pick up the win.
Result: Abdul Razak Alhassan defeated Niko Price via Knock Out (1st Round, 43 Seconds).
#2 Jimmie Rivera vs. John Dodson - UFC 228 Results:
John Dodson is no longer the John Dodson of old, but he tried to get back some of the momentum that he had earlier in his career, when he took on Jimmie Rivera.
In the second main card fight of the night, Dodson and Rivera faced off, with both of them looking to bounce back into the top tier of UFC.
Dodson jumped into the fight headfirst, as he hit Rivera with big strikes. He blocked a big kick and almost took Rivera down. The first round ended with Dodson shaving slowed down a bit, and Rivera having landed a few telling blows.
Both men looked better matched in the early parts of the second round. The action was interrupted when it looked like Jimmie Rivera landed a groin shot. The action resumed, with the dislike between the two fighters becoming more and more evident. The round came to an end with the two in a stalemate.
Round three started with Dodson getting hit with a quick shot. Both men exchanged quick and hard blows. Dodson spent most of the early part of the round dodging, with Rivera in control. Dodson lost the advantage himself when he let Rivera have complete Octagon control. Dodson and Rivera clinched up in the last few seconds, with Rivera getting hit with a lot of body shots, but it was too little too late.
Result: Jimmie Rivera defeated John Dodson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27. 29-28).
#3 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Brandon Davis - UFC 228 Results:
Zabit Magomedsharipov was supposed to face Yair Rodriguez, unfortunately, it did not end up happening, after an injury resulted in him pulling out of the fight. Instead, a volunteer stepped up to fill in at the last minute. Brandon Davis showed incredible courage to take part in the fight despite having had almost no time to prepare.
Zabit and Brandon Davis tested each other early on in the first round of the fight, to see what they were each capable of. Zabit looked like he was trying to take out Davis' legs, with numerous inside and outside leg kicks. Despite being the underdog by a huge margin, Davis looked better than anyone had given him credit for. Zabot looked to get on top of Davis with a sudden grapple and slammed him down with a belly to back slam. He continued with a left hook to the body as the round came to an end.
Early in the second round, Zabit took Davis down and tried to gain control of him. Davis tried and tried but could not get free. After a huge struggle for more than half of the round could separate. Zabit wasted no time and took him down again, with the back mount. Zabit hit him with punches and soon enough he was able to get in the reverse kneebar. Davis tapped out, handing Magomedsharipov yet another win.
Result: Zabit Magomedsharipov defeated Brandon Davis via Submission (Kneebar, 2nd Round, 3 minutes and 46 seconds)
#4 Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz - UFC 228 Results:
Jessica Andrade entered the match as the favourite, while Karolina Kowalkiewicz was also coming in from a huge win. The winner of this fight between the two women in the Strawweight Division was essentially the Number One contender for the title.
Jessica Andrade came out with a huge flurry of strikes right out of the gate. She had Karolina pinned to a corner of the ring, but Karolina was able to come back soon with strikes of her own taking advantage of her superior reach.
The end came fast, though, when Jerrica Andrade landed a huge right followed by a left, knocking out Karolina Kowalkiewicz. The right was enough, and that's all it took to end the fight in less than 2 minutes.
Result: Jessica Andrade defeated Karolina Kowalkiewicz via Knockout (1st Round, 1 minute and 58 seconds).
#5 Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till - UFC 228 Results:
With the entirety of UFC 228 having only four fights make it to a decision, the final fight of the night was expected to be much of the same. There were a lot of expectations heading into the match, with Darren Till the favorite, and the champion actually being the underdog. The Liverpool native had a lot to prove, as he could solidify his status as a top-tier fighter, while Woodley looked to prove that he was indeed a champion worthy of the title.
The bout started off slow, with both fighters testing each other out. The two clinched and Woodley tried to land quite a few direct shots to the face.
The second round did not start off well for Till. Woodley was able to take him down after a huge right shot to the face and hit him with punch after punch to the head. Despite that, Till did not give up, as he kept the guard up. He tried to bring in Woodley close to him to avoid the knockout, but Woodley continued to hit him with Punch and Elbow.
The match came to an end when Woodley locked in the D'Arce Choke. After all the punches and suffering on the ground for over three minutes, it was all Till could take. He finally tapped out and Tyron Woodley got the win.
Till showed off his ability to have survived as long as he did.
Result: Tyron Woodley defeated Darren Till and retained his Welterweight Championship via Submission (D'Arce Choke, 2nd Round, 4 minutes and 19 seconds).
Let us know what you thought of UFC 228! Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
