UFC Greenville prelims results: Ige outlasts Aguilar, Rozenstruik gets quick KO

Check out the results and highlights of the six-fight preliminary card at UFC Greenville.

The UFC Greenville preliminary card is all wrapped up. Getting the night started was a slugfest between Deron Winn and Eric Spicely, with the undersized middleweight Winn getting off to a Winn-ing start to his UFC career. Women’s flyweight Molly McCann then scored an impressive upset win over Ariane Lipski, heavyweight Jair Rozenstruik raised eyebrows with his nine-second demolition of Allen Crowder, Luis Pena spoiled veteran lightweight Matt Wiman’s long-awaited UFC return with an emphatic TKO victory, strawweight Ashley Yoder worked over Syuri Kondo on the ground, and featherweight Dan Ige turned in a very impressive performance against Kevin Aguilar.

Here’s how the fights played out.

Dan Ige def. Kevin Aguilar by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) – Featherweights

Ige had a very impressive start. While Aguilar was billed as the striker, Ige’s stand-up posed serious problems for Kevin, particularly off the counter. A body kick and left hook decked Aguilar and Ige went for the finish, fending off a leglock and doing damage on the ground in full guard. Kevin was able to fight his way back to his feet and land his own good shots before the round drew to a close.

The Hawaiian had a solid level change and takedown attempt on Aguilar, but Aguilar defended it and in a scramble wound up on top. Ige then turned the tables on him and stood up and slammed his opponent down to discourage that inverted triangle position. This proved to be a competitive grappling affair and just when it seemed as if Ige had seized control, his move for mount ended up in a reversal. The Texan spent the remainder of round two looking for big ground-and-pound to sway things in his favor.

If the fight was hanging in the balance entering round three, Ige made no doubt as to who the winner would be. A huge right hand had Aguilar badly hurt and backtracking. In Ige’s push for the finish, Aguilar’s jaw was jacked by several shots and somehow would not go down. Still, the outpouring of damaging offense was clearly enough for Ige to notch his fourth straight win. This was Aguilar’s first defeat inside the Octagon.

Ashley Yoder def. Syuri Kondo by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-24) – Strawweights

Yoder quickly took Kondo down after the Japanese fighter came out looking to trade shots. “Spider Monkey” dropped down some vicious elbows and took the back. Kondo got out of that bad spot but still had to contender with Yoder’s ground strikes. Despite Kondo’s best efforts, Yorder was putting on a grappling clinic. Yoder looked for an armbar, then backed out of it, and went back to beating Kondo up to end a lopsided opening frame.

Round two began with Kondo getting off counterstrikes and some nice clinchwork, and also denied Yoder’s single leg attempt. The next single leg was successful and eventually Yoder scrambled to Kondo’s back. There wasn’t as much offensive dominance on display from Yoder in this round compared to round one, but Kondo just couldn’t win the scrambles and was outclassed on the mat.

Kondo tried to pull off the improbable with a modified standing front choke. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t work and she was on her back and eventually Yoder gained full mount. From there, the fight looked similar to rounds one and two, hence a shutout on the scorecards in Yoder’s favor.

Luis Pena def. Matt Wiman by TKO (strikes) at 1:14 of round 3 – Lightweights

Pena was the aggressor early on against the returning Wiman, who hadn’t fought inside the Octagon since 2014. A bad cut opened up above Wiman’s left eye after a big knee in the clinch. The referee had the medical team check on Wiman’s cut, much to Matt’s annoyance. The fight resumed shortly thereafter and Wiman took “Violent Bob Ross” down, but was quickly reversed and ate some shots on his way back to his feet. Wiman later threatened with a kneebar and inverted heel hook in a scramble, but he didn’t get either submission and absorbed more damage from his back. It was an extremely one-sided round in Pena’s favor, with Wiman bloodied and on the verge of being stopped in the closing seconds. He was arguably saved by the horn.

The doctor checked on Wiman’s cut again and the fight was allowed to continue. Wiman had some success on the feet to start round two, but found himself on his back and having to fend off an arm-triangle choke. Wiman escaped and wound up on top briefly, but gambled for the back and was on the bottom again. Leglocks for Wiman weren’t working and Pena was thoroughly outgrappling him, which led to another dominant round.

Wiman stumbled against the cage after getting his foot caught in the fence at the start of round three. As tough as Matt may have been, Pena poured on the punishment and secured the TKO victory with lethal ground-and-pound.

Jair Rozenstruik def. Allen Crowder by KO (punches) at :09 of round 1 – Heavyweights

The undefeated Surinamese heavyweight dropped Crowder with a jab and then put his opponent out cold with three more shots on the ground. Not much more to add to that beyond “Wow.” It’s the second-fastest KO in UFC heavyweight history.

Molly McCann def. Ariane Lipski by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) – Women’s Flyweights

Round one was fast-paced and there wasn’t a whole lot to separate the two in terms of their striking. They both had their good moments throughout the first five minutes, although McCann got the crowd excited when she changed levels and completed a takedown in the closing seconds, and followed up with a bit of ground-and-pound after saluting the crowd.

McCann continued to look for that quick left hook, while Lipski fired off 1-2s and searched for quick shots from the outside. A right hand by McCann sat Lipski down but chose not to follow-up, instead letting the Brazilian get back to her feet. McCann did take Lipski down yet again and worked her way from side control to full mount, dropping down big shots before the horn sounded. It really looked as if Lipski could’ve been stopped if McCann had more time to land those elbows.

In round three, McCann was cut open by an elbow thrown by Lipski. It resulted in blood pouring from the right side of her forehead. McCann continued to find success with the left hooks and right hands, but Lipski had her own good bursts of offense that made the last frame fairly tight. Fans chanted “Meatball!” as the Englishwoman connected on a pinning elbow. They traded big shots at the end but McCann got the better of the exchanges and a deserved W. McCann has won two straight, while Lipski is still without a win in her two UFC appearances.

Deron Winn def. Eric Spicely by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) – Middleweights

Winn showcased his striking to great effect, tagging Spicely multiple times in the early stages of round one. He was quick and throwing a mixture of powerful single shots and combinations, but Spicely showcased his toughness and never appeared to be badly hurt. A knee by Spicely appeared to hurt Winn and caused him to back up, as he caught Winn in the clinch. They continued to exchange big shots from close quarters throughout a really entertaining opening frame.

Winn listened to his corner’s advice and increased the number of body shots he threw. He ripped the body to great effect and he seemingly sapped Spicely’s cardio with this adjustment. Winn also flashed his jab against the much taller fighter, and was on the front foot and looking to beat up Spicely against the fence. Spicely still picked his spots to work on the counter and land a couple of knees. They were both tired as round two drew to a close, but Winn had the advantage on volume and damage.

Spicely made a late charge and once again looked to have shaken the Daniel Cormier protege with a clinch knee. He was pressuring Winn for a brief moment and tried to get the stoppage that he needed by firing off massive power shots, but Winn found his own second wind and prevented Spicely from getting that dramatic comeback. It was a grueling, incredibly fun battle that was almost exclusively a stand-up war. Winn improves to 6-0 in his career, but credit to Spicely for a spirited effort on short notice.