UFC Rochester prelims results: Ladd outlasts Eubanks, Pereira gets highlight-reel KO

Check out the results and highlights from the finish-heavy UFC Rochester prelims, including Ed Herman stopping Pat Cummins in the first round.

The highly explosive UFC Rochester preliminary bouts are in the books, which saw five of seven matches end with a finish. The UFC’s #6 ranked bantamweight Aspen Ladd just waged war with former flyweight Sijara Eubanks in a bout that had a bit of everything. When the dust had settled, it was Ladd who walked away with the decision win for the second time against Eubanks. Ladd remains undefeated at a spotless 8-0 as she continues to rise through the ranks. Before that, Rochester’s own Des Green found himself on the winning side of a tough decision against UFC newcomer Charles Jourdain. This one was far from easy, but nonetheless, Green has won three of his last four.

Making his UFkC debut in style, Michel Pereira made quick work of Danny Roberts, realizing a flying knee to right cross knockout in less than two-minutes. Pereira is a ton of fun to watch and has won three in a row, finishing each of them before ever needing a third round. Before that, Grant Dawson rallied back from a tough opening round tonight to put Mike Trizano on the ground in the second and sniff out a rear-naked choke. Dawson now enjoys a five-fight winning streak as the prospect moves up the UFC’s featherweight ladder.

Also on the prelims, Ed Herman pulled out a spectacular TKO victory over Patrick Cummins in the first round, courtesy of a well placed knee to the skull. The highlight reel win snaps a three-fight losing skid for the 13-year UFC veteran, who in his post-fight interview requested to finally be put in the UFC video game.

After getting a little busted up earlier in the fight, Zak Cummings rallied in the third to score a sweet club and sub of Trevin Giles. Cummings has now won back to back bouts since making his move up to middleweight from welterweight. Opening up the event, Julio Arce got back to his winning ways with a third round head kick knockout of Julian Erosa. Arce is now 3-1 under the UFC banner and is proving to be quite the problem in the featherweight division.

Prelims:

Aspen Ladd def. Sijara Eubanks by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-28): (W) Bantamweight

Eubanks instantly scored a slamming takedown to start the fight. Ladd worked her way back to her feet, and then used a guillotine attempt to take top position. The grappling exchanges were being won by Ladd. Eubanks found herself playing a whole lot of defense, until the closing moments of the round. She unloaded a flurry of punches before taking top position and dropping a few hammers right before the bell. Ladd was able to turn the fight into a grappling match in the second round. She closed the distance and worked her way from position to position. Eubanks was stuck playing defense again. Ladd worked for an RNC, and when that failed she began dropping elbows from above.

Eubanks came out swinging in round three, punching to the body and head. Ladd was willing to stand and trade. back and forth they went, trading elbows and trading bolos. Both fighters landed several clean shots, and then with about one minute remaining in the match, Ladd shot in for the takedown. Eubanks remained vertical, found separation, and then spammed hooks as time ran out.

Des Green def. Charles Jourdain by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28): Lightweight

Jourdain pressed forward behind his volume striking, but Green was making him miss a lot. Green began to come forward behind his own strikes, and then switched levels and put Jourdain on his back. Green got his boxing going in the second round, ripping to the body as well as the head. As for Jourdain, he steadily worked his leg kicks. The output from Green started to dwindle a bit resulting in the confidence of Jourdain beginning to grow. Green started with a body punching flurry, but then started to get pushed back by Jourdain. The leg kicks seemed to be adding up a bit, and Green seemed to be fading. Towards the end of the round, Green went beast mode, scoring three takedowns in about thirty seconds.

Michel Pereira def. Danny Roberts by KO at 1:47 of round 1: Welterweight

Pereira blasted Roberts with a stiff right hand right hand to start the bout. Roberts recovered and watched as Pereira jumped all around, even off of the cage showtime-style. Pereira showed off some wild footwork and unorthodox looks. Then, a flying knee connected, instantly followed by a crisp right cross down the pipe to put Roberts out. The referee as well as Pereira decided no follow up was necessary.

Grant Dawson def. Mike Trizano by submission (RNC) at 2:27 of round 2: Featherweight

Dawson looked to get the fight to the ground right away. Trizano did a sound job of staying vertical and working his back into open space. The jab of Trizano began to find a home, prompting Dawson to initiate a scramble where he took the back standing. Trizano shook off the backpack, but did spend some time with his back to the cage. Back in open space, Trizano cut open the right eye of Dawson, and then ultimately gave up the takedown in the closing moments.

Trizano returned to his jab in the second stanza. He routinely snapped back the head of Dawson while also disrupting his rhythm. Dawson was able to come up with a takedown and secure full mount. Trizano gave up his back and Dawson went to work for an RNC. After a short-lived struggle, Trizano tapped.

Ed Herman def. Patrick Cummins by TKO at 3:39 of round 1: Middleweight

Cummins tagged Herman with some hands right out of the gate. Herman punched his way back into the fight, tagging Cummins and earning some respect. Just when Cummins was starting to tag his foe again, Herman blasted him with a massive knee to the face. Cummins did the chicken dance before dropping and then Herman finished him off with ground strikes.

Zak Cummings def. Trevin Giles by submission (Guillotine) at 4:01 of round 3: Middleweight

The middleweights went one for one to open up the first round, with each man landing some solid single strikes throughout but neither man really taking over. The second round was a bit slow. Giles would leap in with a right hand every so often, while Cummings attempting to cut off the Octagon while kicking at the leg. One of the blows from Giles busted open the nose of Cummings towards the end of the round.

Cummings came out throwing his hands in the final round, swinging rather wildly. He was finding some success on the feet, but then he botched a takedown thanks to some strong takedown defense from Giles. Then, a huge overhand left from Cummings floored Giles. Cummings quickly jumped on a guillotine and started to squeeze. Giles was dead to rights and forced to tap out.

Julio Arce def. Julian Erosa by KO at 1:49 of round 3: Featherweight

This matchup got off to a bit of a slow start. Each man was measuring the other early, with Arce looking for a way on the inside of his longer opponent. The action picked up towards the end of the round. Arce began to connect but Erosa wore it well. Erosa pressed forward in the second round, forcing Arce to counter off of his back foot. Arce found a lot of success making his opponent miss, connecting as Erosa was open. The nose of Erosa began to bleed but he was far from out of the fight. The forward movement of Erosa was there again in the final act, but Arce again showed excellent defense. He continued to make his foe miss with some slick head movement. Suddenly, Arce blasted a head kick that completely separated Erosa from his senses. Wow!