MMA Fighting brings you UFC 180 play-by-play and more for the Werdum vs. Hunt fight card. Tonight’s event is headlined by a fight between Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt for the UFC interim heavyweight title. This bout is scheduled for five, five-minute rounds. Also appearing on the main card are Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum, Ricardo Lamas vs. Dennis Bermudez, Augusto Montano vs. Chris Heatherly, and Edgar Garcia vs. Hector Urbina. Tonight’s fights take place at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.
This is the UFC 180 undercard live blog for the UFC 180 event at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City.
There will be six fights on the UFC 180 undercard. Yair Rodriguez vs. Leonardo Morales, Alejando Perez vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez, Jessica Eye vs. Leslie Smith, Gabriel Benitez vs. Humberto Brown, Enrique Briones vs. Guido Cannetti, and Marco Beltran vs. Marlon Vera will be featured on the prelims.
Check out the UFC 180 undercard live blog below.
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Yair Rodriguez vs. Leonardo Morales
Round 1: Alright folks, this is the last prelim of the night. TUF Latin America featherweight final on the line. Mario Yamasaki is our referee. Rodriguez comes out headhunting. Morales looks to stay on the outside and trade low kicks, but Rodriguez bulls into the clinch and trips him right into mount. Bad spot early. Morales gives up his back. Rodriguez has both hooks sunk in and begins hunting for a rear-naked. Morales sweeps and defends valiantly but finds himself caught in a tight armbar. He’s out. Rodriguez dives onto a leg and begins fishing for a leglock. No good, and we’re back to our feet. Rodriguez catches Morales with a spinning backfist, then just whiffs on a capoeira kick. Morales digs to the body and backs up Rodriguez. The crowd swells in support of Rodriguez, who cracks Morales hard with a looping combination. MMA Fghting scores the round 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round 2: Morales again looking to stay on the outside with low kicks, but Rodriguez bulls him into the clinch against the fence. Wish I knew what song this Mexican crowd was singing, because it sounds pretty amazing. Rodriguez against bulldozes Morales against the fence, and this time he dumps him down. Rodriguez unloads from top position with a huge looping shot, then advances into half guard. Wild scramble and we’re nearly stuck in 50/50 guard. Rodriguez sweeps and hunts for an arm, but Morales is staying heavy. Morales breaks free and starts unloading low kicks, only to find himself defending a leglock. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round 3:
Alejandro Perez vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez
Round 1: Bantamweight final for TUF: Latin America up next. Mexico vs. Mexico. These two men are very familiar with each other, having fought twice before. Quinonez won both times, so let’s see if he can make it three straight. “Big” John McCarthy is our referee. Perez attacks first with a low kick. Quinonez pressures him against the fence then releases to the center of the ring. Perez ducks under a looping hook and hunt for the takedown. Quinonez nearly gets his back in the scramble, but instead we’re back standing. Quinonez deftly catches a low kick and drives Perez to the mat, but can’t keep him there. The action slows as both men wait for their opening on the feet. Perez cracks Quinonez with a hard counter one-two. Perez follows with a high kick. The 10-second clacker sounds and they start slugging. Interesting round to score. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Perez.
Round 2: Measured approach from both men. Quinonez rips a hard knee into Perez’s jaw. Perez responds with a flurry that puts Quinonez on the retreat. Perez is feeling it now. Body kick from Perez. Quinonez dances away then charges forward with three straight punches. Perez shucks off a takedown attempt. They trade jabs. Quinonez lands, then pushes forward. Crazy action here as Quinonez runs after a retreating Perez then barely dodges a haymaker left. Perez calms down then lands a right. Good round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Quinonez. (19-19 draw.)
Round 3: The two friends embrace before the deciding round. And now they’re slugging! Wow. Huge looping shots coming from both men, and Perez gets Quinonez’s back in scramble! Quinonez breaks free from a rear-naked and an armbar to settle into top position. Perez tries to scramble free but can’t. Quinonez working on an arm triangle from half guard but can’t get it. Quinonez tries again, still nothing. Whoa, Quinonez headbutts Perez and McCarthy stops it. Mark Coleman style. The doctor looks at both Quinonez and Perez. Oh my goodness, McCarthy takes away two points from Quinonez. That’s huge. We’re back, and Quinonez needs to do something desperate. Big punches as Quinonez wades into the clinch, and there’s the trip. Quinonez again in half guard, raining down short shots. Perez reverses but Quinonez locks on a guillotine. Not enough time. Weird, but interesting fight. MMA Fighting scores the round 9-8 Perez. (28-27 Perez.)
Alejandro Perez def. Jose Alberto Quinonez via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 28-27)
Jessica Eye vs. Leslie Smith
Round 1: Herb Dean is the referee in charge of this women’s bantamweight bout. Both women standing in the pocket and trading early. Smith wading forward with looping hooks and landing. Eye takes a step back and fires off a series of jabs, then flurries. Eye digs hard to the body. Smith going with the Chris Leben approach, zombie walking forward with wild hooks. Some of them are landing pretty good. Eye answers with a hard shot that bloodies Smith. Huge waterfall of blood pouring down the left side of Smith’s head. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Eye.
Round 2: Wow, part of Leslie Smith’s left ear looks like it either ripped open or off. They’re letting her fight though. Both women lock up and Eye nails Smith with a few hard hooks from the clinch. Eye kicks low, then comes over the top. The left side of Smith’s head is caked in crimson again. Eye catches Smith again hard, and Dean wants to take a look at her ear. Oh wow, it’s bad. It’s literally ripped open. The doctor cleans her up, but it looks like they’re stopping this. Smith is absolutely furious.
Jessica Eye def. Leslie Smith via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 1:30 of R2
Gabriel Benitez vs. Humberto Brown
Round 1: FOX Sports 1 prelims underway. Mexico is 2-0 so far tonight, let’s see if Benitez can keep the good vibes going. Mario Yamasaki is our referee. They touch ‘em up and we’re off. Benitez firing early. Brown goes low, then wades inside and hoists Benitez over his head. Brown looking for a slam, but Benitez snatches a guillotine before it can happen. Don’t see that often. Brown hesitates, then methodically works out of it. Benitez in bottom position now, and he goes for the guillotine again. No dice. Brown trying to land short shots from guard, but Benitez is staying busy with submission attempts. First an armbar, then a triangle, neither of which are close. Brown stands, trades, and eats a big knee. Boom, there’s a knee to the nuts of Benitez. We’re back, and Benitez jumps immediately on another guillotine. Brown escapes into side control. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Benitez.
Round 2: Benitez’s corner asks him to stop fishing for the guillotine. Brown whiffs on a body kick, then connects on a hard counter right. They start potshotting, and Brown kicks Benitez right in the nads again. Yamasaki takes a point away from Brown this time. Benitez comes out on fire but can’t connect. Brown dives low hunting for a single. He gets it, but only briefly. Brown transitions to a double. He can’t get it. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-8 Benitez. (20-17 Benitez.)
Round 3: Benitez unloads off the break then latches onto a guillotine as Brown bull rushes inside. Whoa, this one is tight. Benitez clenches with everything he has and Brown falls backwards. He’s completely out. Wow.
Gabriel Benitez def. Humberto Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at :30 of R3
Enrique Briones vs. Guido Cannetti
Round 1: Connection issues inside Arena Ciudad de México delayed our ability to publish tonight’s undercard live blog. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Round 2: Cannetti hanging back, waiting for his offense. Briones stalking, but he eats a hard shot inside the clinch. Cannetti lunges inside and eats a huge counter right uppercut! He drops! Briones swarms with punches. Cannetti gives up his back and Briones jumps on it. That’s all she wrote. Rear-naked choke.
Enrique Briones def. Guida Cannetti via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:44 of R1
Marco Beltran def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)