The UFC was in Denver with a Number One Contender’s fight in the women’s Bantamweight division headlining the card which was stacked with fun fights.
The main event between Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena ended in the second round with Shevchenko securing an unlikely armbar submission finish. Pena began the fight by immediately clinching and pushing Shevchenko up against the fence.
Pena threw knees to the body in the clinch before Shevchenko grabbed one and swept Pena, ending up in side control. Pena got up straight away and soon they were in the same clinch position and Shevchenko again hit that same sweep as Pena threw a knee to the body.
This time Shevchenko managed to keep Pena down, but the latter transitioned to her guard and attempted an armbar but ran out of time.
The second round began in the same way with Pena pushing Shevchenko up against the fence, this time she was able to get a takedown, although it took a lot of work. Shevchenko, who is known primarily as a striker, threw her legs up and grabbed an armbar. Pena tried to step over but she was forced to tap.
Amanda Nunes came into the Octagon after the fight to face off with Shevchenko, who will more than likely be her next challenger.
In the co-main event, Jorge Masvidal scored the biggest win of his career to date over Donald Cerrone. Cerrone was looking to land kicks from the outside, while Masvidal had the edge when it came to boxing.
The first round was close and competitive with both men scoring and then in the last ten seconds of the round Masvidal landed a huge punch on Cerrone which sent him to his back.
Masvidal followed up with hard shots and it looked as though Herb Dean had stopped the fight at the bell, he had in fact been signalling the of the round. Cerrone never really recovered. He came out for the second round but still looked groggy and Masvidal caught him with a counter right hook and dropped him again.
Cerrone managed to stand back up but he was trapped against the cage and eating a barrage of body shots, which forced Herb Dean to step in and end the fight. In his post-fight interview, he said that he has $200k that says that the President couldn’t find an opponent who could beat him.
Francis Ngannou knocked out Andrei Arlovski in the first round in a Heavyweight clash. The fight was cagey in the beginning with Arlovski keeping the distance with some kicks. Eventually, as Arlovski lunged forward to attack, he ran into a huge right hand from Ngannou that sent him flying to the canvas. He added a few follow-up shots to a balled up Arlovski and the referee stepped in to end the fight.
In the opening fight of the main card, Jason Knight submitted Alex Caceres in the second round. After a close first round, Knight got Caceres to the ground with a judo throw in the clinch and then took Caceres’ back in the ensuing scramble.
Knight began to work for a rear naked choke but Caceres defended, so he rained down elbows and punches until he saw an opening and applied the choke again, this time he got the tap. He used his post-fight interview to call out Doo Ho Choi, which would be an excellent fight to make.
Full Results:
Main card
Valentina Shevchenko beat Julianna Pena in the second round via submission (armbar)Jorge Masvidal beat Donald Cerrone via TKO in the second roundFrancis Ngannou beat Andrei Arlovski by TKO in the first roundJason Knight beat Alex Caceres via submission in the second round (RNC)
Prelims
Sam Alvey beat Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision Raphael Assuncao beat Aljamain Sterling by split decision Li Jingliang beat Bobby Nash by TKO in the second roundJordan Johnson beat Luis Henrique da Silva by unanimous decisionEric Spicely beat Alessio Di Chirico by submission in the first roundMarcos Rogerio de Lima beat Jeremy Kimball by TKO in the first round
Fight Pass Prelims
Alexandre Pantoja beat Eric Shelton by split decision Jason Gonzalez beat J.C. Cottrell by submission (D'arce choke)
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