UFC Copenhagen prelims results & video: Phillips KOs Amedovski

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Check out the results and highlights from the UFC Copenhagen prelims, including John Phillips slaying Alen Amedovski in mere seconds.

UFC Copenhagen is underway and the preliminary portion started and ended with a finish, but otherwise was long on decisions. Closing out the undercard, John Phillips made quick work of Alen Amedovski, knocking him out in devastating fashion in just seconds. The win snaps a three-fight losing skid and may have just saved him his job with the promotion.

Before that, a pair of middleweights put on a very light heavyweight looking fight. Alessio Di Chirico and Makhmud Muradov came out head hunting with overhand rights throughout, with not many of them actually landing flush. When the dust settled, it was Muradov who walked away with the decision, despite a late rally from Di Chirico.

Despite landing the bulk of the strikes, on the feet and on the ground, former GLORY kickboxer Giga Chikadze somehow drew even with the cardio-machine that is Brandon Davis in his promotional debut — or so it seemed. At first, it was announced that one judge saw it for Chikadze, one voted for Davis, and then the final official gave it a 29-29 score. On the broadcast, the commentators came on to announce a mistake had been made, and in fact Giga earned the split decision nod to secure his very first UFC win.

The UFC’s #12 ranked women’s bantamweight Lina Lansberg picked up a gritty decision over the #11 ranked Macy Chiasson. Lansberg has now racked up back top back wins as she dished out the first career loss of Chiasson’s career. Opening up the event, hot bantamweight prospect Jack Shore made good on his UFC debut by submitting Nohelin Hernandez in the third round. Shore now moves to 12-0 and appears to have a bright future ahead of him within the promotion.

**See complete results below

Prelims:

John Phillips def. Alen Amedovski by KO at :14 of round 1: Middleweight

It was a brawl from jump street! They just started training and it was Phillips who landed first. He dropped his foe briefly and then dropped him again. He followed up with a single ground strike before the referee had seen enough. Yikes!

Makhmud Muradov def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision (29-28): Middleweight

The middleweights were content to swap overhand rights across the opening minutes of the first round. Muradov was the more active fighter with his footwork, enabling him to evade a lot of punches from Di Chirico. One of those rights from Di Chirico landed clean towards the end of the round, but Muradov ate it like a champ.

Muradov showed up for the second stanza with a jab and Di Chirico brought his leg kicks to party. Muradov also started attacking the body with his right hand. Di Chirico finally threw a left behind his right hand and hit the target, but again Muradov waved it off as if nothing happened.

Both fighters started to add something behind the right hand in the third round, and both men found some success. Both middleweights also looked for takedowns to no avail in this even matchup. Muradov seemed to be fading down the stretch and Di Chirico started to bring the pressure. A couple of knees scored and a set of left hooks hit their mark for Di Chirico as the sand ran out of the hourglass.

Ismail Naurdiev def. Siyar Bahadurzada by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25 x2): Welterweight

Naurdiev pressured his foe right away. He landed some quality strikes on the feet, backing up Bahadurzada. Naurdiev landed a brutal body kick that visibly registered, and followed up with a blitzing flurry. It was a tough round for Bahadurzada. The aggression of Bahadurzada was revved up a bit to start the second round. Naurdiev responded with a well-timed takedown and moved right into side control. From there, he dropped brutal knees to the body while controlling his opponent at the same time. Naurdiev got himself another takedown in the final round and picked up right where he left off. Bahadurzada did not make it back to his feet.

Giga Chikadze def. Brandon Davis by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Featherweight

After tasting the kicking power of Chikadze, Davis closed the distance and secured a takedown. He moved to full mount, but got reversed before landing anything significant. From the top of full guard, Chikadze dropped some savage ground strikes. Back on the feet, Davis scored a double leg before time ran out.

The hands of Giga were finding a home early in the second round. His jab was routinely jousting back the head of Davis. Despite getting hit clean as day, Davis stood there and took it, and even waved on Chikadze. Davis found a takedown with less than a minute remaining in the round. He landed some crafty knees to the midsection before Chikadze scrambled back to his feet.

Davis came out throwing more volume in the final act. Then, the men agreed to exchange leg kick for leg kick. Davis started to land more with his punches than he did in the previous rounds, but Chikadze was still throwing, just at a reduced rate. Davis did score a last second takedown, but did nothing with it before the bell sounded.

Lina Lansberg def. Macy Chiasson by unanimous decision (29-27 x2, 29-28): (W) Bantamweight

Chiasson shoved her opponent against the fence for pretty much the entire opening round, attempting to get the fight to the ground. Lansberg found top position early in the second round. Chiasson returned to her feet and went back to pressing her foe against the fence. Lansberg tried to get the fight back to the ground but the takedown defense of Chiasson held strong.

Lansberg was able to achieve a bodylock takedown early in the final round. She landed a few shots here and there but mostly focused on her control. It took Chiasson awhile to scramble back to her feet, and ate a big knee for her troubles when she finally did. Chiasson was unable to get her back off of the fence before time expired.

Marc Diakiese def. Lando Vannata by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26) : Lightweight

Diakiese came out kicking the calf right away. He stayed with it and actually buckled Vannata to take top position. Not much happened on the ground before Vannata stood back up. Diakiese went right back to the calf kick, and then unfortunately missed his target and hit the cup of his opponent. After a brief pause the fight resumed, but nothing substantial happened before the end of the round.

Vannata came out in the southpaw stance in the second frame, due to the damage caused by the calf kicks in the opening act. Diakiese continued to get the better of the striking busting open the nose of Vannata.

Vannata showed up for the final round with a bit more urgency than the previous two. Diakiese slowed down that aggression with a gorgeous and well-timed takedown. Several elbows scored for Vannata while his back was on the mat. Whenever he did make it back to his feet, Diakiese just took him right back down.

Jack Shore def. Nohelin Hernandez by submission (RNC) at 2:51 of round 1: Bantamweight

Both men were content to stand in front of each other and feel one another out to get things started. Small shots were landed by both, but then it was Shore who closed the distance and closed the takedown. It didn’t take very long for him to take the back of Hernandez. A bunch of punches and elbows scored for Shore before time ran out.

Shore found top position again early on in the second act. He worked all the way into full mount, but Hernandez slickly escaped back to his feet. Shore was throwing his punching in combinations, where as Hernandez was attempting more solo strikes. Hernandez gave up another takedown in the closing moments of the round.

An instant takedown was there for Shore to begin the third round. Hernandez exposed his back, and had tons of trouble getting Shore off of him. Shore kept chipping away with strikes until the moment to cinch up a choke presented itself. The squeeze proved to be too much for Hernandez, and he respectfully tapped.